Discussion on The Smiling Madame Beudet

Discussion on The Smiling Madame Beudet
My essay:

Psychological exploration was central to the ideology of French Impressionist filmmakers. Germaine Dulac used camera work and editing showing memories and flashbacks in The Smiling Madame Beudet(Germaine Dulac, 1923) so we could feel the psychological torment of Madame Beudet. Other French Impressionist filmmakers also used film to show memories and flashbacks, but her style was different than Herbier for example in L’Inhumaine (Marcel L’Herbier, 1924). Herbier instead uses filters to change the colors of things that are memories. 

One scene that shows her special style is this clip:

This is a memory of her experience of seeing the play Faust, much different to her husband’s memory. Faust by Goethe was a great pick from literature to choose. In the picture you’ll see the character Gretchen is turning up her hand to reject Faust. At first appearance, one can think that it is her in the picture holding up her hand to stop the singer that looks like her husband with a moustache.

In the version I know of Faust, Gretchen is a young woman who rejects an older man. He then sells his soul to the devil to become young to attract her. She gets together with him and he gets her pregnant and ruins her life. It’s the story of her marriage in that she’s foolishly married and old man and he has ruined her life. It was great to pick that one image of the play  paralleling her life.

In Dulac's style she beautifully synthesizes other art as well. She chose Debussy for Madame Beudet to play. He was one of the most famous French Impressionist musicians of the time. As she plays Debussy’s Water Under the Rain she also imagines rain in the garden in a visual edit.  A beautiful nod to music of the time.

Impressionists played with light and Dulac uses blackout backgrounds to clear the space and keep the images hyper-illuminated to focus on what she wants you to see and feel.

This shot looks like she superimposed a large profile on the left with a farther back shot on the right. It doesn’t look like they could be on the same set due to the to their spatial relationship. This is also an example of her photogénie. Something purely visual where she transforms these images in her subjective way, unlike a photograph.
2/27/2021
Student responses to my essay and my return replies to them. 

Vincent Cheng:

The mention and presence of the theater and the play, I think, is another aspect of the film that attempts to synthesize or at least incorporate certain aspects of the theater as an art form. I wonder whether Madame Beudet’s decision not to go to the theater to see Faust (with her husband) implies a rejection of the theater by the Impressionists who thought of the theater as less capable than the cinema of conveying characters’ subjectivity as the Impressionists’ films did.

My response:

Hi Vincent, 

That is such an interesting point. I remember in the readings that the impressionists felt film was the opposite of theater. The two references to theater are not favorable - it was mainly the over acting that they were against.

Interesting how she threw symbolic items in her film. 

Wyatt Williams:

Hi Ida,

I had originally planned to focus on this part of the film as well and would broaden the discussion to include the entire exchange between the couple. This back and forth that follows from M. Beudet’s invitation to the theater gives the audience insight into their mindsets of their relationship. I thought that the cuts away to their thoughts was an imagination of what kind of future experience they would have if they went to the theater, rather than a memory. His is one that he imagines as enjoyable, hers is not. I thought this scene captured the visual rhythm that the Impressionist filmmakers were striving for. (I also thought the one screenshot that you shared could describe she feels about the whole relationship she has with her husband! It really sets the tone for the rest of this film!)

My reply:

Hi Wyatt, 

I think you're right. I think the images are the future projection of what the play will be like. I also think that because Madame Beudet is well read (unlike her husband), she knows that it's a story of an unpleasant tragedy - mainly for the female character. I think it was an intentional choice. 

My response to a student essay:

Hi Brian, 

I was also confused about that puppet show although I thought it was artistically clever. I thought perhaps it was Punch and Judy and the marriage would continue being a battle and a theater.

I did some research on a website frenchfilms.org (Links to an external site.). They interpret it as:
"At the end of the film, once the drama has resolved itself, a puppet show is projected onto a wall as a glib parody of a happy marriage, and we realise that this is how Madame Beudet sees herself - a pathetic guignol forever condemned to enact a ritual of simulated contentment in a theatre for children. "
I looked up the word guignol and it is defined as hand puppet.
Thanks for reminding me of this scene. 

Test

Your Answers:

Results for item 1.

1

1 point possible

What film featured in the Module showcases French modern artist Fernand Léger's design of a laboratory of a scientist-hero?

