FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST CINEMA:

Film Culture, Film Theory,

and Film Style

This is a volume in the Arno Press Collection

David Bordwell

DISSERTATIONS ON FILM 1980

. Advisory Editor·
Garth S. Jowett

See last pages of this volume

for a complete list of titles

ARNO PRESS
A New York Times Company
New York • 1980
 FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST CINEMA: FILM CULTURE,
FILM THEORY, AND FILM STYLE

by

David Bordwell

Editorial Supervision: Steve Bedney

First publication in book form 1980 by Arno Press Inc. c c

~
Copyright © 1974 by David Bordwell
ZI
Reproduced by permission of David Bordwell
DISSERTATIONS ON FILM 1980
ISBN for complete set: Q-405-12900-9
~
=
See last pages of tbis volume for titles.
Publisher's NOle: Tbis book has been reproduced from the
best available copy.

Manufactured in the United States of America

An Abstract
Of a.thesis submitted in partial fulfillment· of the
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
requ~rements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
1n the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art
Bordwell, David. in the Graduate College of
French impressionist cinema. The University of Iowa
(Dis~ertations on film 1980) December, 1974
Originally presented as the author's thesis,
University of Iowa. Thesis Bupervisor: Professor J. Dudley Andrew
Bibliography: p.
1. Impressionism in motion pictures. 2. Moving-
pictures--France--History. I. Title. II. Series.
PN1995.9.Il.5B6 1980 791.43'0944 79-6668
ISBN 0-405-12902-5
 ABSTRACT

Between 1918 and 1928, an avant-garlic movement in

French film emerged and flourished. GeneralJ y called
"Frehch Impressionism," the movement created an indige- ,
nous film CUlture, a theory of cinema, and 3 Jistinct
film style. The thesis describes the nature o.nli develop-
ment of the movement by means of an historical examillution
of its cultural activities, an analytical exposition of
its theoretical assumptions, and a critical analysis of
its characteristic film style.
Culturally, the Impressionists were instrumental
in convincing an educated public that film could be an
art in its own right. Through the founding of film jour-
nals (e.g., Le Film and Cinea), Louis Delluc and his
aS30ciates created an audience for avant-garde experiment.
Similarly, the establishing of specialized theatres
(e.g., Ie Vieux Colombier, Studio des Urselinesl "nd
cine-clubs (CASA, Le Cine-ClUb) secured a public interest-
ed in supporting new styles in cinema. By 1925, 3 film
culture had emerged, and Impressionists plo.yed :, dominant
role in initiating it.
The polemic of the Impressionist movement, apart
from its impact on contemporary attitudes toward film as
art, also rests on theoretical assumptions about the
nature of cinc;lI\o.. Derived from an idealist aesthetic cultural activities, film theory, and film style were

of art as expression, Impressionist film tlleory stresses mutually reinforcing. The final chapter of the thesis

the film ~lt'L.ic;L't' trull::;for'lI\aLioI! of naLlu'c' LItJ'LlUglt constructs a periodization which indicates the causal

photogenie, which consists of the aesthetic functions role of foreign influences, production conditions, and

of camerawork, optical devices, and editing. Impression- the influence of individual film-makers in the rise,

ist theu!'y l"t~ates the essence of cinema ill VL,U:l] de- stylistic diffusion, and decline of the Impressionist

vices which express emotional and mental states of either movement.

the film-maker or the characters within the film.

'l'lw "lyle of Impressionist film-making is accor-
dingly characterized by visual devices which indicate
subjecLiv~ c;LaLes. C unalysis of Lhirty-six 'IIlll))'C[;-

sionist films by Gance, Delluc, Dulac, L'Herbier, Epstein,

Kirsanoff, and others. shows the prominence of SUbjective
camerawork and optical devices, as well as rhythmic edit-
ing to convey the psychological tempo of a ch8racter's
experience. In contrast, other French cinema of tht' time
lacks such a style. By means of a model based on Witt-
ge~stein's concept of "family resemblances," the thesis
constructs a paradigm of Impressionist style which per-
mits comparison of Impressionism not only with COI1Lem-
porary non-Impressionist French cinema but also w.1th
German and Soviet styles of the time.
As a historical phenomenon, Impressionist is seen
to be a complex, multilayered movement in which the
 FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST CINEMA: FILM CULTUF\E,
FILM THEORY, AND Fl LM ~~TYLl-:

by

David Bordwell

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
December, 1974
Thesis supervisor: Professor J. Dudll:y Andrew
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Seldom, I think, can a disst}l'tatlun have bel'n :lS

fortunate in its supporters as this onc. 1 am c;rateful

to the American Film Institute for the grClnt which

enabled me to undertake the study. My doctoral commit-
tee--Professors Bertocci, Bowers, Brownstein, and Miller--
patiently asked the questions I had overlooked and kindly
punctured windy passages of prose. I am especiCllly
Copyright by grateful to my thesis director, Professor J. Dudley
DAVID BORDWELL Andrew, who helped make my three years at Iowa a revela-

197 11 tion of the possibilities of film scholarship. The libra-

rians and archivists who made my research both possible
and pleasurable include James Card of Eastman House,
Mary Corliss and Charles Silver of the Museum of Modern
Art, and Henri Langlois and Mary Meerson of La Cinema-
theque FranQaise. I am also grateful to Kristin Thompson,
who watched and discussed several Impressionist films
',.;ith me; I have benefited from her acute insight.s. My
wife Barbara understood and forgave my obsession witl1 work.
Finally, ;'P(~c lal thanks must go to Mar'ie Epstein and
Jean Mitry, whose kindness and charm have engendered S01l1('

of my fondest memories of this project.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTEF: I. lNTRODUC'fION
Aims 01' this Study; Previous 1
Lnitiil] Distinctions 11
Notes ,
,··t·
"

CHAPTEH II. IMPRESSIONISfvl AND THE 13UILlJINlJ l'!" \

FILM CULTURE
Film and French Avant-Garde Artists . 26
The Building of a French Film Culture 51
Journals .. . . . . ri:';
Gin6-Clubs . . . . . 03
Specialized Theatres 69
Wider Recognition 7?
Notes 78
CHAPTER III. IMPRESSIONIST FILM THEORY
The Nature of Art . . . . . . . . 94
'l'he Relation of Film to the rrradi tiona 1 Al'k<. 98
The Nature of the Film Image 105
The Nature of Filmic Construction 122
Evaluation 125
Notes 129
CHAP'l'ER IV. A PARADIGM OF IMPRESSIONIS'l' 1"1 LM STYLE
Constructing a Style Paradigm . . . 135
The Set of Films . . . . . . . . '136
'rhe Logical Nature of the Paradigm 139
The Problem of Film Style ' 111 ::'
Characteristics of the Image 150
Camerawork . . . . 152
Camera Dista,nce 152
Camera Angle 155
Camera Movement 158
Mise-en-Scene 162
Lighting 163
Decor . . 168
Arrangement and Behavior of FlgUl'cc;
in Space . 171
Optical Devices . 172
Editing . 184
Temporal Relations Between Shots 185
Spatial Relations Between Shots 187
Rhythmic Relations Between Shots 195
Conclusions: The Paradigm Applied 208
Notes 217
 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER V. A HISTORICAL PERIODIZATION AND ASSESS-

MENT OF THE IMPRESSIONIST MOVEMENT Aims of This Study; Previous Research
Periodization 219
Assessment 249
Notes 260
Like the history of painting, literature, and
APPENDIX A. FILMS EXAMINED FOR THE STYLISTIC
PARADIGM OF IMPRESSIONISM . . . . music, the history of cinema contains avant-garde move-
267
APPENDIX B. AN OUTLINE PARADIGM OF IMPRESSIONIST ments--ensembles of art works, polemics, theories, and
FILM STYLE, ,WITH SUPPLEMENTAL
MATERIAL 270 activities which constitute both internally coherent

BIBLIOGRAPHY positions and explicit challenges to already existing

293
styles. The challenging side of avant-gardes may be
the most irrunediately noticeable, but such movements
posit unified alternatives as well. In this study, I
shall be concerned with such a movement in cinema: that
of French Impressionism. I shall show that this move-
ment defined itself not only by revolt against already
existing norms but also, more positively, by the creation
of a unified set of films, writings, and
, cultural insti-
tutions.

This is a historical question, and in this study

I am assuming that history. is a construct. All that re-
mains of the Impressionist movement are films, documents,
and the testimony of surviving members. To demonstrate
significant patte·rns in these data the historian must
build a structure which organizes the data intelligibly.
For my purposes, a hierarchic or stratified construct has
aspects of a unified avant-garda movement,
the most advantages ,1 First, it per'lJIits us t..o ,~I'l~ate
see, this unity arises not simply because the movclJlent
distinct patterns in what was I'll f ac t n confluent, over-
operated at ail these levels, but also becauso these
lapping series of events. Second, a hierarchic construct
levels are significantly related, mutually l't'infol'cing.
P ermits us to ex~rrll'ne
u- ~l'ml'l·arl'tl'u·"S
~ '-' t
b CWC0n 8tl'aL:1 ( e.g"
The film theory grows, both logically and chronologically,
between Impressionist film theory and Impressionist film
out of a specific polemical position; the film style
style), Finally a hierarChic construct renders period-
affects the film theory and vice-versa; and so on, The
ization more flexl'ble, sl'nce perlo
'd"lza t'lon may be applied
division of tasks, then, runs this way: First, I shall
to any stratum individually; this permits us to avoid
examine these three strata in turn, by means of a histori-
what Leonard S. Meyer has called the fallacy of hierar-
cal account of the change in cinema's cultural status,
chic uniformity, "the tacit and usually unconscious
an analytical examination of the movement's theoretical
assumption that the Bame forces and processes which order
assumptions, and a critical examination of its idio-
and articulate one hierarchl'c leve'." are operatlve,
' are
syncratic film style. To avoid suggesting that one
equally effective, and function in the same fashion in
stratum as a whole determined another level as a whole,
the structuring of all levels. n2
I shall conclude by examining the three strata "verti-
We start, then, with a multilayered phenomenon.
cally" by a division into periods that will indicate the
In France between 1918 and 1928, the Impressionist move-
interaction among various levels, On the whole, I seek
ment emerged, It engaged in a polemical crusade for
to clarify the significance of the Impressionist move-
film's status as an art, stimulated the creation of a
ment in film history.
theory of film, and created a distinctive film style,
To use the term "Impressionism'.' is all'cady to
This study will examine the operation of this movement
raise a question. Although the movement.. did 11,'\ 1l:1IllC
on three historical strata: the stratum of cult..ural
itself and at the time was usually called simply the
activities which sought to establish film as an art;
"avant-garde," the label "French Impressionism" is still
the stratum of theoretical writing; "and the stratum of
not quite arbitrary. One-member of the movement, Germaine
film style. These three strata constitute complementary
Dulac, identified it as "impressionism" in l<),"{
iterated the label in a 1930 essay.3
ians have adopted the term to distinguish the mOVl'mL'nt
from Surrealism and the abstract-film movement; CkorgeG
Sadoul has had perhaps the most influence in 0stublish-
-4ng. the term as conventional historical usage.
continue to use the term because it seems to me useful
not only in distinguishing the movement from others
but also in describ~ng a major trait of the movement's
film style--its tendency toward sUbjective technique.
Analogies with other arts, however, should not be pushed
too far; Impressionism in cinema, as I shall point out,
has only a few affinities with Impressionism in painting.
Once we have named the movement, why should we
study it? Pi r',;!" Impressionism is important
against which later, better-known movements (e.g., Sur-
realism) reacted; to comprehend the programs of such later
movements, we need to understand Impressionism.
positively, Impressionism is historic:llly and aestlleti-
cally significant in its own right.
the Impressionists constitute a central factor in the
creation oj' :I cinematic culture in France.
offer striking examples of experimental uses of camera-
worl" optical d,'vices, and editing; their works thus
dl'll<'I'VI' :rl\\'lll i<'11 :1:'; p:11'(, 1)1' all :\v:lnt-gal'de film
:Jtld rl'- tradition. At the same timo, the Tillpr'('l>cionist.,-,' rUm
Subsequent. histor- theory, despite its many sllOrtcomings, W:lS Olll' llt' Ull'
first to try to come to grips with the uniquellcsL; or the
film medium and to delineate an aesthetic of cinema.
Just as Impressionist film style has had importQnt in-
I shall
fluences on later film activity, so Impressionist theory
defined a position which has affected theoretical dispu-
tation today. Most generally, perhaps this study will
contribute something toward the understanding of larger
issues in cinema study: the historical nature of a film
movement, the extent and significance of stylisti~ homo-
geneity in a period, and the relation of film theory
to film-making. In Short, both the immediate impact
and long-range significance of Impressionism justify an
"s a norm attempt to define and trace the historical development
of the movement.
Despite the CUltural, theoretical, and stylistic
More importance of this movement, previous research in the area
has not sought to define Impressionism as a InL'Vt'lllent.
As I shall show, Indeed, most research in the area has been spm's<' and
cursory. No study in English has examined the period
Their Cllms in detail, either by consulting primary source material
or by constructing a systematic period-scheme, and in no
language does there exist a full-length treatise on
Impressionism. 4 In French, several historians have
written briefly on Impressionism, but the resuJ. ts nrc LI1'
wi th the work of the two most important lel'l'Il,'ll il i '~\.l1l'inns
from satisfactory as accounts of why Wt: should cum,ider
of cinema: Georges Sadoul and Jean Mitry.
it a homogeneous movement. Virtually all previous re-
Sadoul's analysis lO of ttw moveillent lll,ll'I,,; an
search assumes a stylistic and ideological coI1('r('nco in
advance
Impressionism, but does not demonstrate it; instt'Cld, indi-
suggests some points of stylistic homogeneity, dis\.in-
vidual film-makers are treated atomistically, along bio-
guishes Impressionism from abstract cinema, Qlldproposes
graphical lines. Henri,Agel's Miroirs de l'Insolite dans
a period for the movement (roughly 1920 to 1'):'11). For
Ie Cinema Frangais dumps all the avant-garde film-makers
our purposes, the shortcomings of Sadoul's worJ( are never-
of the time into a single category, assumes that all
theless apparent. Although he posits a unified movement,
sought "surreality," and blames the Impressionists for
the individual biographies he presents never Jemonstl'ate
not being Surrealists.5 Rene Jeanne and Chal'h's Ford,
a common unity. Moreover, Sadoul is vague and cur301'y
while providing some scarce material, take a biographical
in discussion of both the style of individu:l1 films and
approach and neither assume nor prove the existence of
the theory of the movement as a whole. Such vagueness
a rnovement. 6 Pierre Leprohon, on the other hand, claims
about the films and the theory makes Sadoul's periodi-
a movement existed but offers no specific evidence for
zation suspect, since he relies Wholly on external (i.e.,
his claim and constructs no scheme of periodization;
non-stylistic and non-theoretical) criteria: he dates the
not surprising, since he allots only eight pages to the
beginning of the movement from Pathe's financial failure
movement.7 Henri Langlois' brief Cahiers du Cinema arti-
after the war and marks the end of the movement with the
cle "L'Avant-Garde Frangaise" is captivating but undocu-
death of Delluc. Examination of the films, however,
mented and it offers no systematic historical sclJl~me. 8
would have shown that at one level the movement did not
More SUbstantial in insight is the No§l Burch-Jean-Andr6
grind to a sudden stop in 1924. Finally, ;;:ld"lll! c;
Fieschi essay, "La Premiere Vague"; it is, however, a
account is totally undocumented. In sum, Sadoul's work
cd tic,il rather than a historical study and lacks both
1i,H's not f;atifll'actorily answer t.he questions p,;sed at
concreteness and documentation. 9 In a search for author-
itative scholarly studies on the movement, we are left
 Most thorough and comprehensive of all. L~ tlw WlH'l,
movement is seen as beginning around 1919 or 19~O, hit-
on Impr8ssiunlsIJI Liane by Jean Mitry.JI Mitl'Y ['ulluws ting its peak in 1923, and becoming effectively dispersed
Sadoul in his ;H'l'iodization, but Ill' do,~urfl(~nts Ili,; m:l(,ul'ia L
by 192~. But the historians who have made these claims
.somewhat more fully, and he lists two tenets of Impres- have gathered so little evidence and have made so few
sionism: the drama as pretext for visual display and tho distinctions and qualifications in the framing of these
tendency toward "pure rhythm." Though framed in an over- claims (e.g., the meaning of "subjective" film style)
simplified way, these tenets are a start toward grasping that we can hardly jUdge whether their account of the
the movement's ideology as a whole. Nonetheless, Mitry's movement is valid or not.
account is brief (twenty pages), biographical and atom- My study will show that while some of these
istic in approach, ~nd lacking in a detailed considera- assumptions are not supportable (e.g., the assumption that
tion of Impressionist visual style and film theory. the movement ended in 1924), most are valid. In very
Previous historians' treatments of the movement, general terms, previous historians are correct in assum-
then, sUbstantially agree about several assumptions. ing a fundamental unity in the Impressionist movement.
Impressionism is assumed to be a movement. As such, its I shall go further, however: by examining the activities,
films are distinct both from the standard cinema of its films, and theory of the movement more closely than
day and from the abstract or "pure" cinema of another previous historians have done, I shall illuminate the
contemporary avant-garde group. Impressionist film style movement in more detail than previous scholars have.
is. characterized by extensive use of "subjective" opti- In contradistinction to previous work, then, this
cal d~vices and rhythmic editing. Impressionist film study will concern itself with defining the homogeneity
theory emphasizes "photog§nie" or self-conscious pi~tor­ of the Impressionist movement. Biographical material
ialism as the Bssenceof cinema. In addition, Impres- will be used only when it contributes to establishing
sionist film-makers and film theorists played a signifi- common traits of the members. It can be argued that I
cant part in the growth of film magazines, avant-garde am blurring individual differences. The aforementioned
theatres, and cine-clubs. Finally, the Impressionist historians, however, have made us well aware of such indi-
vidual differences; what we need now is a demonstration
 10 11

of the aesthetic coherence of a movement in whicl1 t.l1e expect that all of previous historians' generalizations
various individuals participated and an account l'1' IlDW '>'iill be found to be accurate, we can at 1e~l~;t Ih'pl' that
that movement developed over time. I am confidl~lIt that. our conclusions will establish a body of claims more fully
this undertaking can lead to an eventual hei[;ht"I\l nr; 0 l' supported than those of past research in this area.
individual differences, for against a clear backgl'olHhi
Initial Distinctions
of the movement's "global" properties, our perceptiun of
For purposes of this study, the Impressionist
the traits of individual film-makers can be more subtle
movement may be seen as comprising a coherent. set of
and nuanced.
cultural activities, theoretical writings, and films
To begin characterizing the movement and examin-
emanating from a group of individuals. Through cultural
ing the heirarchic strata that may be considered to con-
activities, theoretical assumptions, and stylistic choi-
stitute it, I shall outline some external criteria for
ces, these individuals participated in the movement.
defining the Impressionist movement; that is the task of
Virtually all accounts of the movement agree 3S to its
the rest of this chapter. The second chapter examines
"membership," and I have followed contemporary writers
the nature of the Impressionists' activities in builditlg
and previous historians in defining the group. Central
a French film culture. The third chapter outlines tile
members of the movement include film-ma~ers who were als~
common film theory that underlay the Impressionists'
writers, theorists, or cultural activists (Louis Delluc,
writing. In chapter four, I shall construct a family-
Abel Gance, Jean Epstein, Germaine Dulac, Marcel L'Her-
resemblance paradigm of Impressionist film style drawn
bier, and Rene Clair) and two theorists who were also
from a body of works. The final chapter organizes a peri-
cultural activists (Riccioto Canudo and L~on Moussinac).
odization scheme and estimates the influence of the
movement as a whole. Throughout this study, the goal More peripheral members of the group include theorists

has been to draw from primary sources--writings and films-- (Elie Faure), critics (Pierre Porte, Paul Ramain), cultu-

evidence sufficient for specific claims about cultural, ral activists (theatre owners like Jean Tedesco, organi-

theoretical, and stylistic change. If it is too much to zers like Charles Leger), and film-makers who worked in
('h0 Impressionist styl.c' (Alexandre Volkoff, Dmitri
Kirsanov, Ivan Mosjoukine). Occasionally, a ri.lm-lIlakcl'
rhythm; examples would be Viking Eggeling's Symphonic
not basicrlll:; involved with the JIlOVl"mcn(. mad(~ n rilm 1.11

Diagonale, Fernande Leger and Dudley Murphy'G Dallet

the Impressionist style (e.g., Jacques f'eydcl', ,Tean
Mecanique, and Henri Chomette's Cinq Minutes de Cinema
Renoir). Some of these members were clos8 friends or
Pur. The concerns and works of this avant-garde have been
professional associates; others are included in the move-
sensitively examined in Standish Lawder's Structuralism
ment simply because of their theoretical position or film
and Movement in Experimental -
Film
- -and
- Modern ~
Art-1896-
--
style. As mentioned earlier, this study will stress
1925. 12
common features of individual behavior that contributed
The validity of the tripartite grouping of Impres-
to the creation of ~ unified movement.
sionists, commercial directors, and makers of abstract
As a gl'()UP, the individuals in the Impressionist
films is further confirmed by evidence that the members
movement are distinguishable from what I shall call the
of each group were themselves conscious of such divisions.
established commercial film-makers on the one hand and
Much Impressionist work was seen as explicit revolt
the "abstract-film" or "pure-film" avant-gardists 0n the
against the commercial tradition. As a critic, Louis
ot~. The commercial film-makers participated in few
Delluc attacked the commonplaces of commercial film-
cultural activities and benefited from no coherent. theo-
making, pouring sarcasm over the most respected figures
ries; they simply worked for large firms, althougll what
1'1 as survlved
• • work reveals an extraordinarily and films of French studio production. Moguls like
of thelr
Pathe and Gaumont, performers like Bernhardt and Gabrielle
high level of film talent. Prominent in this group are
RObinne, and directors like Feuillade and Antoine were
Louis Fcuilladc, Victorine Jasset, LConcc Perret, Max
dealt with bluntly and blisteringly. "Si j'§criv~is tout
Linder, and Andre Antoine. In sharp contrast is the
Ie mal que je pense de la maison Pathe, il faudrait un
abstract-film movement, Which, although less active on
certain nombre de volumes. H13 Of a Feuillade film he
the cultural front, did generate some theoretical activi7
wrote: "Des amis m'ont mene voir La Nouvelle Mission. de
ty. The films of this movement are characterized by lack
Judex. Dcs amis?,,14 Of Antoine's Les Fr~res Corses he
of narrative and an interest in pure visual form and
noted:
 1 I,

