French Film Theory and Criticism: A History/Anthology, 1907-1939. Volume 2: 1929-1939

328 Pages·1988·7.76 MB·English

by  Richard Abel

FRENCH FILM
THEORY AND
CRITICISM
A HISTORY/ANTHOLOGY
1 9 0 7 - 1 9 3 9 ~ Richard Abel
Volume 11: 1929-1939
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS/ PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
COPYRIGHT© 1988 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West
Sussex
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data will be found on
the last printed page of this book
ISBN 0-691-05518-1
ISBN 0-691-00063-8 (pbk.)
Publication of this book has been aided by the Paul Mellon Fund
of Princeton University Press
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First Princeton Paperback printing, 1993
IO 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Printed in the United States of America
A Barbara, encore une fois
Eeyore turned and walked slowly down the stream for twenty
yards, splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side.
Then he looked at himself in the water again.
"As I thought," he said. "No better from this side."
A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, 1926

Contents
Note on Notes, x Preface, xiii Acknowledgments, xxv
PART ONE: 1929-1934
The Transition to Sound
Selected Texts
Jacques Feyder, "The Possibilities of a Broadened Art" (1929), 38
Rene Clair, "Talkie versus Talkie" (1929), 39
Abel Gance, "Images of Yesterday, Voices of Tomorrow" (1930), 41
Jean Dreville, "Documentary: The Soul of Cinema" (1930), 42
Benjamin Fondane, "From Silent to Talkie: The Rise and Fall of the
Cinema" (1930), 45
Marcel Pagnol, "The Talkie Offers the Writer New Resources"
(1930), 55
Rene Clair, "Film Authors Don't Need You" (1930), 57
Jean Vigo, "Toward a Social Cinema" (1930), 60
Jean Epstein, "The Cinema Continues" (1930), 63
Jean-Paul Dreyfus, "L'Aged'or" (1930), 68
Georges Altman, "Censorship in France: L'Age d'or" ( 193 1 ), 7 l
Rene Clair, "Le Million" (1931), 73
Philippe Soupault, ''jean de la Lune or Cinema on the Wrong Track"
(1931), 75
Rene Bizet, "Marius and the Popular Spirit" (1931), 77
Joris Ivens, "Reflections on the Avant-Garde Documentary" (1931), 78
Georges Altman, "The Spirit of Film" (1931), Bo
Jean-George Auriol, "La Chienne" (1931), 86
Jean Cocteau, "Le Sang d'un poete" (1932), 89
Paul Reboux, "Les Croix de bois'' (1932), 93
Frarn;ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: Les Croix de bois'' (1932), 95
Sacha Guitry, "For the Theater and Against the Cinema" (1932), 98
Marcel Carne, "Cinema and the World" (1932), 102
Leon Moussinac, "The Condition oflnternational Cinema" (1933), 105
Le Corbusier, "Spirit of Truth" (1933), l l l
Monny de Boully, "A.B.C.D." (1933), l 14
Georges Neveux, "The Tunnel 1930-1940" (1933), l 17
Antonin Artaud, "The Premature Old Age of the Cinema" (1933), l 22
Vil
CONTENTS
Jean Renoir, "How I Give Life to My Characters" (1933), 125
Marcel Carne, "When Will the Cinema Go Down into the Street?"
(1933), 127
Marcel Pagnol, "Cinematurgy of Paris" (1933), 129
Franc;ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: La Rue sans nom" (1934), 136
Jean Levy, "King Kong" (1934), 137
Valery Jahier, "Angele" (1934), 140
PART TWO: 1934-1939
(0i1ture and Politics: The Popular Front Era
Selected Texts
Valery Jahier, "Prologue to a Cinema" (1934), 182
Valery Jahier, "L'Atalante" (1934), 186
Valery Jahier, "Toni" (1935), 187
Jean Epstein, Photogenie and the Imponderable (1935), 188
Roger Leenhardt, "More on The Informer and La Bandera" (1935), 193
Roger Leenhardt, "On Opening a School for Spectators" (1935), 194
Franc;ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: La Kermesse heroi"que"
(1935), 195
Roger Leenhardt, "Cinematic Rhythm" (1936), 200
Pierre Bost, "Le Crime de Monsieur Lange" (1936), 205
Maurice Jaubert, "The Cinema: Music" (1936), 206
Jean Renoir, "The Photogenic Golden Calf' (1936), 21 l
a
Pierre Bost, "La Vie est nous" (1936), 2 l 2
Louis Chavance, "The Cinema in the Service of the Popular Front"
(1936), 213
Jean Cassou, "From Avant-Garde to Popular Art" (1936), 217
Georges Sadoul, "Apropos Several Recent Films" (1936), 218
Georges Sadoul, "The Cinematheque franc;aise" (1936), 223
Georges Sadoul, "Les Bas-Fonds" (1936), 225 ·
Franc;ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: The Cinema Awards"
(1936), 228
Henri Langlois, "Les Bas-Fonds" (1937), 229
Georges Franju, "Exhibitionism" (1937), 231
Alberto Cavalcanti, "The Neorealist Movement in England"
(1937), 233
~orges Sadoul, "La Marseillaise, a Popular Epic" (1938), 238
Franc;ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: La Marseillaise" (1938), 241
Roger Leenhardt, "La Marseillaise" (1938), 245)
Claude Aveline, "Films and Milieux" (1938), 246
Vlll
CONTENTS
l,
HenriJeanson, "Jean Renoir" (1938), 247
Emile Vuillermoz, "A Case of Conscience" (1938), 250
Georges Sadoul, "Setting and Society" (1938), 255
Fran~ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: La Bete humaine" (1938), 256
Georges Sadoul, "A Masterpiece of Cinema: La Bite humaine"
(1939), 259
Claude Aveline, "Apropos the Prix Louis Delluc" (1939), 262
Georges Altman, "Le]our se /eve: A pure film noir" (1939), 266
Claude Aveline, "John Ford" (1939), 269
lL Fran~ois Vinneuil, "Screen of the Week: La Regle du jeu" (1939), 272
L- Georges Sadoul, "La Regle du jeu" (1939), 276
Index, 281
IX
Note on Notes
NOTES to the preface and each of the introductory essays to the two parts
of this book will be found immediately following the preface and the two
essays. Notes to the anthology selections follow each text. These notes are
mine unless otherwise indicated: those written by the author of the selec
tion are marked Au; those by the other translators are marked TRANS.
The cinema {is] an amusement for slaves, a pastime for ignoramuses.
Georges Duhamel, 1930
I submit that the cinema is a new art form which has its own rules and
unique practices, that it cannot be reduced to a form of theater, and that
it ought to be as useful to cultural understanding as Greek and
philosophy are.
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1931
{History] has taken as its primary task, not the interpretation of the
document, not the attempt to decide whether it is telling the truth or
what is its expressive value, but to work on it from within and to develop
it: history now organizes the document, divides it up, distributes it,
orders it, arranges it in levels, establishes series, distinguishes between
what is relevant and what is not, discovers elements, defines unities,
describes relations. The document, then, is no longer for history an inert
material through which it tries to reconstitute what men have done or
said, the event of which only the trace remains; history is now trying to
define within the documentary material itself unities, totalities, series,
relations. . . . history is one way in which a society recognizes and
develops a mass of documentation with which it is inextricably linked.
Michel Foucault, 1969
XI