21G.052 | Spring 2015 | Undergraduate

French Film Classics

Readings

[FFT&C] = Abel, Richard. French Film Theory and Criticism: A History / Anthology, 1907_–1939_. Vol. 1. Princeton University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780691000626. [Preview with Google Books]

[Cahiers] = Truffaut, François. Cahiers du Cinéma: The 1950s: Neo-Realism, Hollywood, New Wave. Harvard University Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780674090613. [Preview with Google Books]

[Republic] = Williams, Alan. Republic of Images: A History of French Filmmaking. Harvard University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780674762688. [Preview with Google Books]

[Austin] = Austin, Guy_. Contemporary French Cinema: An Introduction_. Manchester University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780719078293.

[Texts] = Hayward, Susan. French Film: Texts and Contexts. Routledge, 2000. ISBN: 9780415161183. [Preview with Google Books]

WEEK # TOPICS FILMS AND READINGS
1 Introduction See the Study Materials section for general resources.
2 Cinema, the Seventh Art?

Films

Paris qui dort. Directed by René Clair. Black and White, 35 min. 1924. [Watch on YouTube]

À nous la liberté. Directed by René Clair. Black and White, 97 min. 1931. [Watch on YouTube]

Discussion

  • [FFT&C] Canudo, Ricciotto. “Reflections on the Seventh Art.” (1923), pp. 291–302.
  • [FFT&C] Cendrars, Blaise. “The Modern: A New Art, the Cinema.” (1919), pp. 18283.
  • Michelson, Annette. “Dr. Crase and Mr. Clair.” The MIT Press 11 (1979): 30–53.
  • Abel, Richard. “Distribution: The Divided Country” and “Exhibition: We’re in the Money.” In French Cinema: The First Wave, 1915_–1929_. Princeton University Press, 1987, pp. 38–59. ISBN: 9780691008134.
3

The Avant-garde

Special Guest: Prof. Sarah Keller

Films

Six et demi onze. Directed by Jean Epstein. Black and White, 1927.

Le Tempestaire. Directed by Jean Epstein. Black and White, 22 min. 1947. [Watch on YouTube]

Discussion

  • Jean Epstein. “The Cinema Seen from Etna,” “Certain Characteristics of Photogénie,” “Seeing and Hearing Thought,” “The Counterpoint of Sound,” and “The Close-up of Sound.” In Jean Epstein: Critical Essays and New Translations. (PDF - 4.0MB) Edited By Sarah Keller and Jason Paul. Amsterdam University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9789089642929.
4 1930s, Realism and the Popular Front

Film

La Grande Illusion. Directed by Jean Renoir. Black and White, 114 min. 1937.

Discussion

  • [FFT&C] Vigo, Jean. “Toward a Social Cinema (1930).”, pp. 60–63.
  • [FFT&C] Renoir, Jean. “How I Give Life to my Characters.” pp. 125–27.
  • Ferro, Marc. “La Grande Illusion and its Receptions.” In Cinema and History. Wayne State University Press, 1988, pp. 132–8. ISBN: 9780814319055. [Preview with Google Books]
  • Jackson, Julian. “Boundaries and Border Crossings.” In La Grande Illusion. British Film Institute, 2009, pp. 50–72. ISBN: 9781844572854.
5 Occupation & Liberation

Film

Le Corbeau. Directed by Henri-Georges Cluzot. Black and White, 92 min. 1943.

Discussion

  • [Republic] “War and Occupation.” pp. 246–71.
  • Mayne, Judith. “Henri-georges Clouzot’s Le corbeau and the Crimes of Women.” The Journal of Twentieth-century / Contemporary French Studies revue d’études français 4, no. 2 (2000):  319–41.
  • Burch, Noël, and Geneviève Sellier. “Le Corbeau.” In The Battle of the Sexes in French Cinema, 1930_–1956_. Duke University Press Books, 2013, pp. 203–11. ISBN: 9780822355618.
6 Is France where the movies go to become classic?

Film

Funny Face. Directed by Stanley Donen. Color, 103 min. 1957.

Discussion

  • Schwartz, Vanessa. “The Belle Epoque that Never Ended” and “The Cannes Film Festival and the Making of Cosmopolitanism.” In It’s so French!: Hollywood, Paris, and the Making of Cosmopolitan Film Culture. University of Chicago Press. 2007. ISBN: 9780226742434.
  • Scott, A. O. “I Love Paris in the Movies,” The New York Times, August 13, 2010. [Images]
7

A Hexagon-shaped World?