Even more severe was Antoine, who criticized [le1111("

Le scenario est ingrat au possible, les acLt'urs
sont empoisonnes de theatre at mgme de con~cr­ L'Hel'bier, and (to a lesser degree) Gance in :111 intt'l'vi('w
vatoire et enfin Ie mot economic a Llll 0tl'l' :301.l!'t' J ,',
plus d' une fois a Antoine. Qui, at avec c:a 1:1 that stirred up controversy throughout hall' ,)[' I'),_'S:
gaucherie d'un gros effort sans experience ~ur­
fisante."15 Qui, Delluc, L'Herbier, des gens qui ont <ill !~l,Qt
. . . mais que de cOlllplications inuti 1"I\! ,','lIIl11,'
Riccioto Canudo took Leonce Perret to task for films c' est plus simple qu' ils ne Ie croient. . Lt'
m§itre, c'est Gance, notre seul ('in~~st0.
that satisfied the public's taste for lIalbulllfl ul' post- Un photographe prodigieuse, Ie Pl1otograpl1c' :lVt','
un grand P . . . . Cela nous vaut cette 1','1 it'
cards."16 Yet another symptom of the same attitude is dans Ie sommaire qui s'appelle J'Accuse et les
enfantillages de la Roue. 20
the almost total absence of essays on the established
Canudo and others having replied, Antoine expl:ILllt'd that
commercial directors in Delluc's journals. In contrast
he felt that French cinema had progressed very little
to these film-makers Delluc and his followers elevated
since 1915 and after citing the "inutiles et assez pueri-
certain Impressionist film-makers. Although Delluc
les" experiments of L'Herbier and the "banal au rautinier"
praised the work of Henri Roussel, Jacques Baroncelli,
deficiencies of Delluc, he found their error in: "de
Leon Poirier, and Raymond Bernard, three directors--tl1e
pl'0tendre tout de suite elever Ie cin0ma :1lI [':111(:: d' \In art,
Impressionists Gance, Dulac, and L'Herbier--seemed to him
d'y faire oeuvre de litterature pure, sans tenir compte
most promising. 17
de la mentalite actuelle des spectateurs."21 Delluc
The targets of Delluc's attacks seemed to have
countered with a defense of his methods and :1 rcL01't that
responded in kind. Feuillade wrote acidly to Cinea-Cine
the well-financed Antoine could hardly sympathize with
pour Tous that the fashionable term "photogenie" could be
the poorer younger generation: "Vous avez tout en main,
found in an 1874 Larousse,18 and in an interview l1e lIIade
et c'0tait en un temps tout dore 00 votre prestige VOtlS
it clear that he had no sympathy for the avant-garde:
sauvaut tout. Est'ce que vous cpoyez que les
Croyez-moi, ce n' est pas grace aux chel'cheurs qUt'
Ie cinema gagnera sa place un jour, lIIelis gl'iicc' banquiers se roulent a nos pieds, suppliants et pante-
aux ouvriers du melodrame dont je me flatte d'~tre
un des plus convaingus. Ce que Louis Delluc nous lants?"22 Such a controversy confirms that to some ex-
a confie me concerriant est inexact. Je n'ai jamais
dit: "Vous avez raison de chercher. Je suis trop tent the Impressionist avant-garde and members of the
vieux, moi, je continue. 1I Je ne vise pas Ie moins
du monde a m'excuser de r6aliser Le Fils du Fli- standard commercial cinema recognized that distinctly
hU~1tier' Oil Vindincta. Je crois meme que crest
1-li~;r-:]liT "lli::-T~1\l~1 I'!'':'s dt' 1<1 vft'it0. 19
different attitudes marked them as being in separate movements.

camps. But the differences among the movements were not

In a similar but less antagonistic way, several only in the participants' attitudes. The Impressionist

contemporary writers distinguished the Impressionist movement may be provisionally distinguished on three

avant-garde from the abstract-film avant-garde. Pierre criteria. First, the Impressionists were of somewhat

Porte called the abstract film "pure cinema" and defined different ages and backgrounds than members of the stan-

it as an elimination of plot and character in order to dard commercial cinema. Antoine, Feuillade, and Jasset

express purified plastic movement. 23 Dulac, Gance, Clair were all born between 1858 and lB70, making them at least

and Tedesco all too~ such a definition for granted and middle-aged in the period to be considered here. By 1920,

implicitly contrasted abstract cinema with Impressionist Linder was thirty-seven, Perret was forty, Feuillade was

films, which did contain plots and characters. 24 Jean forty-seven, Jasset was fifty-eight, and Antoine was

Epstein explicitly .rejected abstract film ("8i ce cin§ma sixty-two: average age, forty-eight. In contrast, within

abstrait enchante quelques-uns, qu'ils ach~tent un the group the principal Impressionists were the younger

kaleidoscop"), thereby assuming the split Porte and others ones. In 1920, the oldest (Canudo) was forty-one,

had pointed out. 25 Perhaps Andre Delol1s summarized t.l10 Dulac was thirty-eight, Gance was thirty-one, Delluc and

difference best. Impressionists, he wrote, always re- L'Herbier thirty, Epstein twenty-three, Clair ·twenty-two,

spected the realistic aspects of the image: "S'ils trans- and Kirsanov twenty-one: average age, just under thirty.

posent souvent, c'est toujours pour signifier, et rendre The Impressionists were thus of a somewhat younger genera-

mat§rielle une impression (on a parle d"impressionisme') tion, and their movement's fervor undoubtedly owed a good

en accord direct avec le cours meme du film que la seule deal to their youthfulness. As we might expect, the mem-

vie v§elle inspire." The abstract cinema, on the o'ther bers of the abstract-film movement were roughly equivalent

hand, moves away from reality toward pure visual expres- in age to the Impressionists.

sion. 26 Such contemporary testimony points to a rea- A comparison of backgrounds of the members of

lization that the stylistic differences in ~he films various groups is even more revealing. Like the commer-·

refiected distinct, though not usually hostile, film cial directors, the Impressionists almost always came
 Hl
from theatrical backgrounds, but whereas the old"r
generation tended to be former actors (Perret, l,il1dt'r),
directors (Antoine), or technicians (Jasse\'), t.l1l.' Impl'cs-
sionists had written .plays (L'Herbicl', Gal1c,;:) ,11' dl';ltTlil
criticism (Canudo, Delluc, Dulac), and som", h:hi Il1\lsi,:a1
training (Canudo, L'Herbier, Kirsanov). Sir;ll1 Cic':lI1t.ly,
the commercial directors rose to prominence wh~'n r i 1m,
relying heavily on the stage and the formula script,
made the director an interpreter of other peopll" s works.;
hence, perhaps, the reliance on practiced theatl'e crafts-
men. But Impressionists, who praised directors and not
scenarists and wrote their own scripts, identified film-
making with an autonomous act of creatioll, akin to writing
an original play or musical composition. lly ':"l1t1':lst,
except for Chomette all of the members of the abstract-
film movement (Eggeling, Duchamp, L&ger) were painters;
given the pure graphic style of their wOl'ks, this is hard-
ly surprising. The external criteria of age and 1.1aGI,-
ground, then, start to distinguish broadly amone; the
three groups considered.
Less clear-cut is the third external criterion
for defining the Impressionist film-mok,:Y'c': t,I)('il' pl'odul'.-
tion methods. From 1914, film-makers had usually he't'n
hired on a contractual basis by the large firms: Feuil1ad0
19
worked for Gaumont, Perret for Union-EGlair, Allt-uine
for' Pathe's S.C.A.G.L.27 Some Impressionist ri11ll-makers
were initially employed on a similar basis: G;lnce, Ep-
stein, and Dulac all began their careers work j I1t-; f,))'
?athe, while L'Herbier worked for Gaumont. But with the
flagging of the French film industry during and after the
war, several Impressionist film-makers moved toward semi-
independent production. Enterprising individualists like
Henri Diamant-Berger and Germaine Dulac founded their
o...n production companies; it was through Diamant-Berger's
concern, for example, that Clair was able to make his.
first film, Paris Qui Dort. In 1918, Louis Na tpas, former-
Ly head of "Film d'art," became still more ambit.Jous,
s=tting up a studio in Nice, claiming a capital of two
~i1lion francs, and advertising in Le Journal ~~ Cine-Club
that he had "pour object de faciliter, fav~riser, d~v6-
.
Lopper la productlon . ~ t ograp h'lque en Frall ceo
Clnema ,~ "::: 8
1ialpas financed productions of Dulac, Delluc, ~lld others.
Eventually, through the 1920's, several Impressionist film-
;n..",kers created their own companies (e.g., Les Films de
Jean Epstein, L'Herbier's "Cinegraphic"). Frequently,
Large firms would rent or loan studios and facilities
to such independent firms i~ exchange for distribution
t·i,~lIt.:;.?q 'l'hu:\, d,'spit.e some excepthms (e.g., Gance,
who retained artistic control while working [01'
firms), Impressionist film-making had a semi-illdependence
which distinguished it from standard commercial film-
making. (Indeed, as we shal·l see, the loss of this semi-
independence was influential in bringing the movement to
large substantial traces of Impressionism ai't' to t)e round in
the cultural activities of its members, in the theoreti-
cal position implicit in Impressionist writings, and in
the stylistic fe.atures of Impressionist films. Accordine;-
ly, to each of these the remainder of this study Is de-

an end.) The Impressionists, though, were not nearly as voted.

independent as the members of the abstract-film group.
The films of the latter were very short (i.e., five to
twenty minutes), rarely used actors or technici3ns, and
thus required little financing (the chief source of funds
usually being the film-makers and their friends). More-
over, the abstract films were not distributed through the
large theatre circuits (as both the standard commercial
films and the Impressionist films were) but rather were
usually shown at avant-garde gatherings. Impressionist
film production was able to follow a middle path: it was
not as commercially restricted as the standard pi'oduction,
bu~ because it operated on a large scale and was still
bound to a commercial eXhibition system, it was 110t as
completely independent as the abstract-film productiolls.
But even buttressed by evidence of diffci>ing out-
looks, the provisional external distinctions of age, back-
ground, and production methods offer little insight into
ttw uniqut'JJt'S~; of Imprl'ssionism as a movement. The most

Notes
lA hierarchic conception of history lllay be S~,l?n j 11
the work of several analytic phi losophers of history SL1Cil
as A. M. MacIver, Arthur C. Danto, and May Brodbeck. See
A. M. MacIver, "Historical Explanation," in Ant.,'ny Flc'w,
ed., Logic and Lan~u~, First and Second series (New
York: Anchor, 196'5, pp. 410-427; Arthur C•. Dalltll,.~nalit-­
tic PhilOSOPh~ of Hi'3tory (Cambridge: CambrIdg~ LJrllVl?r~l-:­
ty Press, 196 ); and May Brodbeck, "Methodo~og~C31 IndIvI-
dualisms: Definitions and Reductions," in WIllIam H. Dray,
ed., Philoso~hical Analysis and History (New York: Harpel'
and Row, 196 ), pp. 297-329.
2Leonard S. Meyer, Music, tlw Arts, and Idt'SS
(Chicago: Phoenix, 1967), p. 96.
3Germaine Dulac, "Les Esthetiques, les r~ntraves,
la Cinegraphie Integrale," in Germaine Dulac et al., L'Art
Cinematographique, vol. II (Paris: Alcan, 1927), p. 42;
Germaine Dulac, °L'Avant-Garde," in Henri Fescourt, ed.,
Le Cinema (Paris: Cygne, 1930), p. 360.
4For samples of the treatment of Impressionislll in
English, see Gerald Mast's unreliable accou~t in A Short
History of the Movies (New York: Bobbs-Merrlll, 1971), pp.
238-242; Arthur Knight, The Liveliest Art (New York: New
American Library, 1957), pp. 93-94; and A. H. Blumer,
"The Camera as Snowball: France 1918-1927," Cinema Jour'-
nal IX, 2 (Spring 1970), 31-39.
5Henri Agel, Miroirs de l'Insolite dans Ie Cinema
Fran9aise (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1958), pp:-TIIT=92.
6Rene Jeanne and Charles Ford, Histoire Encyclop0-
dique du Cinema, vol. I (Paris: Laffotlt, 1l)lt7) , pp. Hl1-2 1) : ' .
'(Pierre Leprohon, Histoire du Cin0m~, vol. I (Par'is:
Editions du Cerf, 1961), pp. 73-81.
8Henr i Langlois, "L'avant-garde fran9aise," Ca-
hiers du Cinema, no. 202 (June-July 1968), 8-18.
9NoiH Burch and Jean-Andre Fieschi, "La premiere
vague," Cahiers du Cinema no. 202 (June-July 1968), 20-24.
10Sa doul's account appears in two works and is
substantially the same in both: Le Cinema Fram;ais (Paris:
Flammarion, 1962), pp. 23-34; and Histoire du Cird'rna
Mondial (Paris: Flammarion, 1968), pp. 163-177.
llJean Mitry, Histoire du Cinern<l, vol. IT (P:\l'i~;:
Editions Universitaire 1969), pp. ~:.H:;_ljllr,.
12 Standish Dyer Lawder, Structuralism :1l1d Move'lll,;mt
in Experimental l"ilm and Modern Art, 1896-19:", (unpublIsh-
ed Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1967).
13Louis Delluc, Cinema ~Cie (Paris: GI'asset,
1919), p. 168.
14 Ib id., p. 235.
15Ibid., pp. 22-23.
16Riccioto Canudo, Usine des Images (G0ncva:
Office Centrale d'Edition, 1927), p. 40.
17See in Delluc, Cinema et Cie, pp. 70, 72, 98,
113, 121, 204, 263, 287, 289, 299.
18Louis Feuillade, "Lettre," Cinen-Cine pour Taus
no. 31 (15 February 1925), 2.
19Quoted in Andre Lang, Deplacements et Villagea-
tures Litteraires (Paris: Renaissance du Livre, n.d.
{19 2 31./) , p. 162.
20Ibid., pp. 116-117.
21Ibid., p. 195.
22Ibid., p. 210.
23Pierre Porte, "Le Cinema Pur," Cinea-Cine pour
Tous no. 52 (1 January 1926), 13.
24Jean Tedesco, "Cinema Pur,"
no. 80 (1 March 1927), 9-11. .
25Jean Epstein, "L'Objectif Lui-Meme," Cinea-Cine
p~ur Tous no. 53 (15 January 1926), 7.
;)(\Andl'G De LOllS, "Cinema Pur et Cinema Russe, n
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 105 (15 March 1928), 11.
 27Pierre Rambaud, "Un Quart de Sieclt? " Le Cour- CHAPTER II. IMPRESSIONISM AND THE BUILDING OP A
riel' Cinematographique XXV, 33-34-35 (18 Augu~t 193~5.
FILM CUL'J'UHE
28Journal de ~ine-ClUb no. 1 (1920), n. p. See
also Louis Delluc, "Un Mot & Louis Nalpas," Le Film no.
144 (17 December 1918), 3-4. In France between 1913 and 1 ns, a subs\..~lJltiCl.l.

29Le Tout Cinema 1923 (Paris: Editions Pilma, change took place in the status of cinelllJ. in t1h~ eye'S \)!'
1924), pp. 538-540.
artists and the educated public. In 191 'I, Cl. t.lh'at.I'c' l~l'i-

tic could write in the prestigious journal La Rt'vut' e18S

Deux Mondes: "La vogue du cinema est un nouveau recul

pour la lecture, dejA battue en br~che de toutes parts.
C'est un nouveau echec pour Ie livre,--qui n'en est plus
ales compter."l Yet ten years later the same journal
was pUblishing a regular column concerned solely with
that mortal enemy of the book. In the late 'teens, 811

influential writer like Anatole France was conJt'llInins t11,'

cinema as the sign of a new apocalypse ("lIne S '.3.gi t pets
de la fin du monde, mais de la fin d' une civilisation<!),
yet by 1921 no less a figure than Proust confessed that
he had only two desires: "I wish I was well enough to go
once to the cinema and to the 'Boeuf sur Ie Toit. '''3
In 1912, French newspapers did not even list local film
programs; by 1925, according to one historian, there were
six periodicals devoted solely to cinema, and daily film
4
columns were featured in over twenty-three newspapers ..
The cinema's infectious popularity in the decade 1910-1920
was alarming to men like Henry Joly, Rene Bazere, and
 :'7

Edouard Poulain, who cried out ae;ainst fillm,' illlllll'r'~J]

and artist~ lavished on the imported America)) films.

effects on youth in such books as Lc Cin~ma, l~l:.:.2J..:: ~

These two factors indicate the presence of an ~ludiencl~

Vice et du Crime (Besanqon, 1918); yot in the Iq~O'B ~hich would be receptive to the writings and films of

film screenings beca:re routine in many French ",'hl)ols an avant-garde movement like Impressionism.

and cine-clubs, cater-inlS to a young ~JUdit'llC"', "~)t':)tlf; lIl'

It had become u commonplace to notc 1.11~d,illllllcdii1-

throughout Paris and the provinces. We canr1Llt, ~Ittl'iblltl'

tely prior to World War I there was extraordin:ll'y activity

the rise in cinema's status solely to the Impressionist in the Parisian art scene. The year 1911 wil.ncssed the

film-makers and writers, but clearly their role was a rise of Cubism in a series of landmarl< exhibi j i'\IIS. In

major one. For various reasons, from around 1913 to 1920, the following year, DebUSSy wrote Jeux for tlw 13311c't,s

the cinema was important not only to the popular 3udi",nct' Russes, some Cubists formed the Section d' Or SI'OUP,

but also to an intellectual elite, and from the latter's Picasso and Braque began work on collages, and Apollinaire,

interest certain rolemicists and cultural activists could Raynal, Gleizes, and Metzinger all began publishing stu-

generate a new attitude toward film: the attitude that dies of CUbism.5 Roger Shattuck has seen 1913 as the cli~

film could be a distinct art. lnax of such activity, and he adduces as evidence the rise
of Vorticism, the pUblication of Marinetti's Futurist
Film and French Avant-Garde Artists
oanifesto, the founding of Copeau's Vieux-Colombier, and

The Impressionist campaign for the artistic status the premier of Le Sacre du Printemps; one could add that

of cinema was able to succe~d partly because its aesthe- the same year marked the publication of Apollinaire's

tic principles confirmed certain already~existing atti- Les Peintres Cubists and Alcools, Blaise Cendl':H'S'

tudes. To discover these attitudes, it is necessary first au Transsiberien, Coct0au' s Le Potomak., and the first
. 6
to suggest the extent to which certain artists bee;an volume of Proust's A la Recherche du Temps Perdus.
seeing the cinema as one of the most important popular the film played no part in this Parisian renaissance of

arts. Two factors are significantly revealing: the the arts; with the exception of Riccioto Canudo (whose

turning of poets to cinema as a source of both sUbjects contributions will be discussed in a later section),
and techniques and the wide praise which intellectuals artists before 1914 apparently did not regard cinema as
 L. '

a new aesthetic resource.

That the cinema was at least as popular a pastime
The cinema's rise to artistic status during later
as music-halls, vaudeville, cafes, and circuses may be
year15 is in part due to a new attitude toward Lhe popular
indirectly observed in the growth of the film industry.
arts as a whole, which Shattuck has characteri:;ed clS "a
By 1914, Pathe (the largest f1"rm) had a capital of thirty
sense of exhilaration in the absurd. ,,7 rj'lw CClt't'-culture
. "
:nIllon francs and garnered S.4 million in Clnl1ual pro-
of Parisian artists had included popular spectacle since
fits. 12 In 1913, one alarmed observer estimated that
the time of the Impressionists, and in the pre-war years,
Paris contained over two hundred film theatres, with a
the avant-garde fr~quented dance-halls, music-halls,
" 0.11. 13
Sunday clientele numbering 100 , 000 1n Firms began
cafes, and circuses. S But for several avant-garde artists
building large luxury theatres sue h as the Oml1ia-Path~,
the popular al'Ls represented not only diversiol\ but a
the Gaumont-Palace, and the Hippodrome, so that by 1916
'rich source of material. In Le ~ et l'Arleguin (1918),
Parisian theatres ranged from tiny salles with only twenty
Cocteau called for a stripped-down~ hard-edged art and
seats to the Gaumont-Palace with its five thousand seats,
claimed that the music-hall and the cafe-concert ~ere the
its eighty-piece orchestra, and its thirty-five-meter
only pure forms of music prevailing. 9 Similarly, Cocteau
throw from the projector;14 The range in admission
called Le~ ~_a,I"ies de la Tour Eiffel "a secret marriagt'
prices also assure d a b roo. d audl'ence, with 1916 prices
between ancient tragedy and an end-of-year revue, between
running from sixty centimes to twelve francs (equal to
chorus and music-hall number."10 The circus also became
from $.12 to $2.40 in 1916 American currency). Besides
material for an avant-garde aesthetic. Cocteau and Glei-
the huge popularity of cinema per ~, the generous length
zes drew up plans for staging Ii Midsummer Night's DreCllll
.
of the programs (tYPlcally three h ) the inclusion 01'
ours,
at Le Cirque Medrano, using music by Varese, Satie, and
material which could appeal to diverse tastes (two forty-
Stravinsky and casting the famous clowns the Fratellinis
five~minute features, one or two comedies, a documentary,
as the rustics, while Louis Durey's musical piece Scenes
and a newsreel) and the weekly changes 0f progra m contri-
de Cirque and Satie's Parade reveal an attempt to use
buted to the solidifying of a large-sea Ie pop ular audi-
circus spectacle aesthetically.ii
ence. 15