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L’Inhumaine (Marcel L’Herbier, 1924) 

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Results for item 2.

2

1 point possible

Please describe what is happening in this scene from The Smiling Madame Beudet? Who is this figure with the tennis racket?

 

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Madame Beudet pictures the tennis player from her magazine coming to life and beating up her husband

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Results for item 3.

3

1 point possible

What 1925 book written by Léon Moussinac summed up the Impressionism's stylistic traits and the theoretical views of its filmmakers?

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Moussinac’s account stressed
   a)expressive techniques like
   b)slow motion and
   c)superimpositions,
and it singled out the Impressionist group as the most interesting French filmmakers

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Results for item 4.

4

1 point possible

What term did the French Impressionists use to indicate something more than being “photogenic?” For them, this term described the basis of cinema.

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Photogénie 

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Results for item 5.

5

1 point possible

Please describe what has just happened in this final scene from The Smiling Madame Beudet.

 

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Mr. Beudet thinks his wife was trying to kill herself not him and he gets emotional and gives her a hug. What would I do without you?

Waiting for grade test 5/5 essay 3/3

The End of French Impressionism

 The End of French Impressionism

Germaine Dulac - She

The End

1)In the late 1910s and the first half of the 1920s,
2)the Impressionists formed a tightly knit group, supporting each other in their mission to
   establish an alternative, artistic cinema.
3)By mid-decade, they had succeeded to a considerable extent.
4)Although few of their films attracted large audiences, they often received favorable
   reviews and were appreciated by the audiences of the ciné-clubs and art theaters.
5)In 1925, Léon Moussinac, a leftist critic sympathetic to the Impressionists,
  published La Naissance du Cinéma (“The Birth of the Cinema”);
6)there he summed up the movement’s stylistic traits and the theoretical views of its
   filmmakers.
7)Largely based on Delluc’s writings,
8)Moussinac’s account stressed
   a)expressive techniques like
   b)slow motion and
   c)superimpositions,
9) and it singled out the Impressionist group as the most interesting French filmmakers.

Copycats

1)As more filmmakers copied Impressionist techniques,
   the style lost its impact.
2)In 1927, Epstein remarked,
“Original devices such as rapid montage or the tracking or
   panning camera are now vulgarized.
3)They are old hat, and it is necessary to eliminate visibly obvious style in order
   to create a simple film.”
4) Indeed, Epstein increasingly presented simple stories in a quasi-documentary style,
   using nonactors and eliminating flashy Impressionist camerawork and editing.
5)His last Impressionist film, Finis Terrae, portrays two young lighthouse keepers on a
    rugged island;
6)subjective camera techniques appear mainly when one youth falls ill.
7)Epstein’s early sound film, Mor-Vran (1931),
8)eschews Impressionist style altogether in a restrained,
    poetic narrative of villagers on a desolate island.

Impressionist began experimental techniques

1)Perhaps because the style’s techniques were becoming somewhat commonplace,
    other Impressionist filmmakers began to experiment in different directions.

 

If the era from 1918 to 1922 can be said to have been characterized primarily by
   pictorialism, 

and the period from 1923 to 1925 by the addition of rhythmic cutting,

 
then the later years, 1926 to 1929, saw a greater diffusion in the movement.

By 1926, 

1)some Impressionist directors had achieved considerable independence
   by forming their own small producing companies.
2)Moreover, the support provided by the ciné-clubs and small cinemas now allowed the
    production of low-budget experimental films.
3)As a result of both these factors, the late Impressionist period saw a proliferation of short
    films, such as Kirsanoff’s Menilmontant
4)and the four films produced by Les Films Jean Epstein.

Experimental Films

1)Another factor diversifying the Impressionist movement was the impact of experimental
    films.
2)Surrealist, Dadaist, and abstract films often shared the programs of the ciné-clubs
    and art cinemas with Impressionist films in the mid-to-late 1920s.
3)These tendencies were lumped in the category of cinéma pur.
4)Dulac wrote and lectured extensively in favor of cinéma pur, and
5)in 1928 she abandoned commercial filmmaking to direct
6)a Surrealist film, The Seashell and the Clergyman.
7)Thereafter she concentrated on abstract short films.

