Germaine Dulac: A Cinema of Sensations

337 Pages·2014·2.202 MB·English

by  Tami Williams

G e r m a i n e
d u l a c
a cinema of Sensations
t a m i w i l l i a m S
Germaine Dulac
Women and Film History International
Series Editors
Kay Armatage, Jane M. Gaines, and Christine Gledhill
A new generation of motion picture historians is rediscovering the vital and diverse
contributions of women to world film history whether as producers, actors, or spectators.
Taking advantage of new print material and moving picture archival discoveries as well
as the benefits of digital access and storage, this series investigates the significance of
gender in the cinema.
A list of books in the series appears
at the end of this book.
Germaine
Dulac
A Cinema of Sensations
Tami Williams
University of Illinois Press
Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield
© 2014 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 C P 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Tami, 1970–
Germaine Dulac: a cinema of sensations / Tami Williams.
pages cm. — (Women and film history international)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-252-03847-1 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-252-07997-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-252-09636-5 (ebook)
1. Dulac, Germaine, 1882–1942—Criticism and interpretation.
I. Title.
PN1998.3.D745W66 2014
791.4302'33092—dc23 [B] 2014003225
For Valerie, Janet & Doris

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I
1. “ How I Became a Film Director”:
Dulac’s Early Life and Pre-Filmmaking Career 9
2. The Great War and Dulac’s First Films 45
Part II
3. Negotiating Art and Industry
in the Postwar Context 77
4. Dulac’s Aesthetic Matures 124
Part III
5. Fiction, Newsreels, and Social Documentary
in the Sound Era 163
6. Popular Front Activism and Vichy 195
Conclusion 209
Chronology 213
Filmography 219
Notes 231
Bibliography 277
Index 295

acknowledgments
Many film scholars, teachers, archivists, editors, and research institutions made
this project possible. My first thanks go to Dulac scholars Sandy Flitterman-
Lewis, and Prosper Hillairet, who led me to discover the filmmaker and her
rich oeuvre, and to Rodolphe Lussiana of the Cinémathèque française and
Christian Lebrat, director of Éditions Paris expérimental, who first gave me
the opportunity to view and publish on these films in France. My inspir-
ing undergraduate film studies mentors, Edward Branigan, Mary Desjardins,
Janet Walker, Mark Williams, and Charles Wolfe, set me on this path at UC-
Santa Barbara; and the brilliant Carlo Ginzburg, Peter Wollen, Dudley Andrew,
and Yuri Tsivian, helped shape my archival research methodology during my
doctoral studies and graduate coursework at UCLA, the University of Iowa,
and USC. I could not have accomplished this project without the dedicated
personal mentorship, archival guidance, and attentive manuscript readings
of my UCLA doctoral chair, Janet Bergstrom, and the faithful support of my
committee members, Stephen Mamber, Patricia Harter, and the sadly missed
Teshome Gabriel. All of these amazing scholars and mentors continue to in-
spire me to cast my own research broadly across media, and across national
and disciplinary boundaries. My deep gratitude goes to my discerning readers
Peter Dreyer, Alison McKee, and Charles O’Brien, my generous, talented, and
indefatigable copyeditor Deborah Oliver, my enthusiastic and steadfast edi-
tors Joan Catapano, Daniel Nassett, and Jennifer Clark, and the University of
Illinois Press for their faith in this book. Thanks also to Kay Armatage, Jane
M. Gaines, and Christine Gledhill, who created the Women and Film History
International series, in which I am honored to have this book included.
ix