The growing Parisian film audience seems not to
have been greatly curtailed even by the outbl'8:j!\ of W,)[;ld
War 1. Although documented attendalH'C' figul't:S !,:lVt' iJppar'-
ently not survived, it is likely that, the t.l)('~1tr't'S
ued to flourish, if only because they fulfil h'd :1
torial function: three or four wartime newsreels were
released each week and at least one of them was included
in every film program. 16 Moreover, film theatres for sol-
diers were opened in military encampments, numbering
(according to Jeanne and Ford) no fewer than 800. 17
There is also some evidence that the war even st.imulated
film attendance. "La vie a un gout intolerable,,,'18 )'e-
called Eve Francis of her wartime experience, noting that
by government decree theatres, music-halls, concert-halls,
and film theatres were temporarily closed, with film
theatres being the first to reopen. 19 More detailed is
Colette's depiction in the spring of 1918 of a populace
which longed for escape and could find it only in film
theatres:
Et plus la guerre durera, plus manqueront le sucre
et Ie pain et le petrole, plus il reclamera, pour
sa clientele en vestons elimines at en savates
sp?ngieuse~, du Ius que et encore du lusque. Cette
eXlgence, Je ne me contenterai pas de l'expliquer
banalement par la soif de superflu dont halettent
tous Ie etres prives du necessaire. II faut en
cherch;: la source dans l'indigence progressive
des theatres et des music-halls. Nous vivons depuis
quatre ans dans une ombre grandissante. La lumiere
artificielle, chaque jour restreinte, 11' I l l d l l l ' l k
plus les scenes theAtrales, ni les loges particu-
liers. . Que l'este-t-il au publique? . ()u se
baignera-t-il dans l'illusion decorative, dalls Ie 1"0-
manesque, dans la grande vie, Ie monde, la feerie in-
epuisable? Au cinema. Seul Ie cinema depanse,
gaspille, detruit ou edifie miraculeusemerlt, mobil-
contin- ise des figurations fourmillantes, dechire des
etoffes brodees, eclabousse de sane:; ou d' t~lll'I'(' des
l'c'P0l"-
robes de cinquante louis, et vous y venez qu'en •
effet un gentilhomme cravate de blanc ne l'L'53rde
pas i trois cents francs de frac, quand 11 se 1
collette avec un bandit--et triomphe, en loques~~O
POl" a variety of reasons, then, the cinema remained popu-
even during the war.
Given this popularity, it is not surprising that
avant-gardists found cinema as attractive as music-
, cafe-concerts, and vaudeville. Film's mass ~udi-
was digtiified by Apollianire, who in 1916 wrote in
article on "les tendances nouvelles" that the cinema
the modern equivalent of the epic poem c113nt0d te)
assembled people. 21 Moreover, Apolliallire's sympathe-
tic attention signals the particular interest which
poets began to take in this mass medium as a source not
only of new SUbjects but also of new styles. For example,
Apollinaire's journal Soir&es de Paris of 15 April
914, Max Jacob published'his poem, "Printemp3 et ci
tographe meles." In this work, film provides material
for the poet's collage aesthetic; in describing an evening
the cinema, the narrator mixes elements drawn from film
~elodrama into a stream-of-consciousness, as in this
passage:
equivalents of film techniques such as stop-motion and
Au son d'une musique absurde accelerated action:
Nous verrons defiler les Kurdes
Le fils du banquier Capulet
Amoureux fou de Juliette A ce moment apparait un autre vieillard qui ~e
Et si Ie livret est trop bete change en enfant puis en femme . . . . Je me 10v~
Le decors ne seront... pas laids. et tous disparaissent, je m'instnlle ~ In t0rras~e
Sherlock sera proprietaire d'un cafe, mais tous les objets, les chaises, les
Des secrets d'un noble dechu tables, les ~usains dans les tonncaux, sc GI'OUpt'nt
Un innocent forgat reviendra millionaire autour de mOl et me genent, tandis que Ie garqon
Et Ie voleur du parachute tourne aut our de ce groupe avec une rapidit(
Au celebre inventeur de son pere uniformement acceleree . . . . ~,
Demolira les reveberes
Perhaps most elaborlte in their r~eIi8s-like p13ying with
Snas emouvoir Ie commissaire. 22
In "Cinematographe" (1917), Jacob renders the frenzied time and space were the poems of Pierre-Albert Birot

activity of bourgeois melodrama on the screen: who, under the admitted influence of Apolliarlire, pUblish-
ed in 1920 Cinema: Drames, Poem~ dan~ l' Espac e. F,'ems
. Un~ famille de province dans un fiacre: il est
blen etonnant que les deux bonnes soient dans la which ambitiously 'search for verbal equivalents of cine-
capote, on ~es met ensuite sur Ie siege, puis sur
les marchepleds, ou elles s'endorment. Pendant matic effects, Birot's works play with "filmic" devices
ce temps, deux.cambrioleurs sont montes dans la
capote e~ se llvrent a des eccentricites. lIs ranging from slow- and fast-motion to stop-action and
met tent a toute ce monde qui dort des oreilles en
corton et, Ie lendemain matin, monsieur madame animation. In "2-1-1=2," there are multiplying and doubl-
et les bonnas ne se reconnaitront plus.23
Apollianire himself composed a brief poem, "Avant Ie ing characters, disappearing characters, repeated scenes,

Cinema" (dated 20 March 1917) Which, despite its satire and accelerated action; at Olle point, a grey l',1om chant;es

("Les Artistes que sont-ce donc/ ce ne sont plus ceux to maroon, then black, green, and rosE'; then t.11~'

qui cultiven~ Les Beaux-Arts." 2Q l, marks a notable insis- room disappears but the color rcmain:'l.?6 Tn t1w lq,lO'n,

tence on regarding the cinema as an independent art, such "cinematic" poetry would continue; chiefly -[n the
hands of Jean Epstein and Philippe Soupault. [jIlt. wlwt is
distinct from but equal to the traditional arts. Unlike
"Avant Ie Cinema," Philippe Soupault's "Indifference: ::lost significant is that after around 191 Q, :H11IH' :lVont.-

garde poets began to experiment with subjects and techni~

Poeme Ginematographique" (dated December 1917) uses the
ques drawn from the cinema. 27 Furthermore, almost all
cinema not as a subject but rather as a model of artistic
these poetic experiments predate the work of avant-garde
trickery. Soupault builds his poem upon ~erbal

cineastes. There is thus some justice in Harry Alan Po-
tamkin's claim that "The cinema in France has irlflu0nced
French letters before it has influenced itsc'lL";'(l
A few artists and cri~ics'were as qui~k to recog-
nize aesthetic possibilities in the cinema: Maul'i(~<, Raynal,
a leading defender of CUbism, praised Feuillad(>'s Fantomas
ecstatically ("0 noblesse! 6 beaute! ',' . Encore, si j' s-
vais sous la main In plume d'un Bruneti~re!"29). Standish
Lawder has discussed in detail both Picasso's :1l1d L<'opold
Survage's plans for Cubist films between 1912 :-lJ1d 19:\4.30
But it appears that the full force of cinema as a modern
popular art became particularly clear after 1915, the year
of the massive importation of American films into Paris.
While detailed industrial history is not within the scope
of this work, some general causes and consequences of
the influx of American films must be indicated.
It is no exaggeration to say that World War I
shook the French film industry profoundly. Workers in
factories and studios were mobilized, the nitrocellu-
lose needed for raw film was commandel'r'ed for use in
making explosives; film factories were requisitioned for
use as munitions plants. 31 Production fell off slwrply.
The magnitude of the war's threat is typified most clearly
in the plight of Charles Pathe's firm. By 1914, he had
35
garnered.an annual profit of 8.4 million francs, but in
1915, his company succumbed to a 4.8 million-franc defi-
~1·t.32
~
Pa th~e was f orced to seek backing from American
companies, and as part of this arrangement, America!] films
) .
(up to this time rare on l?r'ench screens) wert' lIllP,)!'t.ed
fill the vacuum. 33 Th e Amerlcan
. . .
lnvaSlon was spear-
by a Pearl White serial, The Exploits of Elaine,
Chaplin and Ince films, and Cecil B. DeMille's
released in France in 1915. 34 This was
of a wave that was not to recede until ·the 1930'
American films quickly dominated the French market.
Reliable figures on the number of French and American re-
for the 1914-1918 period are not available, but the
contemporary trade journals indicate clearly th:lt during
these years most American firms either opened F:ll'isian
branches or were directly represented by established
firms. For example, in 1919 Fox-Film had its own bureau,
~hile Metro and Goldwyn were represented by Pathe Freres,
and Paramount by Gaumont, Mutual and Vitagraph by
l'Agence Generale Cinematographique, Triangle and K0YS
by Cine-Location-Eclipse, and the independent pr'odu~tions
and Sennett by AUbert. 35 By 1922, First National
Artists, Vitagraph, and Paramount all had their own
distribution offices. 36 As a result, Ameri~~n films
outnumbered the French product by a ratio llJ' f()IU'
out of 1132 films distributed in 1919, 839 wer'c American
and only 208 were French, while in 1921, 651 Americall films
overwhelmed 163 French films. 37 By the early 1920's, it
was obvious to many French cin&astes that the American
cinema had virtually taken over France. 38 COtltemporary
re~LQrds of the following decade present an even more
~stonishing picture, with American films dominating French
releases by a ratio of eight to one. 39 Although America's
margin was cut slightly by German releases after 1927,
America still ruled the French market through the 1920's.
That the American films were popular is evident
not only from the extent to which they overran the market,
but also from the French industry's frantic attempt to
imitate the Yankee product. What Charles Path0 called
"la crise du sc&nario ll was essentially the inability of
. French producers to create as appealing films as the
Americans had. Convinced that study of Hollywood pI'uduc-
tion methods would revivify the French industry,Pathe'
urged French film-makers to write scenarios Which leave
nothing to impl'ovisation, and whidl speci fy trw lC 1I C;t.ll
of the scene, the mise-en-sc~ne, and the locales; to take
advantage of Lhe perfections which lhe Americans had
made in technique; and to specialize production duties
j,() Uill': in order to make filming more efficH'llt. 40 [l:I"l',' c'l'v i(,us Jy,
certain films began copying popular American l' oI'11lu] as
(e.g., the mystery serial) and importing popular A11ll'I'ican
stars like Sessue Hayakawa and Fanny Ward. If tIll' sar'cas-
ti~ remarks of critics like Colette and Louis Delluc are
to be trusted, French imitations of American films were
far inferior to the originals. 41
For the general pUblic as well as artists alld in-
tellectuals, the most appealing elements of tl1c' American
were the stars. American comedians like 1l3l't'ld
Lloyd, Al Saint John, Fatty Arbuckle, Clyde Cook, and Bu,,-
ter Keaton were widely known. 42 Pearl White gailled a
similar success. After The Romance of Elai~ (l'eti tIed
Les Mysteres de New-York) and The Iron flaw (retitled
Le Nasque QUx Dents Blanches) were released in Paris--
all accompanied by feuilletons running serially ill Le
Jl!atin--Pearl White seemed to Delluc to incarnate? modern
liomanhood:
Le type meme de ce que devrai t iHre ulle femme de
chambre moderne, sachant conduire une auto, rattrapet'
Ie rapide quand vous avez oubli~ de mettre une lettr€'
~ la poste, reconcilier les gens les plus s~par~s
.de la terre, trouver des fortunes au fond des caves, I ..
une debrouillarde, une debrouillarde, une, (,tc. j)
10 wonder, then, that Cocteau composed his journal of a
f!'enetic trip as a IIPearl White film. ,,44 William S. Hart
enjoyed no less a vogue under the pseUdonym of IIRio Jim ll ;
 :58
39

the films he made for Thomas Ince were praised by Colette

distributor of Chaplin's Essanay and MU(.U:ll r-l1ms--
and Delluc,45 Cocteau and Jean and Valentine l~go went
precaution no distributor took with regat'd to ri 1ms of
frequently to Hart films,46 and Jean Epstein cl:timed that
other star, French or American. 5 ? Charlot. invaded
Ince's direction of Hart in Selfish Yates (lCjHl) dl.'t,cr-
other popular spectacles, first when a trap0Z0 act had
mined his cinema career. 47 Perhaps the grea t,t~" t. lwmage
one of its trio dress and act like him, 1a tel' wh~'11 circus
which the French paid to Hart (whom Delluo called "rr~re
animal acts frequently included a Chaplin figul'e, a
brutal des fils Aymond, de Roland et de Jean Heynaud" 1~ 8)
tade."53
was the affectionate allusion to "Arizona Jim" in -
Le -Crime
--
But the public's love for Charlot W:J~, c'ljll:llc'd by
de l:1..:. Lange (1935); both Jacques Prevert and Je:ll1 Renoir'
that of some film-struck intellectuals and artists.
had known the American cinema since their childhoods.
l\ccording to Philippe Soupaul t, Chaplin's influc.'lhce \,as
Undoubtedly, however, the single most popular
even stronger than that of Fairbanks and Hart: he' "'invent-
American film star was the one whom. the French named
, the cinema for us "54 Apollinaire introduced Leger
Charlot. "The French," wrote Henry C. Dodge in June of
Charlot during the war: "II tenait .le coup devant
1916, "have adopted Charlie Chaplin.,,49 Not only were his
!'§norme spectacle que je venais de quitter pour sept.
latest films in great demand, but his early work was
Ce 'petit bonhomme' qui a reussi ~. ne plus §tre
constantly revived. Between September and December of
'petit bonhomme' mais une espece d'objet vivant-e, sec,
1918, for example, Parisian distributors not only released
, blanc et noir, c 'etait nouveau. n55 III El1t';land,
the current ~ Dog's Life (released in America in April)
his epiphany in 1914: "Le premier
but also reissued The Count, The Pawnshop, The Rink,
revelation, comme pour d'autres, l'3mour au
and The Cure (all made in 1916).50 Again, in one week
vocation. Mais l' anglicanisme :l\lSt.t'''l'€
October 1920, ten Parisian theatres (one out
cette epoque,' c' etai t amot'a! d' aimer
listing their programs) were showing Chaplin titles. 51
vice. Sans hesiter, de cet amour, j
So eagerly were distributors obtaining illegal copies of
1156 Cartoons of Charl.ot decorated
Chaplin's films that l' Agence Generale Cint'matographiq~le
Le Film and Delluc's books. 57 Articles,
Ilad to publ ish :ldvertiuements warning that it was the
books, and poems on Chaplin poured from li'renclllI1L'Il' S pt~ns. 1,8
e~ mo~. 611 fallut Forfai ture [The Clll:ut] ptllll' tout
demollr. 4 ---
Charlot was compared to Quixote, Chaplin's art to Gommedia
dell' arte and Bergson's philosophy ll1' coml'dy. ',tj II Chal'- For others as well, DeMille's film was a revelatioll of
"hat Delluc called nl e nouveaute absolue du cinema, art
lot-figure became the master of cert'lilonit~s in L0tT,el"~'
complexe, sUbtil, rare, puissant, et rebutant. n()r; 1'11<:'
Ballet Mecanique and the guide to un l't1chanted w,'l'l,j in
actor Edouard de Max declared that a l' tel' seeing '1'h(> Che~
Clair's Voyage 1maginaire, while Darius Milhaud .illii,inlly
he understood that the cinema need not be I 'une lwrgl1ellsc'
conceived the ballet Le Boeuf sur le Toit as accompaniment
micanique. n66 Ac cor d'lng t 0 Marcel l,'Herbier, tlw o,ilc'ck
for a Chaplin fi~ID.60 Even the Satie-Picasso-Cocteau
ballet Parade (1917) made use of choreography tl1clt mimicked the film produDed in him impelled him to take up film as
a career. 67 When, in October of 1918, Le Film asked nine
. the little tramp's walk. 61 Rene Clair's 1924 c,'lIlllk'nt
prominent actors and au th ors t 0 name their most enjoyable
summa~izes the attitude of many intellectuals wl1L~ encoun-
tered Charlot between 1914 and 1920: nCharles Chaplin is night at the cinema, seven of them cited an American film
and The Cheat won more votes than any other film.68 '1'1'10
the man who has given us the works most worthy of the
years later, when Co~oedia asked its readers to name their
cinema. n62
No one Chaplin film, however, had the impact on favorite five films, The Cheat (then six years old) outran

artists and intellectuals of Cecil B. DeMille's The Cheat the latest Chaplins. 6 9 In an era when almost 110 pre-1918
films were re-released, The Cheat con t'll1UC d to play P3ri-
(1915). Not only does it seem to have been a commercial
sian theatres well into 1920.70
success (Eve Francis recalls that nAll Paris left its
What in Th~ Cheat made it what Delluc called LL'
dolorous apathy to visit this film n63 ) but for many view- I!

premier veritable succ~scinematographique de Boulevnrd l' ?71

ers it remained the model of artistry in the cinema.
First, its plot was similar to the currently fasllinnnblc
Dellucis experience was representative of many:
'ltorldly melodramas of Henry Bernstein, then ascendant in
Le cinema, je l'ai deteste, ah! que je l'ni d6t~s-
te Comme tout le monde, je tins lecin~ en m~- the commercial theatre. In The Cheat, a society woman
pris IIpr~s beaucoup de mois je suis revenu au cin~.
L'absence de bons spectacles et le manque total je attempts to save her husband from financial ruin by
musique, pendant les premiers mois de la guerre, en
eurent sans doute la responsibilite. C~arlie Chaplin borrowing money from a Japanese man who demands her favors
forQa mon admiration. Des resistances luttaient encore

in return. She manages to repay him and refuse'G to Lwbm:i
to his sexual demands; enraged, he brands her shoulder
with a red-hot iron. After the husband attacks the Japa-
nese, he is about to be judged guilty of ass:llllt when in
the courtroom the wife dramatically r('lve~als t.lle' III:lI'l\ ul'
the iron on her flesh; the husband is ncqllitte'd. 'rhL'
intrigue's likeness to Boulevard melodrama did not, how-
ever, lead some viewers to ignore the film's undeniably
impressive acting and mise-en-scene. 72 In The Cl1eat,
Sessue Hayakawa's impassive performance as the vengeful
Japanese is heightened by DeMille's expressive lighting
effects. The film abounds in abrupt changes in lighting:
stark sidelighting reveals Hayakawa as he switches off
the room light, leaving only a glowing brasie1' fop illu-
mination; mottled sunshine through leaves throw t1'emblint;
shadows on the characters; the space of a jail c0l1 is
suggested solely by means of a pattern of barlike shadows
thrown across the prisoner. Several moments in The Cheat
use quite spectacular lighting effects. In one shot, for
example, the Japanese parlor, containing bras ier an0 I,hi te
paper screens, is wreathed in smoke issuing from a "mall
altar. Whe~ the Japanese enters, he snaps on the room
light, adding a strong illumination from the side. Then,
after a short scene in which the society woman collapses
in fear, the Japanese makes her stoop down and he turns
43
t out the room light, leaving only thl' glow (\1' 111\' l(f':li:H'I'.
As they listen tensely, sharply-defined 5i Ihoue'Lt.e'S appeal'
behind the screen in the background. The <:'xt.l':h~rd in:ll'y
range of lighting effects in this one setting conril'nlS
De Mille's care and control. Similarly dUl'ing is t.1lt' '
scene when the wife is leaving the house or tIlt' Japal1t'se:
De ~lille trains a spotlight on her in the foreground and
leaves the surroundings utterly dark; tl1t'n, :1l>l"lIf'I1y, ht"r
husband's face emer3:es behind her out of the bl[lc!,nc'ss.
The violent climax of the drama, with silhouettt's ('lIl lillt'd
against the Oriental screens and the Japanese collapsing
against the wall and leaving blood seeping th1'ougll tile
paper screen, is a similar tour de force of imaginative
lighting. Despite the film's melodramatic plot., suell
exnress i ve lighting was impress i ve to many 19 I', v iL'wers--
icula!'ly since the French had not yet Se'l"n Gl'i ffi th' s
work. Eve Francis recalls:
Pour tous les Frangais, Forfaiture fut UIH' 1'0v':>lo-
tion. La construction du sc§nario, la riehcsS0 d0S
decors, les jeux d'ombre et de lumiere, It'S p.lans
rapproch&s utilis§s au moment d~cisif. L08 3cces-
soires mis en relief prenant une Vall)Ul' dr<1111:1tiqIIC','
Ie jeu sobre, contenu, depouiJ U; des illt.0qW;>t,CS au
masque immobile et intense tous Cl'.s 0.1(-menLs l':ISS('ll\-
bl§s par la main d'un maitre jaillbsal"nt dam;
cette oeuvre parfaite.73
, Colette insisted on the lighting as the film's
strongest point:
 Ce n'est pas assez, l'adult~re. Co n'est pas ass~z
Ie revolver inattendu, ni la cour d'assises et Ie
coup de th§~tre en pleine audience. Les belles
lumi~res, m&me assez, les clich§s lumineux, Ie halo,
inedit je erois, qui nimbe la tete du persollnuge
principal et Ie designe, pendant les scenes intenses,
a notre attention, autant de pieges pL'ur dt's :ll,t.istes
simplement honorables. 74
It'seems not too much to conclude that The Cheat l'CV0:( ll:d
to many French viewers a promising range of pictorial
possibilities ill t.he cinema. 75 It. is t.his visu~ll C]u~lli\.y
that Dellue, for one, stressed: "On ne croirait jamuis
que nos metteurs en scAne ont vu tant de rois Ie film
de B. de Mille [nic]. Mais l'ont ils vu?"7 6
The impact of The Cheat on French cinema was elt':11'
in SUbsequent years. When Camille de ,Morlhon pointed to
the film as an example for film-makers to follow, she had
perhaps no idea of how much the film would be imitated. 77
Delluc chargt~u Houssell' s La Faute d' Odette Mareehal
(1920) with copying The Cheat and observed that even
Gance was not above borrowing from De Mille in M:'lt,'l'
Dolorosa, La Dixieme Symphonie, and J' Accuse. 78 Til addi-
tion, the film's stars, Hayakawa and FanllY Wunl, ,'lljOYl'c\
,a wide vogue in France, both being eventually imported
for French films. The Cheat even became the libretto
for an opera,70 and was remade by Marcel L'Herbier in
1937. Delluc's estimate seems only a little overstated:
"Si les Frangais arrivent peu a peu a comprendre quelques
parcelles du cinema, c'est Forfaitul't' qui t'll:1 1:1 l','SP\.'ll-
sibilite. "80
Thanks, then, to Pearl White, William S. Hart,
Charlie Chaplin, and The Cheat, many F]'c:llCh :1J'Lists
and intellectuals took a keen interest in the AlIIt'l'i,':lll
cinema. Philippe Soupault has vividly suggest0d the
American films' charm:
One day we saw hanging on the walls great post0rs
as long as serpents. At every streetcorner a man,
his face covered with a red handkerchief, ]~velcd
a revolver at the peaceful passersby. We imagined
that we heard galloping hoofs, tile roar of lIIot,)]'S,
explosions, and cries of death. We rusl1ed into t.he
cinemas and realized immediately that everything
had changed. On the screen appeared the smile of
Pearl White--that almost ferocious smile which all- "I
nounced the reVOlution, the beginning of a new world.0
Even more revealing is the novel by Rene Clair, Adams
(1926), an extravaganza about a film star who is possessed
by the characters he portrays. Clair takes satiric jabs
at the orgiastic frenzy of film fans, who risk their
lives to attend a premiere and who greet God as the ulti-
mate movie star, but the main thrust of his humor is
directed at the American cinema. His hero, Adams, shifts
in and out of the personalities of the pa~ts he plays on
the screen, ~nd all are modeled on American stars: William,
the COWboy, is Hart; Harold, the sophisticate, suggests
Harold Lloyd; Charles, the timid lover, is Chaplin; Anto-
nio, the Latin seducer, is Valentino; and Jack, the nimble
 Perhaps most striking of all is the fj 1111 c';ll',','I' ,'I' UII'
athlete, resembles DouglilB Fairbank:'" Cl,ILI",; h\,\I\,
,Doet, Blaise Cend·ra~s.
" A fI'lene
' . lca~'liu, i'I':lljLH',
j 0 1'1)'
like Soupault's delirious memoir, is te~t.illlull.v l.c' \.[1"
Gleizes, and Canudo; editor of Paul Laffitte'" Edit.iorls
strength with which American cincma lI.I'ippl',i till' i 111;11:: i Ilatioll
de la Sirene; organizer of the first COIICt'rl
of some intellectuals and avant-gardi~;ts nft,'I' Jc)\'"
originator of the idea for ReHiche, Whl'l~ll 11<.' f' l' l'l t':.. 'i ~~ ,,"'d t.' (')
Thus some poets' and painters 1 illl.c'l,c"q ill l.11l' d.-
Satie-"';'in all, Cendrars' activities placl'd ililll i II tile:
nema around 191 1j and the, praise showercd ,"l till' illnux
thick of the wartime and postW~l'
u avan t,-g::u'c:l I', ';I'lldl'al'S
of American films after 1915 may be seen as major symp-
was involved in the cinema qUl·t~". eop.y,
1 I1:lV11Ir:
. >'\:Iy<'d
toms of the increasing interest which French intelle~tuals
piano in a Bowery movie house in 1911-1912 ::111c1 11:1dl1c;
and avant-gardists took in the cinema. Tl1E're al'e otht'l',
filmed newsreels for Pathe in 1914. 8 'i III 1lJli, l'l'lldl'Ol'S
more general indications as well. Delluc ObSl'l'V,;'d th:lt.
plunged wholeheartedly into cinema work. He assisted
"Des talents modernes et actifs comme 'rristan Bel'l1ilJ'(j,
Gance in filming J'Accuse and La Roue. (A c~ordll1f;
. tl)
' (11le
Colette, Antoine, ont deja saisi toutes les int.entionB
, it was Cendrars who suggested that. Ih'l\c'Ggel'
etonnantes du cine. Et j e ne parle pas de tous It?s j eUI1c"B
provide a score for the latter. 86 ) Cen d l':.ll'~' "c' i 115I'c)<?m, l!
qui lui destinent leurs personnalit~s ardents, ~l~v~es,
La Fin du Monde Filmee par l'Ange de N.D. (1\11'1) \,:lS illusc-
sensibles, intelligentes, vivantes. ,,82 Around 191"(, 1'01'
trated by Leger, and his acerlarl'o
~ La ~
P lFlt'Vl'I'llS\'
'
example, Cocteau was referring to the cinema as "la
appeared serially in Signaux (Brussels), ill 1<1.'"
dixieme muse.,,83 Jules Romains wrote a novel using cinematic
Cendrars founded his own film company and made a film on a
narrative devices, Donogoo-Tonka (1919). Darius Milhaud
Hindu dancer (Venus nOl're, 1923) and Q d ocumelJ1 :lry on
subtitled his ballet score Le Boeuf ~ Ie Toi t (1919) "a
elephants.87 Cen d rars 1 appetite for film wllrk millh' him
cinema-symphony,,,84 and in 1927 wrote a,n orchestral ~Hlitc',
an extreme representative of the curiosity aLHlUL fi 1m tlw.t
Actualites, modeled on newsreels. Painters and designers
seized many French intellectuals and artists; overlooking
like Fernand Leger, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Marcel Duclw.mp,
the great differences in the men's aesthetic assumptions,
and Hans Richter began. to do work in films, while some
Eve Francis seems justified in linking Apollinaire,
avant-garde composers (e.g., George Antheil and Arthur

