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7/27/2019 The Battle of the Sexes in French Cinema, 19301956 by Nol Burch
1/15
Nol Burch and Genevive Sellier
Translated by Peter Graham
The Battle of the Sexesin french cinema, 19301956
7/27/2019 The Battle of the Sexes in French Cinema, 19301956 by Nol Burch
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T tt t xsin rench cinema, 19301956
Nol Burch and Genevive Sellier
Translated by Peter Graham
Duke University Press
Durham anD lonDon
2014
7/27/2019 The Battle of the Sexes in French Cinema, 19301956 by Nol Burch
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st 2014 k Uvsty Pss
A ts svdPtd t Utd tts A d-
sd by Kst K
yst Gd P P by s It ysts, I.
Lby Css Ct--Pbt t
, N, 1932
[ d ds sxs d s, 19301956. Es]
T btt t sxs F , 19301956 / N d
Gvv ; tstd by Pt G.
s Ids bb s d dx.
iSBn 978-0-8223-5547-2 (t : k. )
iSBn 978-0-8223-5561-8 (bk. : k. )
1. M-w tss t ts. 2. Mt ts
FHsty20t ty. I. , Gvv. II. ,
N, 1932 d ds sxs d s, 19301956.
st : III. t.
pn1995.9.m27B8713 2013
791.4309440904d23 2013018959
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"
Contents
Itdt 1
Part I. The Prewar Period, 19301939
Ct 1. P C-Fy R 15
Film Analyses 54
Part II.
The German Occupation, 19401944:Fathers ake a Backseat
Ct 2. Csttd Fts 91
Ct 3. W t v t Pty 103Ct 4. Msyy Ls O 114
Ct 5. Abst M, F M 125
Ct 6. W k Ct T sty 133
Ct 7. TZazou F: A ssdt ty d t Ot 140
Ct 8. A W Fd wt H s 150
Ct 9. Gt M Fs d Nw Fts 164
Film Analyses 180
Part III. The Postwar Period, 19451956:Settling of Scores
Ct 10. T stbz Ets t Lbt 237
Ct 11. Rst t Pt Od 269
Film Analyses 305
Cs 341
Rs 347
Idx 357
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Introduction
alhough neiher t ts ts bk s td st, s-
t s t kd tt s d F v t st y ys s, d t t sty stts, dbt skd
desire to approach lm analysis rom a resh angle. Tis required a considerable
s t vw t t tt t dss tt -
t stds F, qt t t tdt s stts
d t sty, v, s Cst Mtzs ky tbt t t dbt,
b sts d syyss.
Nt tt t sty t s b xd tty F:
v s Gs ds st sv svys t sbjt, yss v sd t ttt t w, t y jst
v ty d, s t wys b vy ssb. t t t-
tude o angles rom which such a protean object as the cinema can be ap-
ds bt tq, , dsty, bsss, t,
popular culture, an institution, and an instrument o propagandawe eel
tt F ss v s d t tk dvt s t-
t s d w t stdy t sty stts.
Ts s b xd by t dty tt ssts d s-tory specialists have in communicating with each other, the ormer oen being
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inroDucion
tsst s d t xtd t sbjt stdy (d v!) t
b b w t s t s wy v t d, t tt td
t sttz t s jst sv ss d t vk ts
tv ty. Ev t st tt st wk t
vw (F 1977/1988; G 1984) tts ts t d -
t t ( t ts s): s sv t t t
o a political ideology on civil society or to conrm the existence o an ideology
tt ss v t . Wt w ttt t tt s
t bsd t s tsvs.
T , tv t dt t wy t s bt dd d
sd, s bby d d t xss s -
y. t t ds vtss s sttt ts w t, ws
y x d vy dvs ds (ss, tv, t, ts,
t, sts, st, s, d, d s ) q s
o the kind that the art historian Pierre Francastel wanted to see applied to
t.
O bk s t st ws t b t sts t-
y st s wt s-d sd kwd t
s bjt d t s ts tt v b dvd t yz t.
A t s tt v d t wy w k t s, t
should also be made o the airly recent discipline o cultural studies, developedfy Es-sk ts, w sks t dstd t syb
productions o a given society without reerence to the evaluation grid im-
posed by the dominant culture. In France, Pierre Bourdieus (1979/1984) revo-
lutionary approach to the sociology o culture adopted similar criteria, but
Fs tst vw t s s vsv tt t ts s d t tt
kind o historical research, which is dicult to nd anywhere except in the
wk st k Ps Oy (1989).