A short clip of The Seashell and the Clergyman

Part 4 - F.Traits FI- Mise-en-Scène

 Part 4 - Formal Traits of French Impressionism - Mise-en-Scène

Devices of Mise-en-Scène

Mise-en-Scene - not as distinctive a trait - but used
1)Since the Impressionists were interested primarily in the effects of camerawork
  and editing on the subjects filmed,
2)fewer distinctive traits of the movement lie in the area of mise-en-scène.
3)Still, we can make some generalizations about this aspect of their style.
4)Perhaps most important, the Impressionists were concerned about lighting objects
   to enhance their photogénie as much as possible.
5)If filters placed over the lens could enhance a shot’s photographic effect,
6)then shooting through some translucent object placed in the setting of the scene
  could do the same.
7)The Impressionists often shot through textured curtains.

 
In Kean,
1)the hero’s first meeting with the woman he will love
2)has him holding a gauzy curtain up between them.

Kean (Alexandre Volkoff, 1924)

Close up of him sweeping his hands - like come out her and join me.

Close up of her saying no by shaking head
He's clasping his hands - like begging

This must be a play because this popped up

2nd shot is from the poor seats in the back - how clever

Full long shot including audience

A shot of the theater director looking at the script and up at the actors
He shouts something out to them

Intertitle:
"J'ai franchi ces murs sur les ailes de l'amour. Car des limites de pierre ne saurient l'arreter."
(by) Romeo et Juliette. Acte II

Translation:
I crossed these walls on the wings of love. For stone limits cannot stop it.

Back to Romeo with arms dramatically open

Now he sees someone else - an audience member?

He keeps starring at her
cut to her - with a tempting look

Back to Romeo
Intertile:
"S'ils te voient, ils te tueront!"
(Romeo et Juliette. ActeII)

Juliette - taps his hand to get his attention back -- he looks at her like, what?
He's holding her loving veil, caressing it...back to a close up of the vixen

He keeps getting distracted and starring at her.

Intertitle: " Helas! il y a plus de peril a contempler tes yeux qu'a braver vingt de leurs epees.

Translation: Alas! there is more danger to contemplate your eyes than to brave twenty of their swords.

HERE'S THE SHOT

But he's looking at the lady off stage who is making yearning looks - not at Juliette

Cuts between both of them looking back and forth in close up. 

END

Striking Settings

1)Finally, the Impressionists often tried to use striking settings.
2)They did so in two opposing ways:
   a)first, by employing modernist décor and,
   b)second, by filming in real locations.
3)In French society in general,
    “modern” design of the type now labeled Art Deco was fashionable at the time.
4)Some of the filmmakers used celebrated architects and artists as designers.

For L’Inhumaine,
1)L’Herbier had the great French modern artist Fernand Léger design the laboratory of the
   scientist-hero.

L’Inhumaine (Marcel L’Herbier, 1924)

Look for modernist art deco design

real locations

starting shot - longshot?

very cool - curtains are drawn back - 2nd half of stage

Descending the staircase

Close up on his face. 

They are slowly walking towards each other --She looks afraid

he gets her to go upstairs - lovely framed shot

Curtain closes...what? No no filter - we're behind the scenes - no his laboratory

omg - this close up!

Silent until this moment - now a ticking sound

Close ups of her, then him. 

Now we see the art deco

Like big clicking clock sounds and there's the clock

Close up on a wig or scalp

She sees in and grabs it. The lighting is excellent

He grabs it back and throws it on the ground

She kind of graps her chest

Intertile:
"Please forgive this...mystification..."

Mad scientist look.

Intertitle:
"I intended to die when I left your home, but I remembered your saying"

His eyes go narrow and look afar
Intertitle:
"If you can destroy your life so easily, it wasn't worth much to begin.

She gives a superior look and he looks down with unpleasant memories

oh - because if was a memory - it was in green.

Now back to black and white -- he's staring at her with cold squinty eyes

Flash back? to an outdoor scene - where it looks like he wants to drive car off the ledge

Oh- he dumped his car over the edge because

Intertitle:
And then I wanted them to think me dead in order to discover what you kept hidden..."

Interesting intertitle font and bold

Savoir = Need

He looks at her again with narrow eyes...

Car tumbles down cliff

First time i've seen that...previous view point  was him looking out at the valley...next is this

Back to Black and white...