Honegger) began arranging and composing film scores.

Cendrars, and Delluc as part of the same new attitud0
toward cinema. 88
Finally, we may briefly consider some possible
reasons why the ciJ:l€ma, and especially American film~;,
aroused such interest among artists and intellectuals.
One factor which has been suggested above is t.hat the :1Vant-
gardists saw cinema as one of the popular arts, which as
a whole were being evaluated for their aesthetic~ poten-
tial. Philippe S$upault confirms this hypothesis illcUrect-
1y: "At the very moment when French eyes were weary of
seeing over and over again in the theatre those eternal
and identical 'slices of life' and when only the music-
hall could touch us even a little, the cinema was born.,,89
Similarly, in 1924, Leger argued that film is a part of
modern art's attempt to make spectacle as up-t.e-Jate 3D
the circus and the music-hall. 90 Another factl'l' l'eClll's.
in contemporary writings: the assumption that physical
movement is important in cinema. Thus one 1920 writer
criticized Fl'c'IlCh cinema as fancifully poetic, willIe
praising the Americans for unclerstanding that cinema
demands forceful gestures and movements. 91 Georgette Le-
blanc likewise attributed the success of American fIlms to
the livelllll's::; and ,active energy of the actors. 9:' Since
many postwar avant-garde ~ovements--Futurism, Constructi-
vism, Vorticism, and Dada--made physical movement a prime
element in their aesthetic, it is perhaps not. sllrpl'isillg
that many artists saw in cinema (and particu]flrly the
Anerican cinema) the culmination of a physically dynamic
conception of art. Related to this idea is 3nothel'
point made frequently at the time by avant-gard b;tl:', th:li
the cinema, art of the twentieth century, epitomiZe'S
!liOdernity. In 1919, Delluc called a Fair'banks film "1:1
force neuve de la poesie moderne"93 and Marcel (]n)m~Jil'c'
claimed that "Le cinema nouveau contentera notl'c' l1c'Sl,in
q4
d'un art plus etroitement allie au dynamisme ml'dernt."."·
?rom this perspective, the American cinema again tl)C)!' on
(;reat importance: "The American cinema," wrote Soup:tult,
~brought io light all the beauty of our epoch, and all th0
1t.,Ystery of modern mechanics. 1195 Of the American film,
!'icabia wrote: "II se t'enouvelle constamncnt, lh'U~, l't'v';;-
lant la vie moderne sous tous los aspects tragiqut."5 on
comique. ,,96 One writer wellt so far as to <.:laill! ttl:1t the
cinema transforms one's perception of contcmpol':ll'y Lif~'.
~It is from the cinema," wrote I\lbert Valentin, "th:i\. (lUI'
era borrows its color, its picturesqueness, and the moral
atmosphere in which it breathes .... It is impossible for
us today to consider an aspect of the world without
iDnediately divesting it of its visible form and then
thinking of nothing but the representation of it we have
 'j 1

seen in a film, removing i t from the material dUlllain it

occupies and placing it in the vagul' realm ur dt'l'(llll and Impressionists.

abstraction."97
The Building of a French Film Culture'
Perhaps most interestine; is the po::.;sill \ e' !'\)h' \'1'
cinema in a destruction of what some aVRllt-gcll'dists COIISi- The relation of Impressionist cultural ~~tivity

dered frozen and outdated aesthetic convc'ntion,;: film context was almost certainly a diale\:ti"~11 (ll"'.
gives us "reality." Georgette Leblanc, for 8x~!lIlple, some intellectuals and artists were to Se'II,,' l'X tc'nt
wrote of a film: "Est ce de l' art? Qu' importe! Encore' prepared to see cinema as an art, the 11111' 1'l'S::'; ion-
une fois, c'est de la vie, et voila l'essentit'1."QG good deal to do with rein1'\)I,,'in c'; :1I1d
Delluc, whose entire theory of film, as we ::.;11a11 see, attitude. Reciprocally, the' l'lltl1u::.;Llsm
depends on a tension between realism and artificiality, pUblic permitted the activities to contlnllt" and
claimed that "Le cinema est justement un acheminem\'nt V02l'o. strength. Although the causal texture (If the
cette suppression de l'art qui depasse l'art, "tant la is dense, we may for analytical purposes isolate
vie."99 Most direct is this note of Soupault's: "IJnc' or' projects largely carried out lly members
the most definite qualities of the American influ811ce the Impressionist movement. These projects include
resides in the close relationship between art and life. founding of journals devoted to cinema, -the c!'eation
By way of contrast to this statement one might note that the establishment of th~atres f0r a special~

European art exists on a misunderstanding. It escapes aUdience, and the "official" recognition 0r' ~inema by
from life in order to return to it by a detour. This is a organizations in the artistic and Ii tera!'y worl.1s.
symptom of age and a warning of decadence."100 Most 'he force behind virtually all these activities w~s a
probably, the attraction which the cinema held 1'01' many circle of writers and activists--RiccJotll C~11111do,

intellectuals and artists was a product of all these Delluc, Jean Tedl'sco, and their' ussociat.l'';--:ltlll
factors. What is important for our purposes is that the permeating their writings and activities, was
attraction did exist and that it provided a base of sup- the pUblic that the cinema was an art. Jean
port for the cultural activities, theories, and films of revealed the almost rel~gious fervor behind the
when he said in a public lecture:

La cinema est a sa peri ode d'apostolat, 3 ul1e
epoque qui correspond, pour l' histoire des l'e'l i-
gions, a leur' epoque militant. ... Cl'S' ind i vidus Pl'~­
curseurs sont des missionaires que 1"1 Cause' t'nv('it'
pour prepareI' ses triomphes et pour ~vanr;01is,'1' h's
barbares. 101
In retrospect, it may be doubted if Imprt:,ssionist film
style could have continued for very long without the' Iml'l'\?S-
sionist's cultural proselytizing. What follows is an exam-
ination of the kinds of activities these missionaries
undertook.
journals
The increased number of cinema periodicals aimed
at aneducated audience is one of the strongest indiL'~l­
tibns of the polemical success of the Impressionist move-
meITt. Since 1908, with the founding of the weekly Cin0-
Journal, France had not lacked trade journals: Lo Courrier
Cinematographique (founded 1911), Lumi~re (founded 1922),
Le ,Film FranGais (founded 1923), and La Critique Cinema-
tographique (founded 1926) were all aimed at the producer
or eXhibitor and dealt with films. as a commodi t:y. '1'l1e
rather different conception of cinema as art is revealed
in the 1'ounding of new journals, designed for' :lll nUtli"lIt:e
not professionally involved in cinema but nonetheless
interested in its newly-grasped possibilities. 1 0 2 One of
the most active polemicists of the time, Germaine Dulac,
insisted on the necessity of disseminatinr; new i,h'ac' ;lbout
cinema through writing:
Dans l'etat actuel de la cinematographic, les cri-
tiques, les etUdes, les polemiques ont autant de
valeur agissante que les realisations. Je dirai
meme qu'elles en ont plus ... Elles aiguillent ie
cinema vel'S un but precis, lui revelant sa form"
ideale, son image parfaite alors qu'il ne peut
les contempler actuellement que deformees. 103
Such a body of writing as Dulac called for needed the Idnd
or forum that a journal could provide.
The first such journal was Le Film. Originally
(in February lf 1914) as "avant tout un e)J'gall de
corporative, "104 Le Film began as a weekly devotc'd
to news of the film industry and aimed at both exhibitors
aM the general public. By the thirteenth issue (2:::: Nay
1914), the journal's theatre columnist, Henri Diamant-
~rger, became editor-in-chief. Diamant-Berger added
~olumns on music and current books and initiated a column
of film reviews (usually only plot summaries) called
·Cin§-critique." The most innovative aspect of his early
.ditorship, however, was the vigor of his editorials,
"::ich took partisan positions on such topics as film and
'!"iucation, taxes, film syndicates, and cellso!'ship. :lor,
'7he spirit of Diarnant-Ber-ger's editor-lalu In Le £:11rn tc:c\Ll-
fies to his concern for the active role of a journal in
~haping the state of the current cinema. For example,

after noting that 1916 French film production was j ll1','I'iol'
to foreign production, he urged film workers to regain the
favor of audiences,106 In 1917, Diamant-Berger took a
more daring step by appointing the litterateur Colette as
critic for Le Film, and he anticipated the obje<.:tions
of his industry-oriented advertisers and readers by
defending his choice:
Un journal doit tout dire. Lorsque j 'ai pri6
Mme. Colette de prendre dans ce journal la critique
des films que ce grand ecrivain tient depuh"; un
mois de fagon magistrale, je l'ai assur~e d'nbord
que jamais rien ne contrarierait son independence;
je l'ai priee ensuite de donner ames lecteurs sa
pensee tout entiere, son sentiment reel, son juge-
ment complet .... Les droits de la critique sont impre-
scriptables et sacres pour moi. 10 7
In what had started as a trade journal, Colette's witty
reviews must have seemed controversial. She sUJl1l1larized
one film as "Dix-sept cent vingt-cinq metres de pellicule,
seize pages de notice sur beau papier glace; argent perdu,
temps gache, je n'ajoute pas--et pour' cause--talent gas-
pille."108 Even her favorable reviews had a humorous cast.
not previously seen in Le Film, as when she WI'L,tc of
Sessue Hayakawa that "Cette Japonaise graciC?use, <lUX
spirituels, faiblit ! c6te de son mari sous Ie poids d'un
premier r61e, surtour d'un premier r61e habille ! l'euro-
peene."109 Louis Delluc later wrote that Colette's Le
Film essays "ont pousse la clairvoyance jusqu'au sadisme,"
r,ll
55
but argued that the cinema needs such polemicists in its
batt.le against commercial mediocrity: "Au nombl'p dt's enne-
:n.is qu'elle s'est fait alors dans les milieux cill0Hl;<t.o-
uaphiques, on peut mesurer son influence et. tout Ct: qui
s'en est suivi. "110 After making Colette a ref,lllar
contributor to Le Film, Diamant-Berger took the step that
decisively transformed his journal from a trade review
into a center for the new spirit in cinema. On 2~ June
1917, he announced that Louis Delluc would henceforth be
~jitor-in-chief, and added a clear indication th3t Le
?ilm was about to move toward the position of considering
(ilm as an art: "Nos lecteurs peuvent §tre assur~s quiil
n'epargnera rien pour donner au Film Ie cachet Ie plus
?-arisien en m§me temps que la redaction la' plus choisie
~t la plus litteraire."lll 1e Film would no longer be
simply a commercial information-sheet; with Delluc's
appointment as editor, Diamant-Berger created 110t only the
rirst forum of French argument about the aesthetic poten~
tial of cinema but also the source of much of the impetus
yeux or the Impressionist movement.
Delluc's impact on the journal was felt almost
illllnediately. His first Le Film article, '" Illusion' et
Illusions," was devoted to Thomas H. Ince, whom Delluc
compared to French film-makers thus: "Un seul de ces
Am.ericains nous livre trois films en trois semaines et
ce sont: Chatiment, Civilisation, II,lusioll. ~1on Di",u,
un cinematographiste fran~ais n'a pas trois idees ell
semaines."112 A month later, after an irregular publica-
tion period, Le Film announced a change in format that
severed it from industry-centered organs like Cine-Jour-
nal. The new Le Film would be more elegant, an editorial
announced:
Qu'ils [i.e., the friends of Le Film] sachant en
outre que nos' prix de pUblicite VIei1nent d'etre
augmentfis, qu'ils Ie seront encore si cels est n~­
cessaire afin d 'eliminer 1,a publicite encombr::lllt,e
qui rend un journal illisible et de ne laisser
acc~s qu'aux maisons serieuses et aux films dignes
d I interet. 113
In this new format, Delluc published articles of a
sophistication and attractiveness unknown to other fil~
journals. Actors like Marcel Lev~sque, Eve Francis,
Edouard de Max, Gabriel Signoret, Musidora, Severin-Mars,
Jacques Catelain, and Henry Krauss all wrote articles
for Le Film in 1918 ..114 Even more important, Delluc began
.sol~citing essays fro~ two categories of previously ne-
glected film artists: script-writers and directors.
Film pUblished scenarios and synopses of Lacroix 's Ilaine,
of L'Herbier's Bouclette, and of Gance's J'Accuse and
articles LJy Houssel and Pouctal. ll '.> A decidedly U LeI'ury
tone entered as well: the young Aragon contributed an
article on cinema decor"Dellue reprinted Appolinaire's
poem "Avant Ie Cinema," and Delluc himself wrote contes
trois for the journal. 116 By making Le Film less industry-
centered and more attentive to directors and scenarists,
Delluc raised its quality to a point where Diamant-Berger
could assert that a new force had arisen: "Le nom de ce
journal restera, c'est notre gloire, inseparable de l'his-
toire du rel~vement de la fabrication fran9aise."l17
In 1919 Diamant-Berger's departure for act.iv" [ilm-
making prompted Delluc to leave Le Film, but the influenl't'
of both men continued to some extent. Indeed, perhaps
the strongest proof of Delluc's impact on Le Film is to
be found in an article published after his departure, in
which Lyonel Robert makes a remark unthinkable in any
other French film journal of the time:
"Nous assistons l une f10raison pleine de promesses.
Le cinema fran~aise renait epure, affine, plus fort
que jamais .. ~.Des 6lements artistiques et intellec-
tuels s'introduisent et bien rares et arricres sont
maintenant ceux qui ne peuveot aper~evoir (dans le
cin§ma) un art veritable."11~
Delluc went on to establish another periodical,
Le
Le Journal du Cine-ClUb, in January 1920. Delluc saw the
journal's primary purpose to be that of listing all
Parisian and suburban film programs. Although Le Journal
du Cine-Club had many fewer articles of a general and
critical nature than did Le Film, it nonetheless maintained
some variety: reviews by Delluc and his schoolfriend
 58 59

Fairbanks; the journal began to publish translat. illns of

Leon Moussinac, articles on vaudeville and music-hall,
star articles from Photoplay. At the same time, the maga-
historical essays, biographies of American stars, articles
zine devoted much space to the recent French discovery of
by actors, and essays by directors. 119 Thus the specia-
the work of the Swedes Sjostrom and Stiller. 122 But most
lized audience of Le Film was also appe:.11.0d to in Lc' Lh1ur'-
striking was Delluc's constant pUblicity for new tenden-
nal du Cine-Club, as the publisher made plain in the first
cies in French film. Beginning with issue number 45
issue: "II nous accorderont, sachant bien que Ie Journal
(17 March 1922), Cinea bore the slogan, "Que Ie cinema
de Cine-club doit representer une elite d'ecrivains s'ad-
franc;ais soit fran~ais.
y Qu e 1e Clnema
" f ran~nlS
. soit du
ressant a une elite de lecteurs. "120 But accol'ding to
cinema," The'Journa 1 pu bl'~shed ~nterviews
, and articles
Delluc's biographer Marcel Tariol, Delluc became disillu-
concerning the group of actors and directors whom Delluc
sioned by the failure of the Cine-Club to materialize in
considered the new hope of the French '
c~nema: performers
the wake of the magazine and so left after sixteen issues.
such as Jacque Catelain, Eve Francis, and Severin-Mars,
The elitist impulse of Le Film and Le J6urnal du
and directors such as Gance, Mosjoukine, Dulac, L'Herbier
Cine-Club subsequently gave birth to Delluc's Cinea (first
and Epstein: like Delluc himself, all were prominent
published 6 May 1921), the title of which he modeled on
21 participants in Impressionist film-making. 123 That
the celebrated contemporary beaux art~ journal Comoediat
aimed his J'ournal's polem~c
... at a ..
soph~st~cated
Like Le Film under Delluc's editorship, Cinea contained
suggested by Cinea'sattention to avant-garde activities
a range of diverse material: not only lists of programs
(e.g., reviews of Cocteau's play -
Les
-
Maries -de -la Tour
in Paris cinemas and a letters-to-the-editor column but
Eiffel and the Ballets Suedois' Skating Rink 124 ), an
also columns on the theatre and the music-hall and trans-
occasional "highbrow" article (e.g., Lionel Landry's
lations such as those of ·Chalipin' s memoir3 and O. llenI'y
attempt to illustrate Relativity Theory by means of cine-
stories. Many of Cinea's articles fed its reaours'
ma 125 ), and advertising for a leading fashionable Art
appetites for information on the American cinema: Pickford,
Deco designer like Paul Poiret. 126 Such pUblicity devi-
Valentino, Stroheim, Griffith, Keaton, and Flaherty were
ces as scenario and poster contests and plans for Cinea' s
all subjects of essays; an entire issue was devoted to
readers to finance a film may also be seen as attempts
to reinvigorate French film-making. 127 Cinea thus emerges
as the culmination of Delluc's efforts to win the educated
public to cinema in general and to Impressionist cinema
in particular.
While Delluc was founding Le Journal du Cine-Club
and Cinea, others were beginning to publish film journals.
In 1921, Jean Pascal and Adrien Maitre founded Cinemaga-
zine, a more populat- variant of Le Film which ran serial
novels (e.g., for Feuillade's Parisette) and rarely em-
phasized film directors to the extent that Delluc's
journals did. Similarly broad in audience appeal was
Pierre Henry's Cine pour Tous (founded in 1919.), which
chiefly featured articles on film stars: out of 123
ar~icles listed in the cumulative index of Cine pour 1'ous,
only four concerne~ directors, whereas out of sixty-four
articles listed in Cinea's cumulative index, eleven were
on directors.128 In November of 1923, however, Cine pour
Tout merged with Cinea to form Cinea-Cine pour 'rous, a
bimonthly that was to continue for several years as the
most infol'llIQtive French journal aimed at 11 nonpr'of'esniona}
public. (Delluc's co-editor, Jean Tedesco, assumed editor-
ship of the new journal.) A new concern with detail in
Cinea-Cine pour Taus suggests that its readership had
become highly sophisticated in its film tastes. For
instance, each week Cin'ea-Cine pour Tous would pUblish
lists of new films released and would cite title, script-
writer, director, cameraman, stars, production uompany,
year of production, and distributor--a l'emal'l<able amount
of information, considering the sketchy data in Le Fil:£l
of only four years before. Cinea-Cine pour Taus strove
for a blend of concern for the amateur (e.g., articles on
how to make one's own films) with proselytizing for
selected French, American, and German directors. In 1925,
Cinea-Cine pour Tous initiated a series called ilLes Cinea-
stes," which ran for two years and included extensive arti-
cles on or by De Mille, Lang, Chaplin, Pick, Sennett,
Stroheim, L'Herbier, Flaherty, Vidor, Clair, and Murnau. 129
The size of the audience for such material can be estimated
from the readers' response to the magazines' various polls
on the best film of the year: thus in March 1925, there
were at least 1500 readers and in February 1928 at least
2500. (These estimates are doubtless conservative.)
Finally, Cinea-Cine pour Taus continued the emphasis on
Impressionism that had been salient in Cinea. At·tic 1",; by
Dulac and Epstein were common; Epstein's work became the
subject of a debate that extended for .
SlX months. 130
L'Herbier wrote several essays for Cinea-Cine pour Tou~.131