I t d , t, t tvy t stwhas been crowned with success in Franceto get the cultural legitimacy o
t zd by bt t tts d t stt-
ts s d t t t stt t t
dts t t xs d (d s wys vt)
t s tv t dt. Ts s t
w v dtd bk.
Finally, the most recent but by no means least important ramication o
t Nw Hstyt sty w, t t sty d -tss b t F wt t v vs Gs by
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inroDucion
d M PtsHistoire des emmes en occident(1991), ws st
v s d by t ts stt t wv tt t -
t d syb dss dt w tt s t
basis o our societies. Te historical precision o that collective work, which
is based on the premise that sexual identities are not essences but relation-
ships and dierentiation processes inherent in a given society and period,
lent a useul extra dimension to the work o English-speaking historians
particularly in the eld o gender studieswhich, while substantial, was all
too oen sub specie aeternitatis. Moreover most o those same historians
work on cinematic representations o gender was chiefy, i not exclusively,
d wt U.. . It y s b t s tt, v s
Laura Mulveys (1975/1981) trailblazing essay, any analysis aimed at under-
std t syb t d ts stt s ds sx
tss d t b d dty t F , ss tt
have precisely to do with history in general and cultural history in particu-
lar. We do, then, distance ourselves rom the principal eminist theories in
Es-sk ts s s w w d b t k -
svs t t t tt y yss stts d ts
wd b tst y t w dwd wt sx wss ( -
ment implicit in Modleski [1988]). Just as the French cinema continues to
be aimed at spectators o both sexes without discriminating between them,we eel that gender relations concern men just as much as they do women.
Eqy, w v t wd t t st A sts, w
t ss ss, w tt t vy d d
vy t tt ss s dy ttd wt t ss d.
I t d, w w wd k wk t b s s t t
ramework o the struggle or sexual equality, we regard as o secondary impor-
t t tt stt stt, w b sd s
basis or reassessing movies against the grain, so to speak, in other words, with-t y y ttt t s st d s vt (Pt
1989; and, rom a critical viewpoint, Williams 1988). We are more interested in
dty d dstd t y ft d tdty -
t d ts t v d, ty s, ty
k F d t d d stdy, t stts st s sty
, tt t t jty w, t st t t 1970s, d -
tzd t vs wt t s d bt tts
t F (Fss 1992; Rsv 1993; Vt 1995).O ds t s t d 193056 ws tvtd by vs -
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tors. First, as can be seen rom publishers catalogues, university degree courses,
d t-s s, st s d ts stds t
vy wt F vs d b t Nw Wv vd t
scene at the beginning o the 1960s and tend to look down on them, apart
rom a handul o established masterpieces. Tis can easily be explained by
t sty t F d t by t yd
byLes Cahiers du cinma, ws s w btd t ts t
t Nw Wv ks w t t t d t 1950s
by bw sd t vs t. t b Nw Wv vs
become totally incomprehensible once cultural benchmarks disappear, it is
perhaps high time to rescue rom oblivion those twenty-six years o French
cinema, rom the beginning o the talkies to the rise o the New Wavea
period notable in France or enjoying the highest cinema attendances and
dw t wdst s st s. F t d t 1950s
, vt st -qty bt bt tw-td
syst, t d , stt tt ssts tdy
btt ws. Istv t tsts tt v, v t
past orty years or so, led cinephiles to preer Hollywood classics to French
s v t s d, w t t tt s t k bk v tt
dt s s t dstd ts , ts t, d ts s
F sty t t. M y tt ws t s t st, ty s t stdy Hywd vs -
s t dstd w t s tt we .
T tt d s sd t s t b t t st
ss: F ws t t t dkst d st tt ys
in its recent history; during the 1930s violent political clashes took place in
ts t d s; ty w wd by t
y w, st ty dt d t b, dtd
t d dsst, w t d t ys G -t wt ts ttdt ss, s, d t; y t
Lbt, w kd bt dv d t d ,
w F d st t b t wd w. Tt stt ws
d by Fs bty t s t s t d w, wt
t w-kw t t d dst ts. ys t,
sty sd w , tt dty d t s sty.
