Plot Summary
Mr. Bean’s Holiday (Bendelack) is based on the famous Mr. Bean series played by Rowan Atkinson. The movie is about the journey that Atkinson takes after winning a ticket to Cannes, a camera, and €200 in a lottery. Bean begins his journey from the train platform in Paris, where he asks a random man named Emil, who is a Russian director, to make Bean’s video while boarding the train. The movie-making takes longer than planned, and the train leaves, which Bean manages to get on; however, Emil misses his train leaving his son alone, who was waiting for him on the train. Since Bean is guilty of his actions, he tries to befriend Emil’s son, Stephan, and decides to reunite the family. However, Stephan is extremely unhappy with Bean but eventually cooperates with him to get to his father. Their journey is full of chaos and adventure, and they also meet an actress who gives them a lift and helps them to get to the grand event of the stars.
Mr. Bean’s aim of celebrating his holiday is at last accomplished when he reaches the beach of Cannes, but he cherishes the moments and memories he had made throughout the journey with Stephan and the actress Sabine. He succeeds in reuniting the family and leading a journey he’ll remember for life.
Theme and Purpose
The film Mr. Bean’s Holiday, is a comedy movie that serves the basic purpose of entertainment for the audience. The film revolves around the gullible nature of Bean and his genuine and transparent personality. Bean always attempts to do well to others and enjoy his time but attracts chaos and mess wherever he goes, which involves causing harm to others. However, Bean always has a solution to fix the problem that he has created with his foolishness and silly mistakes.
The film serves several messages, such as the message of making memories and recording them to cherish them forever. It is not about the destination but the journey that matters and the memories made during the voyage. Moreover, the film teaches the audience about connecting to strangers and making friends with different people, as well as helping them. Mr. Bean’s Holiday shows the simplicity of Bean and the comedy that is portrayed in the smallest of his actions.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday sheds light on the relationship of a father and son and adds the emotional appeal of separation and reunion of a family. Furthermore, it included the plot of Sabine, who is a struggling actress and strives to achieve her dreams. Beans plays the part of a hero who reunites a family and helps an actress make her dream come true.
Script/Story
The story of Mr. Bean’s Holiday serves the purpose of comedy and entertainment. The script encompasses Bean’s ludicrous activities and his failed attempts at fixing the mistakes that he makes. The story shows an average silly man caught up in turmoil, which is a believable and common plot for most comedy movies. However, the efforts that Bean makes to fix them and scenes such as when the ticket is attached to the leg of a chicken and the attempts he makes to get it back are unrealistic aspects of the story. Similarly, when Bean cosplays as an old lady to fool the guards at Cannes is not a believable plot.
The script unifies with the theme and is presented in a following, which loses tracks on several occasions for the purpose of comedy. This makes the film disorganized and confusing. However, confusion and turmoil are the primary themes of the film, which is shown through the mixture of several side plots (Braverman, 173-190).
The script is interesting in the form that it keeps the audience engaged in an entertainment session. It strikes a form of thrilling experience as the movie is leading towards the reunion, and several scenes in the film keep the audience on the edge of their seats to know if Bean will succeed in his mission or if the family will ever be reunited. Nevertheless, the main theme of the film is to be funny and entertaining, so the film does not aim to bring in suspense.
The film skillfully handles the emotional theme and the portrayal of sensitive topics such as the family reunion the actress’ dream, and Beans’ journey of making friends and memories. It shows an honest and realistic aspect of these emotions and the troubles of real people, such as the extra artist whose sense was deleted from the film.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday lacks the use of dialogue and they have little to no impact as the movie has adopted the method of showing feelings and emotions through facial expression and body language instead of verbal communication. The concept is very familiar with the use of Charlie Chaplin’s movies.
Characterization
The leading characters in the film are Mr. Bean and his young partner, Stephan. Bean, with his external actions, shows the audience that even though he is a grown man, he commits mistakes like children and has a similar thinking set. He gets himself into trouble and comes up with creative solutions. Bean’s actions cause others to get in trouble and cause them emotional pain, such as Stephan, who was separated from his father due to Bean’s internal action of selfishness. At the same time, Stephan is reunited with his father due to Bean’s intentions of helping the little boy in a situation like that (Olander, 200).
On the other hand, Stephan who is sensible and intelligent at a young age plays the opposite of Bean. Even though the characters unite on several matters and make a collective decision when getting out of certain situations, they are opposing each other throughout the movie with their internal actions.
Setting
Steve Bendelack’s direction, Mr. Bean’s Holiday, contains several sets, backgrounds, and themes since it shows a journey in which Bean goes through several locations that show different cultures and settings. However, the directors have picked different settings to portray the emotions, such as the colorful beach of Cannes to demonstrate Bean’s achievement and joy.
Visual Elements/ Technique
Cinematographer Baz Irvine has used various techniques to enhance the emotions and themes represented. The film covers several wide shots to cover the area and show the significance of activity on the larger activity and bring in a large number of people in one frame. To emphasize the emotions and feelings of the characters, Irvine has used close-ups of their facial expressions. Additionally, the film is shown through the lenses of Bean’s camera, which is shot with improper framing and focusing, as well as moving and titled shots captured to show the unprofessionalism of the shots taken by Bean.
Editing
The film has adopted coherent transitions and follows scenes that compile the movie into an entertainment session that is enjoyable and exciting. However, some of the scenes are included without any relation to the central theme, such as the scene where Bean doesn’t focus on the road traffic but follows the map to reach his destination.
Sound and Music
Mr. Bean’s Holiday has warm music composed by Howard Goodall, who has succeeded in achieving the summer vibes to the movie. The theme music of the film is Jazz and serves the purpose of showing happiness, comedy, joy, and chaos all at the same time, which compliments the overall movie.
Acting
Rowan Atkinson playing the role of Mr. Bean, has shown exceptional acting skills creating new standards of comedy using the methods of internal and external actions to display his character as the simple, clumsy, and good-hearted person that he is. Atkinson presents succeeds in winning the screen with an appealing performance, where he convinces the audience that Bean is the silliest person on the planet who enjoys his life to the fullest due to his ignorance (Rose). While the performance by Karel Roden as the Russian director and the father who lost his son fails to meet the standards and convince the audience, other actors such as Max Baldry playing Stephan and Emma de Caunes playing Sabine proved to be good at their job and capturing their moments on the screen.
Overall Review
Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007) is another example of Rowan Atkinson’s excellent performance and his success at building the character into a popular comical symbol in the film industry. The movies serve the purpose of comedy and entertainment. It succeeds in achieving the involvement of various emotions, side plots, and themes. The film offers a complete package with a mixture of comedy, family separation and reunion, the struggle of achieving one’s dream, and connecting with strangers.
The film lacks coherence and the unity of certain scenes and side plots that are forced into the film for the sole purpose of comedy, which results in a distraction from the movie’s content and central theme. Nevertheless, Steve Bendelack’s direction with the combination of Atkinson’s outstanding performance in the film is an entertaining watch.
Works Cited
Braverman, Barry. Video shooter: mastering storytelling techniques. CRC Press, 2013.
Bendelack, Steve. Mr. Bean’s Holiday. 2007.
Rose, Steve. “Mr. Bean’s Holiday.” The Guardian, 30 Mar. 2007, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/mar/30/comedy.
Olander, Philip. “Bean’s Progress.” Meanjin 66.4-1 (2008): 200.