1- '0
Kirsanov and Clair were also featured at length. )~
the greatest attention was paid to Gance. In 1917, Delluc
had hailed Mater Dolorosa as "Ie chef d'oeuvre de 13 Cine-
matographie frangaise.,,133 After the completion of La
Roue, Gance was extensively interviewed for Cinea-Cinp £2~
Tous. And from April 1925 to Nevember 1927, the magazine
ran no fewer than seven articles on the filming of Napo-
1eon.134 Because of this stress on the Impressionist
avant-garde, one can agree with Marcel Tariol that although
Delluc himself would perhaps not have approved of all the
works of the avant-garde, he had helped create "un public
tres restreint certes, nous l'avons dit, mais receptif
et pret a admettre toutes les aUdaces.,,135
The middle and late 1920's saw an even greater
increase in film writing and journals, both cor90rative
and nonprofessional. Canudo's Gazette des Sept Arts
(founded in 1923) pUblished articles by Epstein on Pasteur
and Honegger on La Roue. By 1925, Cine-Miroir, Mon Cine,
---
and Cinoedia had appeared; by 1928, there was Hebdo-Film
La Griffe Cinematographique, L'Ecran, Revue du Cinema, and
La Semaine Cinematographique; by 1929, Le ~-Cinema
estimated that there were thirty-eight specialized film
journals (counting trade journals) in Paris alone--a
considerable growth from the half-dozen of a decade
63
62
earlier. 136 Added to this was the cinema's entry into the
But
popular press: Le Journal inserted a cinema page in 1912137;
Emile Vuillermoz wrote a film column for Le Temps shortly
before Dclluc began writing a film column l'<w f'~1.!:~is-Midi
in 1918; in October and November of 1921, five Paris n~ws-
papers initiated columnn of film reviews; and in 1922,
Rene Clair became film critic for Theatre et Comoed}a
Illustre. 138 Again, by 1929, forty-eight Parisian journals
and twenty provincial ones published a film colilmn regu-
larly.139 Plainly, Delluc and other editors not only
gratified pop~lar eagerness to know more about cinema but
also to some degree helped create still more interest,
so that a network of film journals played its part in
the establishment of the artistic status of film.
Cine-Clubs
Another result of the cultural activities of the
Impressionist movement was the development of cine-clubs.
Behind the notion of a group of people who should assemble
to hear lectures and see and discuss films lay the same
assumption that lay behind the burgeoning film journals:
that film was an art worthy of serious consideration.
Again, the causal relationship of club organizers to
the audiences may be seen as an interaction, with the
organizers responding to an already-existing enthusiasm
but also creating new interests by the choice of lecturers
and films. Not surprisingly, the clubs promoted the same
French, German, Swedish, and American film work as the
journals did, so that there is little doubt of the exis-
tence of a Parisian aUdience (whatever size it may have
been) that was created in large measure by the Impression-
ist movement.
It was again Lou'is Delluc who initiated the idea
of a ·cine-club with his pUblication Le Journal dlt Cine-
Club. In the first issue, C. de Vesme explained that the
cine-club's goal was to "grouper aut our de l'elite et des
professionals servient des cadres, toute une armee consti-
tuee par Ie grand public passione du Cinema. 11140 Proposed
activities included conferences accompanied by referenda
on the best films of the year, encouragement of amateur
film-making, and the pressuring of large film firms.
AlthQugh the date of the founding of Delluc's cine-club
(j January 1920) was specified in its journal, some his-
torians have claimed that no actual organization existed
and that Delluc originated only the concept. 141
It is
true that the statutes of the club make no provision for
regular meetings, but in 1920, there were at least three
conferences organized, by the Cine-Club (on 12 June,
} July, and 20 October ) . 142 If Delluc had no continuous
organization behind these activities, they nonetheless
constitute an attempt to assemble a unified audience on
certain occasions.
It is Riccioto Canudo who may be justly credited
vith founding the first regularly-functioning cine-club.
Jin Hay of 1920 he outlined a set of goals that again
announce a primary interest in placing the cinema (and
especially the French cinema) on the same footing as·
.. 1
tradltlonaar t s. Canudo's goals are worth quoting
fully:
a) Affirmer par tous les moyens Ie caractere artis-
tique du cinema. ,
b) Relever Ie niveau intellectuel de la productlon
cinematique fran~aise; et ce, .dans un but
esthetique autant que commerclal, ,. . ~
c) Mettre tout en oeuvre pour attirsr ~er~ Ie Cln~ma
les talents createurs, les ecrlvalns et le~
poetes, ainsi que les peintures et les mUS1-
cien3 des generations nouvelles.
d) Considerer comme urgent l' etab lissem~nt . d 'une.'
hierarchie des salles' telle qu eXlste au
theatre.... .
e) Organizer une propagande des plus actlves pou~ du
un plus complete connaissance, de la par
public des besoins autantque des fautes
d'orga~iBation et de direc~ivcu de lu pro-
duction cinematique fran~alse.... ~
f) A ir par toutes voies de propagande, aupres de
g 'l'Etat, afin que des lois equitab~es et ~~s
appuis raisonnablep soient pa~ lUl fournlS
a l'Art de l'Ecran, dans la meme mesure
au moins qu'il Ie fait pour l'Art de la
Scene. 143
This program, much more openly activist than that of
 67

Delluc's Cine-Club) began to be put into effect the fol-

lowing year with the first bimonthly meetings of CanuJo'G consequence of another effort of Delluc's. In lq~~.

Club des Amis du Septieme Art, or CASA. 'rht' memlwl'Ghip Delluc founded a more permanent cine-club composed chiefly

list was an impressive one) containine; many Im\'l't'c,t:1t.'n- of critics and film-makers; his chief accomplishments were

ists: Delluc) Dulac, Epstein, L'Herbiep, Moussittac:, Juequ<' some major screenings (e.g.) The Cabinet of ~ Cal if21'i

Catelain and Eve Francis. CAS A held a lecture series Deschamps' L'Agonie des Aigles). Later in lQ2?,

(at one) Blaise Cendrars read his poem La Fin du ~Ionde Moussinac began Le Club Frangais du Cin~ma, composed

Filmee par l'Ange de N.D.144), but did not have film both professionals and interested spectators. After

screenings at its meetings) so Canudo scheduled supple- deaths of Canudo and Delluc (the latter in 19~4»

mentary screenings at the Salon d'Autonme.14~ CASA's and Le Club Frangais du Cinema merged wi th tl1L' Cin0-

meetings became monthly dinners at the Cafe Cardinal) with to create Le Cine-Club de France. Moussin3.c, Dulac,

discussions and screenings centering on such subjects as ) Leon Poirier, Rene Jeanne, Henri Chomette, and Ar-

artistic propaganda, Latin films) and the Italian song; mand TallieI' were prominent in Le Cine-Club de France,

at one dinner) Epstein screened an excerpt from his screened recent films (e.g.) Feu M~thias Pascal 148 )

Pasteur and another meeting was devoted to the visiting held numerous conferences and. pUblic lectures. With

guest Pearl White. 146 Of CASA) which continued only a Charles Leger's founding of the club La Tribune Libre du

few months after Canudo's death in 1923, two historians Cinima at the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in 1925,

have written that "Le cinema avait maintenant Ie 'milieu Cin&-Club's emphasis on current films was complemented
4 by Leger's historically-oriented programs of Fl't>nch and
ferme' qui allait assurer le succes de '1'Avant-Garde,,"1 7
but the milieu seems to have been too closed; the pl~ople foreign classics. 149

Canudo gathered around him were in the avant-garde, but One further expansion of the cine-clubs' public

CASA was too small and too much a coterie to provide the oocurred in the late 1920' s in response to governrnt>nt

audience necessary to support the Impressionist movement. oensorship. Government officials permitted c1nf-clubs

A broader audience came into existence as a screen films which were banned from pUblic showing)
after Le Cinf-Club de France showed the forbidden
in 1926) the educated pUblic became even more
interested in cine-clubs as an access to otherwise' \111- It':'.:.:::ber of groups prepared to give C111l.'1TI:1 the at.tciltinll

seeable films. Leon Moussinac and three associ atcs Wl'nt. ~~eviously reserved for other arts.

still further and founded Les Amis de Spartacus, a cin(--

Spec ial i zed 'l'he:l tl'"c'
club whose political as well as aesthetic interests fo-
cused on banned Soviet films. Accordine; to one historian, 'l'he possibility of D Paris:i:lll ri~]111 t11'~:1t.l'c' d"Vc,i,'d

the club's first screening, on 15 March 19::8, was sllch a Hclusively to showing films of D.l'tistic illi")"'Si, \~:L'

success that the theatre could not accommodate the fOlll' not realized until the mid-1920's. Between 1l1l1j :lIld

thousand people w}1o sought admittance. 150 A similar de- 1924, the audierice that read Cinea and joined cin~-cillbs

sire to evade censorship strictures motivated Jean Tedes- bad to rely on what distributors and exhibitors placed ill

co's proposal for a cine-club with the goal of uniting local commercial theatres, and often avant-garclt' \101'ks

an e.l.i-te audience by means of private screenings of foreign got capricious circulation. For instance, in 1920 L'I-Ier-

films. 151 bier's L'Homme d~ Large was released to only fiv,,' l~Ut. c'1'

By 1929, the cine-club movement had succeedeci. III eighty-five theatres while the commercial success Lo

Paris alone there were several: Le 'I'ribune Libre, LtC Cin(>- ?iege de l'Amour was released to fourteen out of eighty-

Club de France, Les Amis du Spartacus, Lo Cluh de L'Ecrall, five theatres; in the following week, L'Homme du Large

La Lanterne Hagique, Le Phare Tournsnt, L' Effort, and Lt'8 played at two theatres; by the next week, it had vanished. 15 3

Spectateurs d'Avant-Garde. Clubs were also founded in ::ven worse, Delluc's Fumee Nair, on its initial release,

Nicf, Agen, Montpellier, Marseille, Lyon, Reims, Stras- initially played at only two theatres for as many weeks. 154

bourg, Llcll'l!c'LlUX, Chalons, Alger', alll! '1\)llJ";)')'~' LL i ,i Illl L

ThUll J{I;Il'~ C Uti t' eould complain 111 1,;;,}\ Lh:JL j':l'::L,'i Ti'::

surprising that this many groups would then, in 19::>Ci, Coeur Fidele, though a year old, had received inept distri-

unite to form La Federation Frangaise du Cin6-Clubs bution and had been shown only "in a few theatres last

which continuE'd through the 1930's to the present. Thus ;nonth."155 Occasionally, large and luxurious theatres

within ten years, the activities of Delluc, Canudo, and were used for speciaL screenings, but no theatre showed

their associates contributed to the creation of a large both French and foreign films of artistic interest on a
 70
'{l

permanent basis until Jean Tedesco o}wned the Vit'11X-

established as classics: that meant, chiefly, GCl'lllan
Colombier on 14 November 1924. It whs to be tlJc~ t'i 1'~,L
Expressionism, American comedy and drama, Swedisll Cilms ,
step toward that "hierarchie des salles" which Cnnudo
and Impressionist cinema. Thus between 1924 and ['12'(, tlw
had envisioned.
Vieux-Colombier showed Warning Shadows, 'l'he Kid, 'l'he'
Between 1913 and 1924, Jacquet-' Copeau lwd m:lde
Phantom Chariot, Coeur Fid0le, Cabinet of Dr. ~:~l,UJ;r,iL!:i,
the Vieux-Colombier one of the most famous avant-gar'lie'
',jaxworks, The Treasure of Arne, La SOllriante Madame Sell-
theatre studios in Paris; it was the laboratol'y of his
det, La Roue, The Last Laugh, The Pilgrim, Siegfrie'd,
experimental productions of Romains, Gide, and Gl10on.
The Joyless Street, The Navigator, Broken Blossoms,
After Copeau left, Tedesco, edl'tor of C'lne'a-
, C'1nl', pOll!'
Sunnyside, Le Brasier Ardent, Kean, and others. 1 56 In
Tous, continued the Vieux-Colombier's tradition 01' :lVC1nt,-
addition, the Vieux-Colombier held conferences 011 l~ i Ilt'ma
garde activity by transforming the studio into a film
~~d invited film-makers to speak at screenings_ ( e. g. ,
theatre whose screenings were devoted to establishill/;
Saroncelli before Pe c h ur d'I sande
1 and Epstein bd'ol"e
the artistic status of cinema. The importance of Tedes-
Coeur Fidele).157 I n a s h or t tlme,
. the Vieux-Colomtier
co's work was double. First, he screened many current
played a pioneering role in solidifying a French film
avant-garde works and premiered such important films as
culture.
Menilmontant (22 January 1926) and La Petite Marchande
Of the other theatre-owners who followed Tedesco's
d'Allumettes (June 1928). Perhaps more important, though,
example, the most significant is Armand Tallier, who
was the Vieux-Colombier's custom of showing old films.
L. Myrga) opened the Studio des Urselines on 21 Jan-
As noted above, with some exceptions like The Cheat and
uary 1926. L'k
l eth
e Vieux-Colombier, the bui ld i Il~ had
Chaplin films, it was relatively rare for 11 Paris theatre
once housed an avant-garde sage
t t roupe ( D '
ull1n's "Ate-
to revive old films. But Tedesco's policy of showing ri
ensemble), but under Tallier's hand it became a
of artistic interest led him to base his programs heavily
for a specialized film audience. As usual, the
on films which the writings in the film journals and the
was deliberately exclusive: "We propose to recruit
lectures and screenings in the cine-clubs had already
from among the elite of writers, artists, and
intellectuals of the Latin Quarter, and also from among sbort·films commissioned by Tallier's Studio des Urse-

that group, growing more and more numerous, whom the lines, while Renoir's La Petite Marchande d'Allumettes

banality of certain screen spectacles is driving away was backed by Tedesco's Vieux-Colombier. 162 in all, the

.from the usual cinematheatres. ni58 The eclectic programs specialized theatres, heavily pUblicized in the cinema

typically mixed pre-war cinema, avant-garde work, and journals and first established by individuals close to

mainstream but unseen films: the first screening included the Impressionist movement, served to reinforce the atti-

Mimosa la Derniere Grisette (1906), Clair's Entr'acte, and tude toward cinema expressed in contemporary journals and

~ Joyless Street. Later, tpe Urselines' repertoire in- cin€-club activities and to build an audience for avant-

cluded not only Dulac's La Coquille et le Clergyman and garde film work. 163
Epstein's La Glace! Trois Faces but also Cruze's Jazz
Wider Recognition
and Hawks' A Girl in Every Port; a New York Times reporter
was amazed to see Borzage' s The River on the sanie program as That the cinema journals, cin€-clubs, and specia-

Man Ray's Myst~ra de ~hiteau du D€.159 The Studio des lized theatres of the time had an effect is revealed not

Urselines is the only specialized theatre of the time only in their own increasing strength and numbers but also

still operating today. in occurrences that may be taken as culturally sanctioned

By the late 1920's, several similar theatres had recognitions of cinema's aesthetic st~tus. The argument

sprung up in Paris. On 10 February 1928, Jean Mauclaire for film as art seems to have persuaded not only lovers

ope~ed Studio 28, which screened Room's Bed an~ Sofa, of the cinema but also guardians of the arts.
Epstein's La Cllute de la Maison Usher, Leger's Ballet 'fhe first sign of such "official" recognition oj"

Mecanigue, and Pabst's Love of Jeanne Ney, and which pre- cinema is the Musee Galliera's "Exposition de ]'Art dans

miered Bunnel's Un Chien Andalou and L' Age d' Or. 160 Tl,ere le Cin€ma Fran~aisn in 1924. In his introduction to the

were also, by January 1928, Le Pavillon du Cinema and Le Exposition brochure, Georges Lecomte congratulates film

Cine Latin. 161 Not only did such small salles provide an on having raised itself so quickly to the level of an

audience for avant~ga~de films, but some played an impor- art:

tant role in financing production as well: Epstein made.

 'r 4 75

Aujourd'hui, le Clnema a cess@ d'~tre un vain,jouet. campaign for wider recognition of film as art.
11 ne s'agit plus de mettre du nOlr sur ~u blanc,
en tournant une manivelle de piano mecanlque. . The year 1925, however, may be taken as the cul-
Les artistes ont soudain compris tout ce.qu'lls
pouvaient tirer de cette puissance d'anima~lo~. mination of the campaign. In that year, the influential
Et a l'art du photographe, ils ont Substltue
le~r ~gn, tout en gardant Ie soleil comme collabora- li terary journal Cahiers du Mois for the firs te time
teur. tur-nell its attention to film by publishing;\ Ve l lUlI1l) of
What is significant about the exposition is that it bears
scenarios (issue number 12) and a volume of essays (num-
the influence of the tastes of the journals, cine-clubs,
ber 16-17) and then co-sponsoring a series of conferences
and specialized theatres. The stills, scripts, set and
with Le Cine Club de France and the Vieux-Colombier, at
costume designs, posters, and books on display were drawn
which Epstein, Dulac, and Colette gave lectures accom-
from the Impressionist movement, which was dominating
panied by screenings. 166 Perhaps most significant was
the journals and cultural activities. The works of
the place accorded to the cinema in the 1925 Exposition
Delluc, Dulac, Gance, Epstein, and L'H~~bier (and, to
des Arts Decoratifs. Opening on 29 April, situated along
a lesser extent, those of Baroncelli,Fescourt, and
both banks of the Seine, the Exposition has come to be
Poirier) were spotlighted, and such older creators as
regarded as a landmark in the history of "le style
'Feuillade, Perret, Linder, and Jasset were given very
modern" or Art Deco. 167 Here, among over 130 pavillions
slight recognition. 16 5 The Exposition jury included some
representing many countries and artistic movements and
older financiers (Pathe and Gaumont) and an inventor
containing works qy Le Corbusier, Mare, Mallet-Stevens,
(Lumiere) but it was chiefly composed of young critics
Paul Colin, the Italian Futurists, and others, the cinema
(Coissac, Vuillermoz, and Moussinac) and directors (Gance,
was given a notable place. Many films were shown in
L'Herbier). The Exposition's lecture series might have
various national pavillions (e.g., in the Soviet pavillion)
been taken from Cin@a's table of contents: Blum, Coissac,
and in specialized exhibits (e.g., the Comoedia pavillion),
Moussinac, L'Herbier, Catelain, Mallet-Stevens, and
and according to contemporary report an entire pavillion
Epstein all gave talks on film aesthetics. Although no
was given over to cinema. 168 More importantly, the French
films were screened, the 1924 exposition at the Musee
fil~s that were screened reflected (as had the Musee
Galliera marks a significant victory in the Impressionist
Galliera exhibits) the dominance of the Impressionist
Specialized theatres regularly offered screenings c1f oldcl'
movement in the journals and cin&-clubs: works by Dulac,
as well as contemporary work, thus making the tradition
Epstein, Clair, and Delluc were shown. Also, as note~
accessible. Impressionist film-makers wrote, lectured,
abo~e, it was at the Exposition des Arts D~coratifs that
and introduced screenings of their films. By 1925, the
Charles L&ger founded a majo~ cin&-club. The Exposition
cinema was widely recognized by workers in other arts
catalogue emphasizes its recognition of film as a modern
art: as of genuine aesthetic interest. Chiefly through the

unified activity of the Impressionist movement, a film

L'§cran estentr§ .dans nos moeurs. Le. cin§ rivalise
sans peine avec Ie theatre, Ie dar.cing et Ie con- culture had been built: a public had been created that
cert . . . . Et l'on a la sensation directe que Ie film
fran9aise garde tout sa valeur artistique et que was prepared to see cinema as an art. But behind the
l'avenir de cette production ne sera pas indigne
de son passe magnifique pour peu qu'elle puisse
Impressionists' activities lay a theory. If film was an
s'§pa::ouir <;lans l'atmosphere commerciale qui lui
est necessalre. 16 9
art, what kind of art was it? What were the characteris-
Although the Exposition des Arts D&coratifs was not a
tics of the medium? Such theoretical assumptions and
great popular success, its acceptance of film as a signi-
arguments are the concern of the next chapter.
ficant modern art signals a recognition of the point that

writers and film-makers had been pressing for several

years.

Thus the Impressionist activities r~inforced an

interest in cinema already existing among intellectuals

and artists. Utili2ing the basic interest already pro-

vided by certain artists' exploration of film as a source

of aesthet.ic mat.erial and by the popularity of American

films, cinema journals solidified tastes and drew attention

to Impressionist work. Cin§-clubs made available for

viewing and discussion the work praised in the journals.