Te Brigitte Bardot bombshell burst on the scene in 1956, the point at which
w b stdy t s.Hwy t tt d t ys t Ot, w
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we have studied more particularly because, at a time when the French were
t t st d t sty, t d
vy t : wt st, t ws t y ss s tvty
tt ws tzd by t tts d b, t t dv -
t, tt d d s xss sty w t ss
d bs w d by t d ss Vy d t G
y s. W w t tt t ws tt s t dv
more deeply into the lm production o the time, which had hitherto been
dsssd by sts s y d tt t
t 1930s (Js 1983).
It ws, t ty, t bss t bt w td btw
t stt b t w d d t Ot tt w
b t stt t, w sd t b b t by qy
kd s tt d stw . O dt t s
vs w xd ws d t t sty t t s v
t . w wtd, t s t 194044 d, vy
proportion o Frances output (180 movies out o the 220 produced), while
in the case o the 1930s and the postwar period we ocused on a very broad
s s tt ws sttv vy d vy
d t v, ty v sd qttv t, wt ts
o the time or later. Indeed as we progressed in our research, we elt the need tod ts qttv t, wt t st tt wt w dd s t
bst s w ts tt sdd d wt t sss tt w t
b d s dd d tt d sty x wy
t b t ts fts d tdts, dss sttys. Ts
vs w t s s ts t bs t, bt w -
d t dt wy, w qd s t sw s t
tss bty s td by s sty s d t dstt t x-
tdy t t t bs t t. As st, tt vs sy t t t, bs ty w t t
wk stbsd ts, t b s s tt.
As ds t t ss, t s ty ds
to take into account the specicity o the cinema, and o French cinema in
t, ws t t dvs xtsvy ts -
ts btw d w d/ btw t s sx. I
t wds, yss t stts d ts s
t xss s y bd s bt t st t -tv ty sbjt (t s d t t ts
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t stt ss t t) d t vd stt svs t t yt
tss t dvtd t t ws bty.
It was also the work o Ginette Vincendeau, a British-based French re-
s, tt sd s wt t stt t dtk. I dd-
t t kb yss t J Gb yt (1985; Gt d
Vincendeau 1993), her main contribution to our understanding o French
t 1930s s bsvt t wy t -
sts d vs dd btw t b t
tks d t b 1940 (1989). Ad w svs w b t vy
tt s vs tyy ty dd-d w ts t
ss xty s ts wt vy y w. As V-
deau suggests, this pattern was probably overdetermined by actors that ob-
td t t t, s s t t tt t d sts w t dy
d t t qts t tks bs ty d bkd t
tt, w t s t dy y ds ws sdd qt
. tss w t kb bs bs
vs d ts s, ty t st
t 191418 w (MM 1981). Tt tt s sd, w-
y t y t, t tvs t t, ws w v w
ws dstsb s w v d d, k F
w (t N Cd), td t t s stt sbss.t t dsb tt tv tt s Od, s Vd ds, s
t sk d tt sttt. W wt t
other ormulation she proposes: an incestuous pattern. Apart rom a handul o
movies labeled realist, whether or not carrying the additional epithet poetic,
w J Gb sy s t t d wty t,
t st tst t ts w s s tt t sbjt t
tsy s v Ods Et (t d, d t t y
d Fd), bt t t s sttv t Lw w ts t stt s d t t t dt. T t incests ks t
possible to tie that lm theme in with a whole psychosocial paradigm in real lie
tt xtdd w byd d s btw d d y
w, s sx bs s by st w v t s
not just what a psychoanalyst might describe as a antasy, as Nancy Huston
(1979) d M-Vt Ls (1994) v sy td t.
Now i the origin o that pattern o the incestuous couple is to be seen
as arising not rom a universal, hence innocent, psychical phase o humanontogenesis (i Freud is to be believed) but rom a hidden yet very real vio-
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sty, ts wdsd t s tt dd (st
td vs) bs t k ss. T sx s-d s
ty Lts s R, Hy , Js y, d Vt F, -
bd wt t sbssvss y w ws s d s w
so quickly orgotten, can be interpreted as a denial o the crumbling patri-
archal edice, a denial symptomatic o a ear o changes already under way
( 1991/1994).