Special Guest Prof. James Cahill

Film

Le Monde du Silence. Directed by Jacques Cousteau. Color, 86 min. 1956. [Watch on YouTube]

Discussion

  • Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. “The World of Perception and the World of Science.” In The World of Perception. Routledge, 2004. ISBN: 9780415773812.
  • Bazin, André. “Cinema and Exploration.” In What is Cinema? Vol. 1. Translated by Hugh Gray. University of California Press, 2004, pp. 154–63. ISBN: 9780520242272. [Preview with Google Books]
  • Barthes, Roland. “The Nautilus and the Drunken Boat.” 1957.
  • Césaire, Aimé. “Discourse on Colonialism.” (PDF) Translated by Joan Pinkham. This version published by Monthly Review Press: New York and London, 1972. Originally published as Discours sur le colonialisme by Editions Presence Africaine, 1955.
8 Classic French Stars: Brigitte Bardot

Film

Et Dieu créa la femme. Directed by Roger Vadim. Color, 95 min. 1956.

Discussion

  • Vincendeau, Ginette. “Brigitte Bardot: The Old and the New: What Bardot Meant to 1950s France.” In Stars and Stardom in French Cinema. Bloomsbury Academic, 2000, pp. 82–109. ISBN: 9780826447319.
  • Beauvoir, Simone de. “Bridgitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome.” Translated by Bernard Frechtman. Esquire (1959): 2–38.
  • [Cahiers] Truffaut, François. “A Full View (1953).”  pp. 273–4. [Preview with Google Books]
  • [Cahiers] Rohmer, Eric. “The Cardinal Virtues of CinemaScope (1954).” pp. 280–3.
9

The New Wave

Special Guest Prof. Brian Jacobson

Film

Breathless. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Black and White, 90 min. 1960.

Discussion

  • [Republic] “The Fourth Wave.” pp. 327–53.
  • Monaco, James. “Introduction: The Camera Writes.” In The New Wave: Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette. Oxford University Press, 1977, pp.13–21. ISBN: 9780826447319. [Preview with Google Books]
  • Astruc, Alexandre. “The Birth of a New Avant-garde: La Caméra-stylo.”
  • [Cahiers] André Bazin, et al. “Six Characters in Search of Auteurs: A Discussion about French Cinema.” pp. 31–46.
  • Andrew, Dudley. “Breathless: Old as New.” In Breathless: Jean-luc Godard Director. Rutgers University Press, 1988. pp. 3–20. ISBN: 9780813512532.
10 1970s Sex and Sectarianism

Film

Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob. Directed by Gérard Oury. Color, 95 min. 1973.

Discussion

  • Mulvey, Michael. “What’s so Funny about Rabbi Jacob? Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973) and the Multicultural Politics of French Cinematic Comedy.” French Politics, Culture & History. Berghahn Journals
  • Lanzoni, Rémi Fournier. “Comedy in the Modern Era.” In French Comedy on Screen: A Cinematic History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, pp. 121–52. ISBN: 9780230338425. [Preview with Google Books]
  • [Austin] “The French Comic Tradition and the Grotesque Body and Café-théâtre from Stage to Screen.” pp. 199–202.
11 The “Cult” Classic I: the Cinéma du Look

Film

Nikita. Directed by Jean-Luc Besson. Color, 117 min. 1990.

Discussion

  • [Texts] “Recycled Woman and the Postmodern Aesthetic: Luc Besson’s Nikita (1990).” pp. 297–309.
  • [Austin] pp. 144–55.
  • Jäckel, Anne. “Production Financing and Co-production.” In European Film Industries. British Film Institute, 2004, pp. 42–66. ISBN: 9780851709475.
12 The “Cult” Classic II: La Haine

Film

La Haine. Directed by Mattheiu Kassovitz. Black and White, 98 min. 1995.

Discussion

  • [Texts] Vincendeau, Ginette. “Designs on the banlieue: Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995).” pp. 310–27.
  • Konstantarakos, M. “Which Mapping of the City? La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995) and the cinéma de banlieue.” In French Cinema in the 1990s: Continuity and Difference. Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 160–71. ISBN: 9780198159582.
  • Sharma, Sanjay, and Ashwani Sharma. “‘So Far So Good…:’ La Haine and the Poetics of the Everyday.” Theory, Culture & Society 17, no. 3 (2000): 103–16.

Optional

Hussey, Andrew. “La Haine 20 Years on: What has Changed?The Guardian, May 3, 2015.

13 What is “classic” Today?: The Popular

Film

Intouchables. Directed by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache. Color, 112 min. 2011.

Discussion

14 What is “Classic” Today?: The Art House

Film

Bande de filles. Directed by Céline Sciamma. Color, 113 min. 2014.

Discussion

  • Wilinksy, Barbara. “The Image of Culture: Art Houses and Film Exhibition.” In Sure Seaters: The Emergence of Art House Cinema. University Of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 1–7 and 139–40. ISBN: 9780816635634. [Preview with Google Books]
  • Steve Neale. “Art Cinema as Institution.” Screen 22, no. 1 (1981): 11–40.
  • Read at least 2 reviews of Sciamma’s films online.

Course Info

Instructor
As Taught In
Spring 2015
Learning Resource Types
Written Assignments
Presentation Assignments