78
Notes
l Rene Doumic. "LIAge du Cinema," Nouvelle Revue
des Deux Mondes (15 August 1913), 928.
2Quoted in 11arce] L'Jlur'bhrr', ed., .!..!:lJelLi..E.'l!.!~~!......1~
Cinematographe (Paris: Correa, 1946). p. 49.
3Quoted in J. W. Harding, The Ox on the R~~~ (New
York: St. Martin's Press, 19(2). p. 83.
4G. Michel Coissac, Histoire du Cine~atographe
(Paris: Editions du "Cineopse," 1925), pp. !jli9-1150.
5S ee • for background on this period in Frenc~
painting Edward Fry, ed .• Cubism (New York: McGraw:HIll,
1966) an~ Jean-Paul Crespelle, La FolIe Epoque (Porls:
Hachette, 1968).
6Roger Shattuck, The Banquet Years (New Y01'k:
Vintage. 1968). pp. 27-28.
7Ibid., pp. 154-55.
8 See Shattuck, p. 9, and Pierri Bost, La Cirque
et Ie Music-Hall (Paris: Au Sans Pariel, 1931), pp. 95 98.
9Harding, p. 67.
10Ibld .• p. 101.
IlS ee Harding, pp. 62-70, and Francis Steegmuller,
Cocteau (Boston: Little, Brown, 1970), pp. 131-132.
12Charles Pathe, De Pathe Freres a Pathe Cinema
(Paris: Premier Plan, 1970), pp. 51-52.
13Doumic, 920.
14S ee Henry C. Dodge, "The Movies of' wartime Par-is,"
Photoplay X, 1 (June 1916), 70.
15Ibid.
16Ibid., 72.
79
17Rene Jeanne and Charles Ford, Histoire Encyclo-
pedique du Cinema, vol. I (Paris: Laffont, 19 117), p. 116.
18Eve Francis, Temps Heroiques (Paris: Denoel,
1949), p. 323.
19Ibid., p. HJ6.
;.'[)CulcLLe, "CuJeLLe au Cillt:-l1ll1," 1,0 1"j 1111 Ill'. Ill)
(3 June 1918), 8.
210uillaume Apollinaire, "Les Tendances NO\lvt"lles,"
Sic no. 8-9-10 (August-September-October 1916), l l . p .
22Max Jacob, "Printemps et Cinematographe M~l~s,"
Soirees de Paris no. 23 (15 April 1914), 219-2~[).
23Max Jacob, "Cinematographe," Le Cornet a Des
(Paris: Gallimard, 1945),138.
24Guillaume Apollinaire,"Avant le Cinema,"
Oeuvres Poetiques (Paris: Bibliotheque de la Pleiade,
1956), p. 362. See also Marcel Tariol, Louis Delluc
(Paris: Seghers, 1965), p. 47.
25Philippe Soupault, "Indifference: Poeme Cinema-
tographique," Sic no. 25 (January 1918), n.p.
26Pierre-Albert Birot, "2-1-1=2,ri Cinema: Drames,
Poems dans l'Espace (Paris: Editions "Sic." ~920), p. 26.
27Apollinaire also.composed a satiric sketch of
the film business entitled "Un Grand Film." It is reprint-
ed in Selected Writings of Guillaume Apoilinaire, tr.
and ed. by Roger Shattuck (New York: New Directions, 1948)
pp. 238-241.
28Harry Alan Potamkin, "Cinea-Cine," National
Board of Review Magazine II (October 1937), p. 4.
29Maurice Raynal, "Chronique Cinematographiqup,"
Soiree~ de Paris no. 26-27 (July-August 1914), n.p.
30See Standish Dyer Lawder. Structuralism and
Movement in ExperimeritalFilni and Modern Art, 1896-1925,
unpublished Ph.D. dissertation (Yale, 1967).
3 1 Pathe. p.79.
 32 Ibid., pp. 51-52.
33Georges Sadoul, Histoire G!nerale du Cin§ma,
vol. III, part 2 (Paris: Flammarion, 1952), pp. 33-35.
34Ibid., p. 41, and Jean Mitry, Index Historique
des TechniCjl:i'eSet Industries du Film (Parls: IDHEC, 1963),
pp. 108-113.
35See Le Courrier Cinematographigue IX (1919-,
passim.
36 See Cine-Journal XVI (1922), passim.
37Jeanne and Ford,.pp. 121-122.
3 8For contemporary comments on the American domina-
tion, see Paul Reboux, "Les Maitres du Citiema," Crapouil-
lot (March, 1920), p. 5, and Louis Delluc, "Les Cineastes,"
Le Monde Nouveau (15 August-1September 1922), 37)38.
Later years would see many proposals for European film
corporations to unite in a syndicate to battle American
h.gem6ny. Two important proposals are Delluc, "La Finance
et Ie Cinema," reprinted in Tariol, pp. 115-119, and Jean
Saperre, "La Politique de Cinema Franc;aise," Cinea-Cine
pour Tous no. 34 (1 April 1925), 7-9.
39For exact figures, see "Le Marche Fran~aise
Depuis 1924," LeTout Cinema 121.2. (Paris: Filma, 1930).
p. 10. For a chronological list of collapsed French
firms (1923-1933), see Max Dianville, "Raisons Majeures,"
Le Courrier Cinematographigue XXV, 29-30(21-28 June
1934), 7-8.
I!OCIWl'les Pathe, "La Crise du Cinema," Le F'ilm
nO.,102 (25 February 1918), 8, and "Etude sur I 'Evolution
de l' IndusLr'ie Cinamatographique F:ranc;aise," L8 l<il!!!. no.
120 (1 July 1918), 12.
41Co1ette's remarks on limitations of The Cheat may
bel:ound quoted (and 'uncited) in Sadoul, Histoire Gene-
rale, p. 85. For Delluc's remarks, see Louis Dellllc,
Cinema et Cie (Paris: Grasset, 1919), p. 29. Unfortu-
nately most of these films are now lost.
42S ce Robert Florey, "AI Saint-John, dit 'Pieratt',"
Cinemagazine II, 3 (20 January 1922), pp.71-75; Robert
Florey, "Clude Cook, dit 'Dudule'," Cinemagazine II, 9
(3 March 1922), pp. 259-260; Raphael.Bernard, "Buster
Keaton (alias 'Malec')," Cinemagazine II, 2 (13 January
1922), pp. 39-42.
43Louis Delluc, La Jungle tiu Cinema (Paris: Grasset,
1921), pp. 205-206.
44Steegmuller, p. 252.
45See COlette, "La Critique des Films," Le Film
no. 63. (28 May 1917), 5-6, and Louis Delluc, "'Illusl0n'
et Illu~ions~" LeFilm no. 67 (25 June 1917),6.
46Steegmuller, p. 238.
47Quoted in Pierre Leprohon, Jean Epstein (Paris:
Seghers, 1964), p. 19.
48 Lou is Delluc, "Les Cineastes," Le Monde Nouveau
(15 August-l September 1922), 37.
49Dodge, 74.
5DLe Film no. 145 (24 December 1918), passim.
51Jou~nal ~u Cine-Club no. 40(15 October 1920),
12-14.
52Le Courrier CinematographiqueIX, 16 (16 April
1919),23.
53Bost, pp. 114, 132-33.
5 4philippe Soupault, The American Influence in
France, tr. Babette and Glenn Hughes (Seattle: Unlversity
of Washington Chapbooks, 1930), p. 15.
55Quoted in Jeanne and Ford, p. 133.
56Quoted in Leprohon, p. 16. See also Jean
Epstein, "Amour de Charlot," Cinea no. 23 (14 October
1921), 13.
5 7s ee Le Film no. 88 (19 November 1917).
5 8See , for early examples, Louis Delluc, "L'ex- .
pression et Charlie Chaplin,"Le Film.no .. 106-;-107 (2 Aprl1
1918), 48-54; Max Linder, "L'Homme QUl Falt Rlre Ie

59Jean Galtier-Boissiere " "Charlot," Le Crapoui 1 Illt.
(March, 1920), pp. 12-14; Canudo~ Usine des Imoges,
p. 98.
60Steegmuller, p. 240.
61Ibid. p. 135.
62Rene Clair, Cinema Yesterda~ and Tod~, trans. by
Stanley Applebaum (New York: Dover, 1 72), p. ~.
63Francis, p. 311.
64 Lou is Delluc, Cinema et Cie, p. 13.
65Ibid.
66Edouard de Max, "De Max au Cinema," L0 Film
no. 94 (31 December 1917), 9.
67Jean-Andre Fieschi, "Entretien,avec Marcel L'Her-
bier," Cahiers du Cinema no. 208 (June-July 1968), 29.
68Anonymous, "Enqufte," Le Film no. 133-134
(14 October 1918), 29-35.
69Journal du Cine-Club no. 5 (30 February 1920),
15.
7 0 Journal du Cine-Club no. 29 (3 July 1920),
11.
71Louis Delluc, "Les Cineastes: Cecil B. De Mille,"
Cinea no. 63-64 (21 July 1922),11.
72Delluc noted: "On eut mieux fait de 1e regarder
mieux et de ne pas dire trop vite que, 'rna foi, Ie cinfmi
ce n' est pas si bete ... ' s.implement parce que ce me 10-
drame mondain paraissait 'presque aussi bien que du
Bernstein. '" (Ibid.)
73Frances, p. 311.
7 4Colette "La Critique des Films," Le Film no. 63
(28 May 1917), 5.'
83
75Interestingly, Andre Bazin compared Citizen
Kane's revelation of cinematic possibilities to lllat.
wrought by The Cheat thirty years earlier. See L'~\:;in,
Orson Welles (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1972), p. 1S.
76Louis Delluc, "Notes Pour Moi," Le Film DU. 94
(31 December 1917), 14.
'('{Camille de Morlhon, "Une Enquete," Le j"i 1m Ih).
52 (12 March 1917), 7.
78~ouis Delluc, "La Faute d'Odette Marechal,"
Journal du Cine-Club no. 3 (28 January 1920), n.p., and
Photogenie (Paris, Grasset, 1920), p. 61.
79See COlette, "La Critique des Films," Le Film
no. 69 (9 July 1917), 7)8; New York Times (30 September
1920), 12.
80Delluc, Cinema et Cie, p. 16.
81Soupault, The American Influence in France,
p. 13.
82Delluc, Cinema et Cie, p. 71.
83See also the quotation in Steegmuller, p. 162.
84 Hard ing, p. 77.
85Walter Albert, "IntrOduction," in Selected
Writings of Blaise Cendrars (New York: New Directions,
1965), PP' 6)9. '
86 Luc ien Parrot, Blaise Cendrars (Parus: Seghers,
1?48), p. 47. For. testimony on Cendrars' filming activi-
t1es, see Abel Gance, "Blaise Cendrars et le Cin~ma,"
Mercure de France no. 1185 (May, 1962), 170-171.
87Parront, p. 47.
88Francis, p. 356.
89Soupault, The American Influence in France, p. 11.
9 0Fernand Leger, "The Spectacle," Functions of
Painting, trans. by Alexandra Anderson (New York: Viking,
1973), pp. 35-47.

91Jean Galtier-Bossiere, "Reflexions sur Ie Cin~
§ma," LeCrapouillot (March, 1920), 3-4.
92Georgette Leblanc, "Propos sur Ie Cinema,"
Mercure de France (16 November 1919), 275-290~
93Delluc, Cinema et Cie, p. 183.
9 4Marcel Gromaire, "Idees d'un peintre sur Ie
cin§ma," in L'Herbier, ed., Intelligenc~ du Cinemato-
graphe, p. 248.
95Soupault, American Influence in France, p. 17.·
96Franci~ Picabla, "Cin§ma," Cinea no. 52 (5 May
1922), p. 9.
97Quoted in Clair, p. 27. See also Jean Tedesco,
"Le Cinema, Expression de l'Esprit Moderne," Cinea-
Cin§ Pour Tous no. 84 (& May 1927), pp. 9~11.
98Leblanc, 284.
99Delluc, Cinema et Cie, p. 34.
100Soupault, The American Influence in F0ance,
p. 20.
101Jean Epstein, Le Cinematographe Vu de l'Etna
(Paris: Les Ecrivains Reunis,1926), p. 45,
102For remarks on the function of reviews in an
avant-garde movement, see Albert Guerard, Literature and
Society ( Boston: Lathrop" Lee, 1935), p. 289, and
Renato Pog~inli, The Theory of the Avant-Garde (New York:
Harper & Row, 1968), passim.
103Quoted in Pierre Leprohon, Histoire du Cinema
(Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1961), p. 74.
104J,c_Eilm no. & (27 February 1914), 3.
105See Le Film no. 29 (30 September 1916), 5;
no. 32 (21 October 1916), 5; no. 33 (28 October 1916), 5;
no. 34 (II November 1916), 5; no. 35 (11 November 1916), 5;
no. 36 (18 November 1916), 5-7; no. 38 (2 December 1916,
5-6.
i06Henri Diamant-Berger, "Le Film National,"
Le Film no. 37 (25 November 1916), 6.
107Henri Diamant-Berger, "La Critique," Le Film
no. 68 (2 July 1917), 7.
108Colette, "La Critique des Films," ~Film no.
66 (18 June 1917), 4-5.
1 09Colette, "La Critique des Films," Le Film no.
70-71 (21 July lS17),7.
110Louis Delluc, "Notes pour Moi," Le Film no. 96
(14 January 1918), 14.
I11Henri Diamant-Berger, ."A Nos Lecteurs," Le
Film no. 67 (25 June 1917), 6.
112Louis Delluc, "'Illusion' et Illusions," Le
Film no. 67 (25 June 1917), 6.
113See Le Film no. 72 (30 July 1917),4.
114S ee Marcel Lev~sque, "Marcel Lev~sque par Lui-
Meme," Le Film no .. 90 C3 December 1917), 6-8; Eve Francis,
"Eve Francis par Lui-Meme," Le Film no. 91 (10 December
1917), 6-10; Gabriel Signoret:-"Que Veut.Signoret?".Le.
Film no. 96 (14 January 1918), 7-12; Musldora, "Varlatlons
sur le Cinema," Le Film no. 108-109 (April 1918), 7-8;
Severin-Mars "Le Th§itre du Silence," Le Film no. 129
(2 September'1918), 12-14; Jacques Guerin-Catelain,
"Pourquoi Je Me Suis Jete dans le Torrent," Le Film no. 97
(21 January 1918), 9-13; Henry Krauss, "Henry Krauss," Le
Film no. 103 (4 March 1918), 10.
11':'E. a. Lacroix, "!laine," 1,e Film no. 117 (10
June 1918), 15-28; Abel Gance, "J'Accuse!lT Le,Film"no.
108-109 (15 April 1918), 10-23; Marcel L'Herbler, Bou~
clette (L'Ange de Minuit)," Le Film no. 106-107 (2 Aprll
1918), 78-94; Henri Roussel, "'Notre' et 'Leur' Cinema,"
Le Film no. 95 (7 January 1918), 14-16; Henri pouc~al,
"Pouetal et 'Travail, '" Le Film no. 106-107 (2 Aprll
1918),13.
116Louis Aragon, "Du Decor," Le Film no. 131
(16 September 1918), 8-10.

117Henri Diamant-Berger, "Mise au I'oint," Le Film
no. 105 (18 March 1918), 6.
118Quoted in Georges Sadoul, Histoire Generale,
p. 414.
119s ee for instance Fannie Ward, "Mes Metteurs en
Sc~ne," Le Journal du Cine-Club no. 3 (1920), n.p., and
Henri Roussel, "Un Metteur en Sc~ne et son Film," Le Jour-
nal du Cin6-Club no. 3 (1920), n.p.
120C. de Vesme, "Ce Que Doivent Etre Ie Cine-
Club et Son Journal," Le Journal du Cine-Club no. 1 (1920),
n.p.
121S ee Tariol, p. 38n.
122S ee Cinea no. 11 (15 July 1921), passim.
123S ee , for example, Jaque Christiany, "Cinea
chez Eve Francis," Ciriea no. 84 (26 January 1923)--;tr;
Jaque Christiany, "Cinea chez Jaque Catelain," Cinea no.
83 (12 January 1923), 4; Jaque Catelain, "Parolescrrun
Acteur Muet,"Cinea no. 6 (10 June 1921), 10; Abel Gance
et al., "En Me~ de Severin-Mars," Cinea no. 37 (20
January 1922),16; Jaque Catelain, "Dialogue," Cinea no.
11 (15 July 1921), 16-17; Jean Epstein, "Sessue ~awa,"
Cinea no. 35 ( 6 January 1922), 14; Jean Epstein, "Amour
de Sessue," Cinea no. 37 (20 January 1922), 14; Jean Ep-
stein, "Reinite des Details," Cinea no. 45 (17 March 1922
12; Marcel L'Herbier, "Sisyphe~inea no. 86 (23 Febru-
ary 1923, 4-6; Louis Delluc, "De 'Rose-France' a 'El
Dorado,'" Cinea no. 1 (6 May 1921), 13-15; Jean Tedesco,
"Don Juan et Faust," Cinea no. 85 (9 February 1923),23;
Louis Delluc, "Don Jua:net Faust," Cinea no. 57-58 (9
1922), 13; Louis Delluc, "Les Cineastes: Marcel L'Herbier
Cinea no. 73-74 (6 October 1922), 4-5; Jean Tedesco, "Le
Brasier Ardent," Cinea no. 94 (15 June 1923), 10-15.
124 Eve ~rancis, "Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel,"
Cinea no. 9 (1 July 1921), 16; Eve Francis, "Ballets Sue-
d01S," Cinea no. 40 (10 February 1922'), 18.
125Lionel Landry, "Einstein au Cinema," Cinea no
71-72 (22 September 1922), 12-13.
126S ee Ciriea no. 6 (10 June 1921), n.p.
87
t27S ee Cinea no. 43 C3 March 1922), 13; Cinea
no. 81 (15 December 1922), 3.
128See Cin!a-Cine pour Tous no. 1 (15 November
1923), 32-33.
129See Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 29 (15 January
1925), 11-12; Fritz Lang, "La Mission du Realisateur "
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 39 (15 June 1925) 7-8' Cha;les
Chaplin, "Lu <::orn&die et 10 'rrag6die Devant'le P:lblic "
Cin~a-Cine po~r Tous no. 45 (15 September 1925), 5-7~
Cecll B. De Mllle, "Ce Que Desire Ie PUblic," Cinea-Cine
pO\lr Tous no. 47 (15 October 1925), 7-8; Lupu Pick, "Re-
allsateur et Scenario," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 66 (31
July 1926), 9-11; Jean-George Auriol "Mack Sennett"
Cinea-Cine pou~ Tous no. 67 (l5 Augu~t 1926) 21-24=
Jean-Georges Auriol, "Erich von Stroheim," Crnea-Ci~e
pour Tous no. 68 (1 September 1926), 11-13; Edmond Epar-
daud, "L§once Perret," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 69 (15
September 1926), 21-11; Jean Tedesco and Jean Arroy
"~larce1 L' Herb ier, "'Cine a-Cine pour Tous no. 72 (1 Novem-
b!r.1926), 9-14. Anonymous, "Robert J. Flaherty," Cinea~
Clne pour Tous (15 November 1926) 25' Jean-Georges Aurlol
"King Vidor," Cinea-Cine pour Tou~ no: 77 (15 January ,
1927), 12-13; Bernard Brunlus, "Rene Clair," Cinea-Cine
pour Tous no. 79 (15 February 1927) 11-12' P. H.
•.
;;;> W
22. Murnau, " C'·
lnea- C'lnepour
• Tous "
no. 82 (1,April 1927),
l~OSee, for example, R. T., -"Le Nouveau Film de
Germalne Dulac," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 28 (1
Jalnu,try 5), 6; Pierre Kefer, "En Marge. de Mauprat,"
~~~~~~~~~~.;no. 70 (1 October 1926), 21-22. For
's work, see the following essays
~~~~~.?~;..,..~~: Pierre Rambaud, "Pour Coeur
1928), 33; Paul Ramain~ur 'La
eL'f1~.I~;F', no. 111 (15'June 1928), 15-16; Henri
"Creer," no. 116 (1 September 1928), 19-21, and
(15 September 1928), 19-21; Paul Ramain, "Savoir
no. 119 (15 October 1928), 23-24; Acos Manaras,
v.LlJ~mi::l , Concept Realize," no.. 122 (1 December
131See Marcel L'Herbier "Cinematographe et Demo-
Cinea-CinepourTous no: 48 (1 November 1925)
<:n... ' .... , "
"Resurrection, l! 'Ciri§a-Cine pour To'us no. 90 (1 August
), 9-: 11; "Le Droit de M4tamorphose," 'Ci'n'e'a-Cine pour
no. 109 (15 May 1928), 10-11. For a sample article
on L'Herbier, see Pierre Heuze, "Une Innovation Technique,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 53 (15 January 1926), 13.
13 2Jean Tedesco, "Pour un Cineaste Inconnu,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 54 (1 February 1926), pp. 11-12;
Marianne Alby, "Un Entretien .avec Rene Clair," Cinea-Cine
pour Tous no. 42 (1 August 1925), 21-22.
133Louis Delluc, "Mater Dolorosa," Le Film nos.
92-93 (17-24 December 1917), 25.
13 4Jean Mitry, "Abel Gance Nous Parle du Cinema,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no .. 3 (15 December 1923), 8; Marianne
Alby, "Abel Gance Tourne," Cin!a-Cine iour Tous no. 3
(15 December 1923).9~10S Juan ArroY,Quelques Minutes
av~c Napoleon Bonaparte," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 34
(1 April 1925), 19; Juan Arroy, "Quelques Minutes avec
Abel Gance," Cinea-CTn'e·pour Tous no. 43 (15 August 1925),
7-8; Anonymous, "En Suivant Napoleon," Ciriea-Cine pour Tous
no. 60 (1 May 1926), 24; Edmond Epardaud, "Gance a Tourn6
les Sc~nes de 'la. Convention,'" Cine~-Cine pour Tous no.
62 (1 June 1926), 11; Anonymous,"En suivant Napoleon,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 63 Ci5 June 1926), 15; Anonymous,
"Napoleon," Cinea-Cirie 'ponrTous no.1H. (15 March 1927),
26; M. G. "Quand On Tournait Napoleon," Cinea-Cine pour Tous
no. 96 (1 November 1927), 11-13. - pp. 381-382.
135Tariol, p. 84~ See also Jean Mitry, Delluc
(Paris: Anthologie du Cinema, January 1971), p. 4.
136Le Tout Cinema 1929 (Paris: Filma, 1930), pp.
949-954.
. 137Louis Delluc, "Ce Que Mounot-Sully Pensait
dU-C~nema," Le Film no. 99 (4 February 1918), 6.
138 Por a detailed account of the rise of the cin-
ema in the press, consult Rene Jeanne and Charles Ford,
Le Cinema et 103 Presse 1895-1960 (Paris: Colin, 1961.
139Le Tout Cinema 1929, pp. 949-954.
140C. de Vesme, "Ce Que Doivent Etre Ie Cine-
'Club et son Journal," Journal de Cine-Club no. 1 (1920),
n.p.
141see , for example, Tariol, pp. 33-35 and Mitry,
Delluc, pp. 19-20.
142 3ee Le Journal du Cine-Club no. 22 (11 June
1920), 2; no. 27 (16 July 1920), 3-5; and no. Ijl (n Octo-
ber 1920), 11.
143Riccioto Canudo, "L'Art pour Ie Septi~mc Art,"
Cinea no. 2 (13 May 1920), 16.
144Anonymous, "Pall-Mall," Cinea no. 8 (2 11 June
1921), 19. /
145Jean Epstein, Le Cinematographe Vu de l'Etna,
pp. 46-47.
146Reports of these gatherings appeared in Le
Gazette des Sept Arts no. 2 (n.d.), 13; Lumiere II W
(14 April 1923), 7; Lumiere II, 38 (12 May 1923), 7.
147Jeanne and Ford, Histoire Encyclopedique,
p. 192.
148Anonymous, "Au Cine-Club de France " Cinea-
Cine pour Tous no. 48 (1 November 1925), 20. '
. 149Jeander, "Les Cine-Clubs," Le Cinema par
Ceux QUl Ie Font, ed. Denis Marion Paris: Fayard, 1949),
15 0Ibid., pp. 383-384.
15 1Jean Tedesco, "Creation d'un Cinemaclub Inter-
national," Cinea-Cine pour Tous nb. 108 (1 May 1928),
9-10; "Organization du Cinemaclub International " Cin!a-
Club pour Tous no. 110 (1 June 1928), 9-10. '
. . 15 2 Germaine D~lac, "Le Cinema d'Avant-Garde,"
1n Henr1 Fescourt, ed., Le Cinema (Paris: Editions du
Cygne, 1931), p. 363. ------
153See Le Journal du Cine-Club no. 47 (3 December
1920), no. 48 (10 December 1920), 8-10.
15 4See Le Journal dtl Cine-Club no. 40 (15 December
1920), 10-14; no. 41 (22 October 1920), 12.
1 5 5Clair, Cinema Yesterday and Today, p. 70.
15 6 "Repertoire des Films Representees par Ie
Theatre Vieux-Colombier Depuis 1924," Cine'a-Cine pour Tous
 90 91