I t stdy d ts, t s t t tt s
whole, at all times and in all places, have displayed ear and mistrust o the
emale sex (Dinnerstein 1978). Given that context, under the particularly
oppressive and outmoded patriarchy o 1930s France (McMillan 1981), such
s sx sbss by t d-w w tk td d
vtby td s -w ks t d xs b-
st t t. b s, w ws ssb t
w tt ts ts s? F ( zt
vd by st wts)? F tt bs? F tts? T
ty ks ( t bdst ss) d t bvd
t? At t st w v s d wk, y ts st y-
tss ss t s t b dstb.
O d t b tt w k t dst dty t-
s twd t st d ts, w tt s wd b smokescreen: ear o war, ear o the loss o national identity, ear o the Other?
Tt s t ytss vd by F sts w ty bsv
tt ty t t stt ts btw -
ts d btw t sxs (t-Mt 1989; G 1984; d L -
tque 1977). However that may be, such representations also probably refect a
w xbtd by dst s ss d t vy
sb dds t st zts t t (d 1995).
Tese same issues take on a completely dierent complexion in the light t stt vts tt d s xt -
hs o French lms produced between 1940 and 1944 under the German
Ot d t t Vy vt. Wt w s stt t
s d tt d s vtb st t Lw t Ft by
tszd Lw t Mt. Ts vs, w s t b d st
vs t d, b ttbtd, s w svs ttd t d,
t t t dt d t dsdt tt ttd t ty sy
sstd wt t Td Rb d ts td s st. Ts yt-ss tds t sbsttt, v t t sts tt t
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w d, t xst s y s w s ts ss
bty: d td w vsd t t (w td
tt t tk tt ts) d w d t by
d dst, k s t t dsdtd s-
ty ( tttd ty t tdtst t d ts t, t
right-thinking Catholic press), or by a dynamic gure that oreshadowed a
t ss ( -w st, s, x, Ls As v
Aurlien 1944).
Tt s y stt ss, w b dttd t
work o the great majority o male directors, has its le-wing and its right-
wing versions (which comes as no surprise, given that we are talking about
France, where this division is traditional). But how can one explain why so
many movies are capable o being interpreted in various ways (Le Ciel est
vous [Te Woman Who Dared], 1944, s t st btd x) d d
t tst s bvsy wt t s t wty ts t
realism did with the complacent athers o the boulevard lms or Marcel
Ps Pv?
P Lb (1990) ts tt t v ts d t -
war period in France was one o political and ideological conusion. Yves
Chalas (1985) argues that the Dbcle and the Occupation caused people in all
sts sty Rsstts t bts, t-w Vy-ites (supporters o Charles Maurras, traditionalist Catholics) to le-wing
Vyts (ws P F, t d t st Pty) d v
t bvs wt-d-s yt y vy st
s, w dsbs s tsd b ts.
Lt s k tt sy t t tdttdy tv-
s tt s ssv sts d d Vy. T t
t t w tt b d t ttty -
dt t t t s b t t btd t t t d dv-td by P Pt. Gd M (1975) ts tt ts t ws -
ty d by t xds J 1940, w F v t t,
st, d Ps td t bk t d, b, d dst
sty tt d b t s vs s 1936 d d d t -
tt t st t vd Gs, d st t t
st, w s std tt t t st. Cst F (1989)
ts t tt, ddty Pts d, t Vyt ds t
promote the arming world resulted in the creation o a rural French ethnogra-y (t t Ms P Ats d dts) d j
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documentary school, the most amous example o which was Georges Rou-
quiersFarrbique (which was actually made aer the war but grew directly out
Vys s). dy, w tt t ty,
t ds F, d t qty ts dts d tt
rom the increasingly absurd principles o liberal capitalism, we can take a
more dialectical view o that phenomenon: the aspirations embodied in France
d Vy bt by t t d d by t -
tvts std by tt t, b s t tt t sts
st-dy y. I tt t, t bs s t s tt t s s-
tk t dsb t d bty tt d v sty, t st
d t st tw ys t Vy vt, sy jtv ts.
Nw t s s t t sts ftd, x, t stt
ss w ds, dd t btd E dU
, ws sttd ws t ty t ss ds t Td
Rb d t v d s dt t t tys
emale members. Tose hopes o a greater empowerment or both sexes in
sty, s w s w ts s d w t
td ( d R 1990), ty fd t Ot
.
