Jeff Nichol's Film Mud

Jeff Nichol’s film Mud (2012) is a coming of age story about a young boy named Ellis whose idea of love and trust are challenged by those closest to him. A man named Mud becomes a friend and guide for Ellis, but also Ellis’ last hope for the existence of true and trustworthy love. Love is common theme throughout the film, but is especially important in the sequence of scenes near the end of the film that show the relationship between Ellis and his “girlfriend” and Ellis and Mud. The camerawork throughout these scenes helps to convey one the director’s intended messages. The message that love exists, but that heartbreak and disappointments are unavoidable is conveyed with the use of cuts, high and low angle shots, elements of the mise-en-scene,
This scene shows an argument between Ellis and Mud as Ellis is upset because Mud and Juniper seem to have given up on the love that they shared. Ellis had believed that Mud was different and that Mud could be trusted. Ellis had a connection with Mud because they both believed in love. Ellis was upset because Mud had given up on love just like everyone else in Ellis’ life. Ellis kept seeing that people were saying one thing, yet doing another and not following through on their word. The camerawork in this heartbreaking scene cuts back in forth between Ellis and Mud to show the harsh divide in their relationship and the emotion between these two characters. This movement in association with elements of the mise-en-scene, including the emotion of the characters and their placement, help to again convey the director’s meaning and the overall mood of the scene. There is also no background music during this scene which allows for the viewer to really focus on the characters and their feelings as this is an important scene that contributes to Ellis’ ideas of love and trust. Ellis has seen that love and trust do not come easily and that the loss of his innocence is unavoidable. He feels used by Mud and uncared for. This sense of betrayal is conveyed as the camera watches Ellis walk away from Mud and cut to Mud looking sad
The film techniques used by the director help to convey the emotion and the realizations associated with Ellis’ ideas of love. The camerawork along with these film techniques allowed for deeper meaning to be associated with these scenes as it helps to emphasize Ellis’ relationships and loss of innocence. The director’s message about love was created through the use of the various types of shots mentioned previously. It is clearly important the Ellis embarked on this journey of heartbreak and disappointments so that he could grow and mature. Ellis looked to Mud as a father figure and role model that he could trust. However, it was important to Ellis’ emotional growth that trust is lost and relationships end. This allowed Ellis to grow up on his own and to lean less on others for support. Ellis learned that love does exist and that love will prevail, but that it will not come without heartbreak and let downs. The camerawork and the mise-en-scene throughout the film, not just in these two scenes, portrayed the director’s message and worked together to show Ellis’ coming of age story as he discovered love and the importance of trust in his