They are near the doorway and she's starting to look concerned.

clutches her heart

Intertitle:
"You don't know anything more than that!"

Dramatically shuts her coat and walks away from him.

They walk to another cool location in the factory - with more art deco

Intertitle:
"I know you're here! Otherwise, you would never have come!"

They're both wearing kind of modern velvet clothing

and that hat is crazy

They both sit down together

he says

Intertitle:
"Yes! I know something more...

something here will make you cancel your trip."

He's talking wildly and gesturing with his hands

Intertitle:
While, disarmed, Claire smiles at this mystery, ouside Djorah...

Gorgeous - a memory - because it's in green. Beautiful art deco

It jumps back to b/w present

back to green house

back to b/w another view of factory

He's showing her some invention i think

She's inspecting it and there is a cut-in of a clock

He's inspecting her

Danger of Death

Intertitle:
"Beware! This device is dangerous..."

They cut in on this sign several times getting brighter each time. 

There is a gentle swaying music in the background

Intertitle:
"Until tomorrow...here..."

She smiles evily

Wraps herself in her cape

She's doing something strange now...

She's trying to hold him back...

Ends

I found the rest - and he's not trying to hold her back - he kisses her hand

and is so happy that she is intrigued then black out.

Gourgeous restored trailer i found click here

The whole film click here

I saw this on wikipedia Today the film is often cited as a "manifesto for Art Deco"

In Albert Dieudonné’s Catherine,
1)the heroine and her lover look through a curtained window.

Catherine (Albert Dieudonné, 1924)

Starts with a couple sitting together

then a happy group of theater people come through town

It looks like she wants to get up and join

I think she is a servant - they go and look through the curtained window

I guess this is the seen he wanted us to look at

one more curtained shot and then they open up the balcony window

A close up of the two of them - he's looking at her and she has big eyes

He pulls her close to smell her hair

Now he puts his cheek on her hair

Back to the people outside having fun

back to them

One last look outside with curtain closed

Now they look at each other through curtain and good lighting

They cut outside to the dancers

He grabs her in an embrace

dancers

lovers getting closer

they dance

continual cuts back and forth to crowd dancing and them dancing 

shorter cuts just a second between...you feel yourself spinning

Intertitle : Catherine - now she looks freaked out

And he dies

Last shots are still of circus outside and then him laying on the ground

and back to her shocked face. 

In L’Inondation, - The Flooding

1)Louis Delluc filmed a character walking along a country road

   with the sun opposite the camera,

2)transforming the landscape into one of the film’s many lovely compositions.

L’Inondation (Louis Delluc, 1924)

i love views like this of rural railway stations

Another beautiful shot - train coming in

....une pauvre voyageuse.... a poor traveler.

Eve Francis

I like this shot

Now a front view of the station

Medium shot to her face - she looks nervous and unsure

She sees someone and goes to ask something- then changes her mind.

He kind of looks her up and down suggestively

She doesn't know what to do - oh, maybe she was waiting for someone to pick her up

She starts walking down this road

Longshot

Now close - medium shot waist up of her with landscape behind her - not so beautiful

She's looking all around to see if she sees anyone or anything

she starts running down a street

A horse and carriage come by

It doesn't stop to pick her up - she's getting really tired

Nice landscape shot and longshot of a farm in the background

She just sits for a little and gets up and keeps moving

There's a farm with a wealthy guy playing with a dog

She's so tired and going up a sidewalk of a house

She keeps walking and sways a little like she will pass out

Puts down her bags and sits in front of someone's entrance - one above

Close up of her looking discouraged

The man of the house come out and sees her - he stops

He doesn't look friendly - he was the guy playing with the dog

Intertitle:
"Ou allez-vous donc, mademoiselle?"
Where are you going, mademoiselle?

She passes out in his arms
I found another little bit of the film after this he says

the cold will have seized you. come warm up - then clip ends.

Here's a small clip of film

small description of film clip - Extrait - extract

In a village on the banks of the Rhône, Alban, a young farmer, is about to marry Margot. Monsieur Broc, a town hall employee, finds his daughter Germaine, in love with Alban. When he rejects her, she collapses. The flood of the river suddenly floods the village. One evening Margot disappears