168Anonymous, "Notre Avant-Garde aux Arts Decora-

no. 88 (1 July 1917)~ 11. During these years Tedesco tifs," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 46 (1 October 1925), 11.
devoted several articles to the Vieux-Colombier in Cin~a­
Cine pour Tous: "Au Repertoire du Vieux-Colombier,"~­ 1 6 9Anonymous, Paris: Arts Decoratifs: Guide de
30 (1 February 1925), 21-22; "Le Repertoire et l'Avant- l'Exposition (Paris: Hachette, 1925); p. 297.
Garde du Film," no. 31 (15 February 1925), 5; "Le Cinema
de 1926 au 'Vieux Colombier,'" no. 52 (1 January 1926),
7.
157s ee "Jacques de Baroncelli Parle au Vieux-
Colombier," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 35 (15 April 1925),
6-7; and advertisement, cinea cine pour Tous no. 27
(15 December 1924), 3.
158New York Times (5 January 1930), VIII, 5.
159Ibid. See also Pierre Lherminier, ed., Armand
TallieI' et le-stUdio des Urselines (Paris: Associa~ion
Franqaise des Cinemas d'Art et d'Essai, 1963); 2-3.
160 Stud io 28, Revue-Programme (Paris, 1930),
1-12.
161 See Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 100 (2 January
1928), 28. .
162rnterview of author with Marie Epstein, 7 .July
1973; Leo Braudy, Jean Renoir (New York: Doubleday,
1972), 198.
163For a charming memoir of Parisian avant-garde
theatres, see Alexander Arnoux, Du Muet au Parlant (Paris:
La Nouvelle Edition, 1946), pp. 24-34.
164Georges Lecomte, "Un Art Nouveau," Exposition
de l'Art dans le Cinema Fran9ais (Paris: Musee Galliera,
1924), p. 3.
165Ibid., pp. 5-11.
166 See Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 50 (1 December
in5), 8.
167For background on Art Deco consult Yvonne
Brunhammer, The Nineteen T.wenties Style (London: Hamlyn,
1966) and especially the catalogue ilLes Annees '25':
Collection du Museedes Arts Decoratifs (Parls:~usee
des Arts Decoratifs, 1966).
 CHAPTER III. IMPRESSIONIST FILM THEORY Nevertheless, a set of broad theoretical assumPti~
pervade the movement's journal essays and public lectures.
Just as the period 1913-1925 saw a change in
This chapter will systematize and analyze Impressionist
French intellectuals' and artists' attitude toward film,
theoretical assumptions in an effort to reveal the under-
so did roughly the same years see the rise of a new theo-
.
lying positlon. Rather than treat each major writer in
retical perspective on the cinema. It is important that
an atomistic fashion, I shall outline the fundamental
this perspective was generated, promulgaied, and shared
tenets of the theory by drawing on various writers; this
by virtually the same people who initiated and sustained
will permit a clearer view of the shared position of
. a coherent film cuiture and who made a stylistically
the members 'of the movement. Finally, it should be noted
homogeneous set of films; that is, a distinct theory of
that Impressionist film theory frequently oscillates be-
film is an aspect of what r am designating as the Impres-
tween descriptive and normative assumptions; as we would
sionist movement.
expect in an avant-garde movement, the theory holds not
Impressionist theory is not the specialist's
only that film's nature is of a certain kind but also
ideal of theory-building. Nowhere can one find a sustain~
· wa y .
that given films should be a cer t aln Like some other
ed, rigorously mounted theoretical argument. Most Impres-
aesthetic theories, Impressionism slides from assuming
sionist theory exists in two forms: scattered unsupported
that it is describing conditions which obtain for all
pronouncements on film aesthetics and implicit assumptions
art to assuming that it is setting standards which apply
underlying critical, historical, or polemical writings.
to good art. I shall note such shifts from a descriptive
Worse, the Impressionist writers betray little acquaintance
to an e.valuative attitude where the shifts are important
with systematic philosophizing. Like many avant-garde move-
for understanding the theory's scope.
ments, Impressionism had specific polemical and artistic
There are four principal propositions upon which
goals, and these goals often tempted the writers to sub-
Impressionist theory rests, dealing with the definition
stitute slogans for earned positions. The result is a
of art, the relation of film to traditional arts, the nature
rough-and-ready assemblage of unacknowledged assumptions,
of the film image, and th e natur·e of filmic construction.
casual opinions, and fragmentary aesthetic claims.
I shall discuss these in
 95
94

"1 I interpretation de la nature par l' intelligence <'L 13.

turn and shall conclude with a general evaluatic1I1 Qf the . , . 1 ,,4
sensibilite humaines au moyen de technlques :;;pl'Cl;] <.'8.

theory. In such a view, the transforming power of the artist's ima-

The Nature of Art gination becomes central, as Paul Ramain suggests in seeing
art as "renrorcee par un temperament: celui du r;\bl'iquant,
Although the Impressionists' ties to traditional
(peintre, poete, musicien, cineaste)."5 Canudo points out
i::terJthetiC:iJ ar'e rarely avowed, a c·lear aesthetic underlies that in painting the graphic design is hal'llIonj ':,c'd by a
their position. Broadly speaking, Impressionist film
principle unique to the painter. 6 Expression is ~xplicitly
theory holds that art is expression. Like Romantic noted as the operative concept in artistic creatioll, as
theories, the Impressionists assume that art resides in when Canudopraises the expressiveness of American ci nema 7
the transformation of nature by the imagination ~nd that and Ramain calls art "l'expression vivante idealis~e.,,8
art yields not discursive truth but an experiential truth
Although art is not equipped to copy reality faithfullY
anchored in feelings. This concept of art as expression and yield discursive knowledge~ it does yield a feeling-
is extended to apply to the cinema. ful truty. ~Au cinema," writes Canudo, "ainsi que dansles
Several remarks scattered throughout Impressionist
de l'esprit, l'art consiste a s~ggerer des emo-
writing suggests that art is seen as the imaginative .trans-
et non a relater des faits . . . Seuls quelques
formation of nature. "Certainement, Ie cinema part de ecranistes ont compris que la verite cinematographique
la nature, comme tous les arts," writ~s Delluc. "Et comme
doit correspondre a la verite litteraire, - la verite
tous les arts il doit interprete~ la nature et la styliser picturale."g Epstein likewise praises the nondiscursive
et la recreer sous un angle visuel nouveau."1 JeanEpstein's
component of cinema: "Bien mieux qu'une idee, c'est. un
writing on literary aesthetics testifies to a similal'
sentiment que Ie cine apporte au monde.,,10
insistence on art as deviation from reality.2 Canudo
Canudo's mention of "suggestion" hints that Impres~
states the same assumption more clearly: "La peinture ne
sionist film theory's own variant of the art-as-expression
reproduit pas la nature, mais elle la compose avec un
parti-pris."3 Similarl;, Marcel D&fosse defines art as
position resembles the late Symbolist aesihetic of Mallar-
feelings.
ml, which stresses the art work's capacities for "evocation,
This entire conception of art evidently owes a
allusion, suggestion," and holds that "to create is to
deal to the Symbolist movement in French poetry.
conceive an object i~ its fleeting moment, in its absence."ll
insistence on the artist's transformation of nature,
The idea of art's truth as suggested., evoked, glimpsed
stress on feeling, and the role of suggestiveness
fleetingly or obliquely is emphasized at several points in
testify to Impressionism's debt to Symbolist theory;
Impressionist writing. "Ncus rassemblerons l'energie de
shall see other debts emerge later. For the moment,
tous nos arts qui tendent I cet Itat tr~s vaste d'evoca~
should note that, as A. G. Lehmann has shown in The
tions et de suggestions indltinees . . . " writes Canudo in
Symbolist Aesthetic in France, Symbolism was far from
one essay, and in another, "L'art n'est pas Ie spectacle
offering a coheient theor~ of art. Impressionist theory
de quelques faits riels; il est l'lvocationdes sentiments
is no freer of difficulties. For example, the Impression-
~ul enveloppent les faits."12 Similarly, Michel Goreloff
ist's stress on art's evocation of feeling sidesteps
states it as a fundamental normative premise that "L'im-
the question of the nature of feeling and its relation to
age doit ne pas seulement mont reI' quelque chose, mais
objects and ideas. Most basically, what is a feeling?
aussi, suggerer."13 Most explicit is Jean Epstein's
! physiological characterization would be at odds with the
~esthetic of "approximati6n" and "the indefinite," which
idealist assumptions we shall see operating in Impres-
constitutes his grounds for claiming that both litera-
sionist theory. But then how does the Impressionist
tur~ and film are based on suggestiveness and implica-
theorist avoid an idealism which posits the feeling as
in .L..l Po0!?ie ~ourd' hui, Epst.(~:in emphasizes
1
tion.'1 1
an entity existing solely in the minds of the artist and
the fleeting impression, the oblique metaphor, and process
perceiver? In what sense is such feeling to be [';i ven tl1e
of ~onsciousness: "L'auteui mod erne ne voit pas un fait
statu~ of "truth"? Moreover,. on the idealist mode~ the
mais son propre etat intellectuel a propos de ce fait, Ie
evocation which Impressionism prizes becomes problematic
retentissement intellectuel de ce fait."15 By this theory,
¥ith respect to the object which we call a work of art.
then, film, like other arts, does not propose abstract
~ot only is the status of the work reduced to that of the
conceptual systems but rathei evokes or suggest~ fleeting
consequence or cue for purely private feelings, but a
 98
99

more fundamental question enters: How can the artist,'s

"expression" be known as sue h b y a per C eiver'". That :Ls,
its popularity, its mechanical nature, its technical
is not a private account of feeling driven either to
In response, Impressionist writers began to
, or to
mysticism . . "
sol~ps~sm. On the other hand, Impression-
the cinema as aesthetically worthy, and the previous
.
ist claims about "express~veness"ggest
su some sense in
has rScounted the struggle to establish a public
which the term "feeling" is ascribable to objects them-
toward accepting film as an art. But what exactly
selves.16 What is this sense? And in what way can
nature of film art? To this question, Impressionist
this feeling be justified as "truth"? Obviously, such
two answers, a minority response and a majority
.
quest~ons as these' are ingredient to a philosophical
.
thetic, but Impressionism ~gnores th em. It picKs up
For Riccioto Canudo and Elie Faure, cinema is an
from .
Symbol~st doctr~ne
... what it needs to secure a general
virtue of its synthesizing powers. Film is seen
and unexamined premise concerning the nature of what Canudo calls "l'art total verslequel tous les
may be formulated in this way: depuis toujours, ont tendu."17 Canudo posits a
Art is the transformation of nature by the human
division of ,the six primary arts based on two categories:
imagination, evok ...~ng or suggesting feelings and presenting plastic arts (architecture, painting, and sculpture) and
"truth" to such feelings. rhythmic arts (music, poetry, and dance). Film is a

The Relation of Film to Traditional Arts
Impressionist film theory assumes at til~' outset
that film is a distinct art possessing crentive possibil
'
ties which no other ar t possesses. 1,;l"",
_... ,,-"c) n13ny c,th"l'
theoretical assumptions of the movement,
from a polemical context. Befor e 1920, several writers
denied the cinema's artistic status on various grounds:
synthetic art in that it can "capter et fixer les rythmes
de la lumiere. L'Art Septieme concilie ainsi tous les
en mouvement. Art plastique se developpant
les norme~ de l'Art Rhythmique.,,18 Thus cinema be-
a Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk and a painter-poet-
sician becomes the ideal cinematic creator. 19 Elie
, although claiming that cinema is too recently-
an art to be definitively classified, also stresses
Like theatre (but only in this
 gpstein, "edifie sa ville interdite, son domaine pro pre ,
respect), film is "un spectacle collectif aVElC l'intermed-
exclusif, autonome, specifique et hostile i tout ce qui
iatre d'un acteur.,,20 Yet like the plastic arts, the fil-
n'est pas lUl·. ,,24 He th us d enles
. the synthetic conception
mic artifact is fixed in its composition; unlike dance or
film by claiming that the cinema cannot do well what
music, it does not vary from one performance to another. 21
the other arts can: "II est mauval' s peln
. t re, mauvalS
. sculp-
Like music and ~ance, though, cinema unrolls in a "musical
teur, mauvais romancier."25 This purist conception of film
~pace" since "un rythme vivant et sa repetition dans la
supported by an important subsidiary assumption of
duree la caractetisent."22 According to this position,
t theory: that cinema as an art must be dis-
then, film as a medium synthesizes various aspects of other
clearly from theatre. Rene Doumic represents
media. Its distinctness as an art lies in its peculiar
traditional thinking when he writes that the cinema
"mixture" of these aspects; bther mixtures, like theatre
illettres.,,26 In response, Impressionist
'or opera, yield different arts. This strain in Impression-
insists that cinema is the antithesis of thea-
ist thought clearly owes a good deal to Wagner's theories,
'~Tant qu' on pens era theatre ou roman," writes
(not only in Canudo's manner of dividing the arts but also
, "tant qu-on ne pensera pas cinema, il faudra n'es-
in the primary emphasis which falls upon cinema aQ a
que ces oeuvres batardes dont nos meilleurs cine-
synthesis.
natographistes accouchent laborieusement.,,27 The same
To this synthetic conception of film art is
assumption underlies Cendrars ' charge that The Cabinet of
opposed a far more prevalent one which we may call "purist."
Dr. Caligari is not cinematic but theatrical. 28 Similarly,
Rather tll:111 1 ()(~ating film's distinctness in its unique
Impressionists like Delluc and Epstein attack the mise-
mixture of the media of other arts, the alternate tenden-
en scene of Feuillade and Perret as too close to that of
cy sees film as a single autonomous medium with powers
the stage. In its extreme form, the anti-theatre assump-
which no other medium possesses. What Marcel L'Herbier
tion spawns such suggestions as that of Jean Pascal for
called "cette fameuse specificite,,23 is for most Impres-
stripping film jargon of any terms borrowed from the
sionist film theory the tacit assumption that every art
theater: he proposes "cinematurgie," "cinephases" (repla-
has its unique range of materials. "Tout art," writes
dng "scenes"), and "cinematamorphose" (replacing
 1
103

"adaptation").29
remplacer. On abus du sous-ti tre .... Le tort es t (k nous
Just as the synthetic strain in Impl'<JssilHlit1t
lnterrompre dans notre §motion uniquement visuell~""33
theory owes something to Wagner' ~ Gesamtkunstwf't'k Cll,stlw-
Canudo agrees that the cinema was born to be not a text
tic, so does the purist conception allude to JIIUCI1 cur-rent
but "un conte visuel fait avec des images."3 4
debate on "pure poetry. " Ir1 1920, Valery had wl'i tten of
Another assumed theatrical material el'l1:; i ,;ts nf
an "absolute poetry " an d later had identified the problem
acting and setting; the stage actor must exagge-
of such poetry as th a t "of knowl"ng whether one can manage
expansively, and stage decor is inevitably a fabri-
construct one of those works whl" ch may be pure of all non-
is conventionalized, coded. Cinema, on
.
poetic elements. "30 As we shall see in Chapter V, the
other hand, stands opposed to such conventh~ns"
Impressionists were not to take this premise to the
acting, notes Germaine Dulac, can be much more
conclusion that th e members of the abstract-film movement
and discreet than a theatre performance,35
did. Nonetheless, the debate over "purism" ill poetry
claims that French film actors, transplanted from
doubtless had some l"nfluence on Impressionist thinking.
51
stage,exaggerate in a theatrical style, whereas
The purist position's opposition of film and thea-
film actors have a "natural" spontaneity.36
tre consists essentially of a distinction between
"l'acteur du Septieme Art exprime yne image
. th e "lnl,t:;,g,r·J.l.:!
thus inserting Impressionist film theory In
m ..""' ..... " . "37 Similarly, cinema's capacity for using natu-
of materials" tradition so central to modern movements
naturali~tic surroundings as deco~ should allow
CUbism, Symbolism, and Constructivism.
avoid the false decor of the'theatre. Again, the
assumes that the theatre is a predominantly
cinema typifies this: "Le premier chevauch0e
while the film is primarily visual. Delluc, who
dans Ie Far-West fit §clater les portants
. f'l
the presence of inter-titles In l,ms and sees in
"38 There are several problems here--e.g.,
Gance's titles a dangero'us "Gongorism,','3.2 urges that
~u,a~lnlg ,theatre as a medium with specific styles and his-
verbal material, should playa minor role: "Le texte,
orically variabl.e conventions, shifting from a notion of
redisons-le, ne doit pas etre quand l'image peutle
at cinema essentially is to a notion of what it can
contingently do--but most important for present purposes
is the mistake that permits mainstream Impressionist theory
to repudiate only theatrical dialogue, acting style, and
decor; theatrical dramaturgy is not seen as opposed to film.
Impressionist theory thus contrasts theatre and film at
a relatively local level, comparing theatrical talk, acting,
and decor with aspects of the isolated film image. What
the purist posi~ion does not grasp is any opposition
between the structure of a play and the structure of a
film. Indeed, Canudo'sreference to "un conte visuel"
suggests that no opposition between literary and cinema-
tic wholes is seen. Unlike the film theory of Sergei
Eisenstein, for example, the Impressionist position fails
to account at the primary level·for cinematic structure.
This omission leaves a conceptual gap which threatens
the stability of higher-order theatrical claims.
By contrast with the theatre, the purist position
109ates cinematic specificity in the moving image. In
an important passage, Faur€claims:
Que Ie depart de cet art~la soit d'abord plastique,
il n~. semble par consequent pas qu'on en puisse douter.
A quelque forme d'expression a peine sbupconnee qu'il
puisse nous conduire, c'est par des volumes, des ara-
besques, des gestes, des attitudes, des rapport~, des
associations, des contrasts, des passages de tons,
tout cela anim€, insensibl~ment modifie d'un fragment
de seconde a l'autre, qu'il impressionnera notre
sensibilit€ et agira sur notre intelligence par l'in-
termediare de nos yeux. 39
The result is a unique aesthetic material which Faure
calls "cineplasties." Impressionist theory as a wllole
supports this insistence on the primacy of such visual
aspects in film. Pierre Porte writes that the avant-garde
seeks to reveal what can be done solely by moving photo-
graphic images: "L'art du cinema, qui est base sur les
images, ne doit s'etabli~ que sur elles.,,40 Aga in, Canudo
underscores the importance of cineplasties in his claim
that the "conte visuel fait a~ec des images" will be
"peint avec des pinceaux de lumiere.,,41 Similarly, Dulac
claims that the cin~ma, being "uniquement visuel," must
address it~elf solely to the eye of the spectator. 42
Cinema is made of images--unlike the theatre, which is made
of dialogue.
The second fundamental proposition of Impressionist
film theory may then be formulated in this way:
Since every art is distinct by virtue of a unique
range of material constituting its medium, cinC'ma as an
art is distinct and should be treated as distinct from other
arts, especially theatre, in that its primary nmterial is
moving images.
The Nature·of the Film Image
The specificity of the cinema is further located
in an aspect of the film image which the Impressionists
 107

otherness about the content; the image's material seems

call "photogenie." Photogenie is identified as the basic
to be revealed in a fresh way. This evocative otherness
source of art in cinema, "Le cinema doit chercher ~ devenir
is noted by several writers of the time, both Impres-
peu A peu et enfin uniquement cin§matographique," writes
sionists and non-Impressionists. Georgette Leblanc com-
Epstein, "c'est-A-dire a n'utiliser que des 01~ments
pares seeing the ocean on film and in reality, finds
photogeniques. La photogenie est l'expression la plus
that it is more expressive in a.film, and concludt"s:
pur du cinema."43 Photogenie operates in the realm of
"Si me je prom~ne dans un champ, dans une foret, dans
cineplasties, the visual; as Delluc puts it: "La
jardin, j e participe aux choses qui m' entoul't'nt Au
voyez-vous, est la loi du cinema. II faut, pour la
grace personnel des choses m'est revel~ "4b
connaitre, des yeux--qui soient reelement des yeux."44
that the screen someh~W presents the "soul" of
Andphotogenie is seen by Epstein as the central concept
or object was similarly common. Epstein finds
in Impressionist film theory:
cinema a Baudelairean mystical exper~
Delluc, en 1919, prononce et ecrit: photogenie, ~e
mot qui parut, un temps magique et reste, meme : "Decouvrir inopinement, comme pour la premiere
dthui, encore mysterieux. Avec la notion de la
genie nait Itidee du cinema-art. Car comment mieux , toutes choses sous leur angle divin, avec leur profil
definer l'indefinissable photogenie qu'en disant;
la photogenie est au cinema ce que la couleur est et leur plus vaste sens d'analogie, avec un
a la peinture, le volume a la sculpture; lteH~ment
specifique de cet art.~5 personnelle, telle est la grande joie du cine-
Clearly, photogenie is a constitutive and pervasive fac-' Kirsanov discovers the same discrep;ncy: one ad-
tor: just as all paintings contain color and all works a film actor and is disappointed upon meeting him
sculpture contain volume, all films contain photogen{e. life; one passes the Place Concorde daily without
But what is this mysterious entity? second thought yet in a film the. Place Concord0 holds
The concept of photogenie grows fascinated; Kirsanov concluues thac "Chaque el 1l>: 2

to account for the mysteriously alienating quality of sur terre connait une autre existence sur l'e-
cinema's relation to reality. According to the Impres- According to Rene Clair z "There is no detail of
sionists, on viewing a film image, even an image of a. which is not immediat'ely extended here [in cinema)'
familiar object or event or locale, we experience a
into the domain of the wondrous."49 This aura of wonder
cinema "sur-naturel" because "Tout se trans forme selon
never quite leaves Impressionist film theory. Everi the
les quatre photog&nies."52
most sophisticated theorists (e.g., Epst,~in and Call1ld~))
As a complement, Louis Delluc, who first applied
fall back too easily upon the assumption that phot.ogt>nii.'
the term photog&nie to cinema, initially emphasizes photu-
is an_~mpenetrable, quasi-supernatural enigma. This means
graphy's revelatory power.
that much written about photog&nie is unsupportable theo-
Aimez-vous la photo?
~etically. The ~trongest theoretical line, however, pushes Em marge de tous les arts, elle traduit la vie par
chance. Collaboration si hasardeuse au'on peut la
the argument into the area of the technical capacities prendre pour un vol. Le Geste saisi par un kodak
n'est jamais tout a fait Ie geste qu'on voulait fixer.
of the image, but ~ithout losing sight of the awesome On y gagne generalement. Voila ce qui m'enchante:
avouez que c'est extraordinaire de s'apercevoir tout d'
mystery that initially impels the inquiry. un coup, sur une pellicule ou une plaque, que tel
passant distraitement cueilli par l'objectif avait
Photog&nie is seen, most broadly, as the transform- une expression rare, que Madame X. . . d&tient en frag-
ments &pars l'inconscient secret des attitudes clas-
ing, revelatory power of cinema: transforming because photo- siques, et que les arbres, l'eau, les &toffes, les
betes, ont pour realiser Ie rythme familier que nous
g&nie surpasses sheer literal reproduction of reali.ty; leur connaissons, des mouvements decomposes dont la
r&velation nous emeut . . . 53
revelatory because it presents a fresh perspective upon
At an essential level, a photograph reveals a reality whi~h
reality. The transforming quality must be present if
we do not normally perceive. In the moving photographic'
there is to be art; as we have seen, Impressionist theory
film image, the same revelatory power is operative: "La photo-
assumes art to be an imaginative, suggestive transforma-
genie c'est la verit& lyrique de la photographie animee."5 4
tion of nature. "Le septieme art," writes Canudo, "do it
Photog6nic yields truth in an experiential sen00, in reveal-
evoquer et suggerer les sentiments, et meme les raits,
ing to perception or feeling some aspect of reality. In
. plus qu'il ne doit platement les reprodull'e
. ."so
. Louis
these passages, Delluc only hints at photog&nie's transform~
Aragon likewise observes that cinema's power li~s not in
ing capacities ("traduit la vie") and stresses what is unique
the faithful reproduction 6f reality but in the "magnifi-
to his own position: the random, accidental quality of photo-
qat ion" and "transfor~ation" of reality which produces
graphy:55 Elsewhere, however, Delluc explicitly uses the more
"la vie sup&rieure de la po&sie."51 Epstein calls the
conventional notion of transformation, or rather revelation
through