Abt Cs, E v, J-P t, d A w vt-
y t y wts t tt t w xsd t dtty ss tdby t t. Hwv, LEtranger,Le Pige, dLes Chemins de la libert
(Aurlien, w ws ty fd by Es t, s s t),
s-dbt s d by vt syy, w s sy wt
dstss ts bks by t ty t t t jty s
o the period. Tis dierence between literature and cinema can perhaps be ex-
d by t s tsts t tw tst dss: t wt
stands alone and is an heir to a French cultural tradition that gives pride o
t t vs (Cqt 1982). At wts y b w t wd d t, ty d t wt t; ty wt tty.
T tv tst tt ks v (tt s t sy, bt t dts
team and the milieu o lm proessionals) has an attitude that is more re-
tv t t wd s st b t , d wss t
t (w ws t t t t s w) t
that people making movies were working in the present or the audiences
t t. Ad t s t t t ds t ,
w s t tv k, wt ssy t, t btv t t Ztstw vw s t ssy bd t.
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Hwv tt y b, ts tty btw dtty ss
d tv vw t s w s tty bvs s t
. , d wks t ttt tv t
we nd emale egies surrounded by men in a state o crisis according to a
pattern similar to that o the most typical movies o the period. And Pierre
Laborie (1993) has pinpointed how the Catholic press o southwest France
sd J A s syb ty d sdty d t s d.
Te huge scale o the phenomenon in the cinema compared with its vir-
t bs tt, x, vs sv qsts -
swd d bby ts tt s d tt xd
t w, t st F: t sty vs t ts, bt
dvd d tv, v s t t v t. k
t , w dd ts d ts b dts t
social imaginaryalways supposing that such an identity crisis o the sexes
s d tt d?
Te male identity crisis that regularly comes in the wake o a war, that
supreme test o manly values (especially when it results in deeat), has begun to
be investigated in the case o other periods and other nations (Teweleit 1987
89; M 1987). As ds F t 1940s, d tt s -
st t tw t ts td by tt wt b -
wd by t Ot, t t Lbt d by -F st dtty ss sd b dvdd t tw ss: s wd by
bks. Fw tw ty tjts, t tv d d-
dt w t Ot ts t db (Panique [Panic],
1946), whose actions are exclusively directed against men, whereas the compla-
t ts t vt (Manges [Te Cheat], 1949), s t
t tt t tss F ss w d tsvs s ty
td t d, td tt w wd t t
sbssv ty yd b t w (d 1987).F stts t stw d , wv, y td-
tory; in the context o a dominant atmosphere o misogyny, and at a time
w vsLe Deuxime Sexe (1949) ws sd t b bst-s
t 1950s, b ty st vs, t d ss t
word, were produced. Oen remarkable, like Casque dor(Golden Marie, 1952),
they attempted to reveal the workings o patriarchal oppression by demon-
stt tt t ws s bd .
Tus more than any other means o expression, in our view, the cinemafts t dstbzt d ts F sty t 1940s
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tt ws td by t d ty vts. I ts bk w s
their repercussions in the area o private lie traditionally regarded as being
vd by dt tty (t longue dure t sty -
tts).
Te sensitivity o the cinema to upheavals in the area o gender relations
bt bt by w d t Ot vs, w dd, w
t t vt s s. Mv b t t y -
s tb y ( t t) t s, w t
y t t tt, sd s dstt w s t b t
t sty t s ts b t
s bt t stt sts, vdd s -
garded as a mere refection, or counterrefection, o ideas elaborated elsewhere.
O bk tks t tty ws t ssts
overall analysis o the French cinema during the Occupation. wo side panels
st vvw t w d stw ds,
w vs dd. A t st s d by st
sts tt yz b vsy t w kw, ts
tt kwws xty w t dsvd s ttt. I
s, w ty t dstt w t stts st, wt t
zd by s, dvs t s y st t -
ment o ideas and orms but rom a particularly remarkable ability to bring outt tdts t d.
W wy tk ts w wd s sttd ss t t vs: q P tCtq Fs, M Abt d t F Av tt t Ct Nt d Ct, d Gb Cs t Ctq Ry d q.
I t s w d stw s, w v dtd t dt s, ws wv d t dt t dt w st b t s Ot s, v t sd vts tst tt d d t ts s s s s dt sttd.
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