110
transformation: this is the process which the Impressionists
see as photogenie.
That Delluc and others never specify the fundn-
mental nature of pre-existent reality is typical of the
reluctance of Impressionist thinking to give content to
a loosely-assembled vocabulary inherited from Symbolism.
Our conclusions about the philosophical position whicl1
grounds the notion of photogenie must be accordingly
general. Broadly speaking, the Impressionist conception
of reality may be called "idealist," since the position
necessitates some notion of a realm beyond material
reality. The Impressionists' unanimous condemnation of
any conception of cinema based upon reproduction entails
that the recording of material reality is not sufficiently
artistic. The artist must transform material reality in
some revelatory fashion. For Delluc, the cinema "trans-
lates," "develops," "explicates," or "intensifies" ~eality56
for Aragon, the cinema "magnifies" reality. In either
case, something not immediately or materially apparent
must be brought out, evoked, or led forth. This irl turn
depends upon an aesthetic epistemology whicf) somehow
explains why the revealed thing has not heretofore been
grasped. The only hint of such epistemological grounding
comes in Jean Epstein's suggestion that normal perception,
1 11
dulled by routine, no longer discovers beauty directly,
but the' lens "centers, drains, and distills" ht';ltlty into
photogenie.57 That such photogenie issues from some mys-
terious realm seems clear from several passages in Impres-
sionist writing: Epstein claims that an obj ect h;lS a
"soul" which film reveals, while Rene Schwob dd'illes
cinema as "1' art d' inverser I' ordre du monde paUl' <?ll mieux
souligner l'invisible beaute."58 In one passage, Epstein
suggests that in a film, an obj ect becomes anim;, ted and
expressive, barin3 its previously concealed eSSt'llce. 59
At another point, Rene Clair speaks of the revelation of
an ideal world: "The screen gives a soul ~o the cabaret,
the room, a bottle, a wall. It is this soul alone that
counts in our eye~. We move from the object to its soul
as easily as our being passes from a sight to a thought.
The screen opens onto a new world, one vibrant wit.h <?ven
oore sympathetic responses than our own."Go It is a
logical cUlmination of such an idealist position that
Epstein, who sees the c~nema as "mystique par essence,"
describes seeing pure truth revealed not in a church but
in a film theatre:
Devant moi, a Nancy, une salle ce trois cents per-
sannes gemit a voix haute en voyant a l'ecran un
grain de ble germer. Soudain apparu, Ie vrai visage
de la vie et de la mort, celui de l'affreux amour,
arrache de tela cris religieux. Quelles eglises, si
nous en savions construire, devraient abriter ce
spectacle au la vie est revelee. Decouvrir inopinement •.
 comme pour 1apremiere fois, toutes choses sous
leur angle divin, avec leur profi1 de symbo1e et
leur plus vaste sens d'analogie, avec un air de
vie per§onne11e, te11e est lagrande joie du
cinema. b1
In its hinting that ideal correspondences a'nd ana logies
exist between the film image and Truth, this passage
suggests the nature of the absolute realm beyond appearan-
ces that cinema can reveal. Epstein takes to its logical
end the Symbolist bias of Impressionist thought in identi-
fyingthe transforming capacity of the film image with
an ideal transcendance, a realm of pure ideas.
Essentia1ement l'ecrangeneralise et determine.
II ,n'y sTagit jamais d'unsoir, mais du soil' et 1e
vatre en fait partie. Le visage, et JTy retrouve tous
ceux que j'ai vus, fantOiiie de souvenirs. Au lieu
d'une bouche, 1a bouche, 1arve de baisers. Chaque
image devient une abstraction, queg~ue chose de com-
p1et, de definitif et d'universe1.
Here is the ultimate claim for photogenie as a transfor-
mation of material reality: we experience not a C'ont?ep-
tua1 abstraction but a nondiscursive, experiential symbol
embodying a realm beyond immediate sense experience.
this l'l'~llll\, til,' :It'tist has aCC811S and
to express his or her insights into this realm.
In jXlssing, we should note the astonishing variety
of assumptions revealed in some passages quoted above;
they constitute a bewildering compendium of variants of
that broad position known as idealism.
opt for a reality which is ~ty1ized and idealized through
artifice, though he remains mute on the ul till1~lt(' nature
of that reality. (Does it pre-exist our responsp to It~
Is the stylization a matter of projecting feelings into
an object?) Schwob and Clair, on the other hand, appeal
to an unabashed mysticism. Epstein is far more protean:
at one moment, he holds the Bergsonian position that
art cuts through our cognitive constructs to reveal the
flux of life; at another moment, he is closer to a Baude1-
air ian theosophy which assumes that "vast analogies"
He writes:
interlace all phenomena; at yet another time, he seems a
Platonic Idealist believing that a single image can become
s~rrogate for a universal entity, the quintessence of the
object. Such contradictions illustrate the extent to which
Impressionist theory is an assemblage of various assump-
tions never raised to theoretical self-consciousness. To
keep on our path, however, the essential point is the shared,
broadly "idealist" assumption of some realm beyond matter
To
which the film artist can reveal and express.
lwen till' nl'\; wOf'k
IIcvelation and expression lead un to the problem
of film style. Artistic expression, .according to the
Impressionists, is also the general task of painting and
literature. If the Impressionist aesthetic is to be
true to its own essentialist assumptions, it must cons~der
De11uc seems to
some unique properties of the film medium. Moreover,
 114
115

those properties must als~ distinguish photoB~nie from

an imposition is essential for the Impressionists. It
reality in its raw state, for £.b.()to[$8ni(~ Gouhi hal'd.ly
is not enough to point the camera and turn it 011, says
transform reality without some margin of difference. Thp
Canudo; the mind of the artist must be expressed: "L'ecran-
Impressionists claim that this difference lies in film
iste se doi t de transformer la 1'081 i \"", 11 l'ill1:1f:\' dc' ~'llt\
technique, which not only records material re~lity but
reve interieur.,,64 Similarly, for Germaine Dul:1C, although
also expresaes the film-maker' s subj ective, Pl~l'Sl)llal
cinema's technical base is photography, its aesthetic
attitude.
tion is to use technique for expression of the direc-
Such a belief follows from an implicit split which
tor's mind. 6 5 By implication, then, the film :Jl'tist. must
rules Impressionist thinking: a split between the profilmic
somehow grasp the ideal realm beyond appearanct's and then
event (i.e.; what happens in front of the camera lens)
utilize the techniques of cinema to reveal this ideal realm.
and the act of filming and shaping that event ~ posteriori.
This revelation of feeling (what Mallarme might have
This technical duality generally parallels the aestheti~
called "etats d'ame") is in turn grasped by the spectator.
duality of nature and imagination. Manipulating the pro-
What are the technical capacities of the medium
filmic event itself is not enough, since it may be taken
that Impressionism finds important for the revelation
for raw nature. Technique must visibly intervene and medi-
mental states? Because of the initial assumptions of
ate; the act ot filming must expressively transform what
Clnema's transforming and revelatory powers and l)j' cinema'
is filmed. (Significantly, the priority of filming and
U~S{;lnctness from theatre, Impressionist theory C'lllpI1asizE's
shaping procedures is suggested in the very term photo-
~nipulation of the camera as the aesthetic basis of
genie, with "genie" punning on "genius" or "spirit.")
photogenie. Here the theory again takes on a normative
~riting of Renoir's revolution in realistic style, Andre
slant; since the cinema can transform nature, it should do
Bazin indirectly alludes to an Impressionist conception of
it primarily through camera technique (and not, say, pri-
film: "'Cinema' no longer imposed itself between the spec-
lItarily through mise-en-scene,which is identified as a
tator and the object, like a set of prisms or filters
theatrical device). The split between profilmic
designed to stamp their own meaning on reality."63 Such
event and filming, we recall, al~eady stresses the
transforming role of the camera. AccL)rding tn ,((":111 rl\~dc~~­
::",nri Lamblin, "tout est d'abord dans Je ~Yt'Ull
\
dc' 1 '31'-

co, for example, the actor is just part of tlw Li"L:l)l'; -;iste. ,,71 Thanks to technical tranSfl)rmutions, Co.1JuJn

he belongs to technique: "Le seul premier r61e d'un film, claims, memory and thoughts have come to rep13c~ words

c'est l'objectif qui le tient."66 Similarly, R0n0 Jeanne and take cinema beyond theatrical artifice.72 As will

argues that the camera creates the spectacle widell we see.67 be seen in the next chapter, such aesthetic strictures

We may define camerawork in cinema as consisting of adjust- about optical transformations of the image find expression

ment and placement of the camera. in salient traits of Impressionist film style.
Both these aspects
become aesthet:i,.cally significant for the Impressionists. For the Impressionists, the position 01' pl:1cement

Impressionist theory prizes adjustments of the of the camera also aesthetically transforms the material

camera apparatus. which transform the surface or speed of reality which is filmed; accordingly, the image gains

the image for expressive ends. Gauzily blurred images another margin of difference over reality by means of

are defended by Delluc a~ legitimate styliiation, as camera distance and angle. Although the theory undertakes

seen in the paintingi of Monet and C§~anne.68 Canudo no exhaustive investigation of the aesthetic potential

sees superimpositions as psychologically evocative: of camera distance (cf. Rudolf Arnheim's Film ~ Art),

"La repr§sentation plastique de la pens§e lorsq'elle ne Impressionist theorists tacitly recognize this potential

se borne pas a une surimpression d'images ou a de vagues at work through considerations of a specific case: the close-

tableaux evocateurs des souvenirs d'un personnage, peut up. "Le gros plan," writes Epstein, "est l'Ame du cin~ma."73

t~ouver a l'ecran
. d es l' ormes dune
' suggestion incompara- In selecting and magnifying a detail of material reality,

ble. 69 ,lean rl'edesco and Jean Epstein botll l)1'u18(, slow- the clofw-up abstracts (Epstein: "ll:J I. 'air d'Ul1l' id00"7 4 )
and expresses feelings (Canuela: "Une vl'rre, des ~1.l<.lLlSSllI'l'S,
motion as expressing a new perception of the world and indi-
cating subjective experiences.70 More ~enerally, many une sacoche bourr§e de papiers ont a J'0eran la m§me

writers welcome a range of such image-transformations, intensit§ expressive que Ie 'gros plan' d'un visage"75).

which would make the cinema more expressive. Since reality Thus the close-up offers an extreme instance of how camera

is only a pretext for artistic deformations, writes distance can transform material reality through the artistic
 119

imagination's manipulation of film technique. Porte is asking that the artist's cinematic transformation

Another extreme example of the Impressil)ld sk;' of material reality move in a different direction, so to

emphasis on the transforming powel'S 'of camel'a r1:tc"lllt'nt s?eak: that technique only imply the director's interpre-

may be seen in the occasional recognition of tlw ~!l'~"ttleti(' tation by indicating characters' visual experiences.

importance of optically subj ecti ve camel'a ang.l QS, which Although Impressionist theory never gets beyond ,;u,,11

indicates a character's optical perspective on some general questioning, there is nonetheless the tJcit recog-

event. Like camera distance, this aesthetic resource tion that camera placement can suggest subjective atti-

was never explored systematically by Impressionist the- tudes toward material reality. As we shall see, this

ory. The most explicit suggestions come from Pierre ibility is actualized in Impressionist film practice.

Porte. Unlike the theatre, he argues, cinema can put It is the cam~ra, then, in its adjustments and

us in the characters' places; the camera can be a charac- PQ~~~~Orl~rlgs, that makes the primary contribution to photo-

ter's eyes. Since cinema should strive for autonomy as revelation and transformation. Mise-en-scene

from other arts, the film-maker should show us the ac- arrangement of material in the image) is accorded

tion not as a theatre spectator might'view it but as less importance, but occasional comments

the characters see it. "Un homme tombe dans un preci- Impressionist theorists are aware of its

pice. Pourquoi ne tomberions nous pas nous-m§mes?"76 The usual assumption is that mise-

Porte distinguishes between visual reprosentation of contributed to the "animis~' of ,objects that
\
a charactel\' s experience and visual presentation of it. Close-up, facilitates. Nature, in other words, becomes

For example~ in one film, a dying woman's vision is con- Canudo s~eaks of "nature-personnage" in the

veyed by gauzing over a long-shot showing her and 11"'1' son. Swedish films. 78 Delluc finds that cinema

"Mais ce flou n'est qu'une expression, ce n'est pas une an animating force in natural details: "Les choses

sensation."77 Ideally, says Porte, the film-maker should role est immense dans la vie et dans l'art

make the gauze gradually cover a shot of the son taken leur vrai role et leur eloquence fatidique."79

from the optical point-of-view of the mother. In effect. Impressionist theory values distortions of camera-
for expressive ends, however, it denies that distortion
 It is worth recalling a remark of Epstein's which I quoted
of mise-en-scene (as in German Expressionism) is intrin-
earlier: "Le cinema doit chercher ii devenir peu il pcu et
sically cinematic. Epstein writes of Caligarits "hyper-
cnfin uniquement cinematographique, ctest-a-dire a n'uti-
trophy" of decor, while Cendrars denies that Calie ari
liser que des elements photogeniques. La photo~0nie est
is cinematic because it ignores the transforming powers
l' expression la plus pure du cinema. ,,31 The de script i ve
of the camera: "Les deformations ne sont pas optique et
and normative sides of the Impressionist theory of the inlilc;e
ne dependent pas de l'angle unique de l'appareiJ de prise
are apparent: all films have some measure of photo6~nie,
de vues, ni de ltobjectif, ni du diaphragme, ni de la
but the film-maker's style should not work to conceal it
mise au point. Aucune purification du metier, tous les
(through, say, theatrical techniques and acting) but should
effets obtenus a l'aide de moyens appartenant ~ la pein-
make it more apparent (especially through the powers of
ture, ! la musique, I la litterature, etc. On ne voit
the camera)., As Jean Tedesco proposes, cinematic expres-
nulle part l'appareil de prise de vues.,,80 Thus the role
sion can simultaneously reveal a new meaning in reality
of the camera--what Epstein later called "l'intelligence
and project subjective mental states. 82 Cinema thus
d'un machine"--remains greater than that of mise-en-scene.
transcends sheer mechanical recording, and it does tilis
According' to the Impressionists, then, the film
chiefly through camerawork. But Impressionist thinkers
image' s my,~ Lcr'Y comes from the fact that photogenie
ignore the problem of explaining precisely how the product
simultaneously reveals a hidden meaning in material reality
of such cinematic expression differs from the expressivity
"and sUbjectively transforms that reality through film
produced in other art media. As in so many other areas,
technique. But doesn't every film do this to at least
Impressionist theory begin~ with an initial assumption
some degree? Impressionists would answer yes, and at this
(here, trw uniqueness and autonomy of the matpri als of
point the nell'mllLlve emphasis reappears. Given Lhe lmage's
various media) but fails to carry it through logically.
basic capacities, it is foolish to try to bend the image
We may now formulate the third rundamental uBBump-
to a purely recording function. The film-maker should
tion of Impressionist film theory:
swim with the current, so to speak; the film-maker should
The specific nature of the film image is its
capitalize on the cinema's natural expressive potential.
 123

possession of photogenie, which consists of tht~ power' of

film techniques (chiefly camerawor'k) to cxprc~ss tile' ['ilm-
maker's vision of otherwise hidden meanings in l.'c':11 j t.y.

The Nature of Filmic Construction

I suggested earlier that Impressionist film tlleory

does not develop a fundamental conception of cillt'rnatic
structure; that is, it distinguishes film from otller arts
on material grounds, not structural ones. This lack
surfaces again when Impressionist theory tries 1.0 define
an aesthetic of filmic construction. The result is a
sketchy, problematic pair of normative concepts: first,
a denial that cinematic structure should owe anything to
dramatic or literary structure and, second, an assertion
that filmic structure should be based on "visual rhythm."
In their eagerness to establish cinema's unique
aesthetic domain, many Impressionists go beyond the second
proposition formulated above to claim not only that the
basic material of film is moving images but also that film
snould not borrow its dramaturgy from other arts. Note
that this is a contingent and normative claim. It is one
thing to say that all films consist of moving images and
possess some measure of photogenie. It is anothe~ thing
to say that some films copy literary or theatrical
If Impressionist theory decides that cinematic
form should ideally owe nothing to literary or dramatic
sum, rhythm receives not even the theoretical exploration
form, what does cinematic form consist of? This is perhaps
that photog§nie does. As we might formulate it, th~ final
the greatest problem in Impressionist film theory. Need-
assumption of Impressionist theory is contingent, llormntive,
ing-a- model of temporal structure, refusing the model of-
'3",d problematic:
fered by narrative forms, and unable or unwilling to gener-
Filmic construction should be based not on narra-
ate a theory of uniquely cinematic structure, the Impres-
tive but on rhythmic relations between images.
sionist theorist looks to music for analogues for filmic
construction. Interestingly, musical forms generated Evaluation

by motivic play (e.g., sonata form) are not seen as the

As I suggested at the outset of this chapter, one
prime models. 88 What is borrowed from music is the concept
of the problems posed by Impressionist theory is that it
of rhythm. Impressionist theory rests its idea of filmic
never received systematic large-scale explication. The
construction almost wholly upon the rhythmic relationships
belletristic and scrappy quality of the Impressionists'
between images.
hritings encouraged avoidance of detailed and systematic
Unanimous in praising rhythm in cinema, Impression-
analysis; hence a number of glaring conceptual gaps in
ist wri tel'fi nl~VC'I' consider the concept closely. Gance
. th eory.
toe Apart from the flaws I have discussed in pas-
announ~es, unhelpfully, that rhythm makes cinema the music
sing, one general defect is the failure to posit ~ com-
of light. 89 Moussinac proposes that rhythm is a need
prehensive theory of structure appropriate to the nature
of t~e mind: we live in a bodily and psychic rhythm.90
of the medium. This would not he fJO problematiC" ir Tmrrcr.-
Most precise or any is Ren§ Clair, who notes that three
sionist theory did not insist on the autonomous purity
factors control cinematic rhythm--the duration of each
not only of the materials of film but also of tlle structure's
image, the organization of shots in editing, and move-
of film. The shift from descriptive claims about the
ment within each image--but he goes no further. 91 It is
medium to normative claims about structure marks, among
not at all clear, then, how rhythmic relations between
other things, an inability to account descriptively for
images can adequately define cinematic structure. In
an intrinsically cinematic structure. Another gap in
 126 127

Impressionist theorizing is the ~ck of an explicit account been cogently discussed by Andre 8azin,92 but mur0 to
of the experience of film and of experience in general. the deductive point are the strictures urged by Morris
Without an epistemology or a psychology, Impressionist '''''eitz and Monroe Beardsley. As Weitz points ')IIt., t.h"

theory's account of photogenie cannot adequately explain doctrine of purism--i.e., that "the arts ought to do what
huw the film image reveals and transforms reality. An distinguishes them from each other"93--has noL [)t'L'IJ justf-
epistemology drawn from Bergson or a psychology along fied. If there is a good reason for this view, the Impres-
Gestalt lines might start to ground Impressionist film sionists never reveal it. Purism remains a submerged and
theory, but the choice between these positions is hardly unjustified assumption.
an indifferent one, and the concepts of revelation and trans- Despit~ its problems, however, Impressionist film
formation would then demand much more analysis than the theory has a clear relationship to activitiet> at l,tlll'!'

Impressionists ever give them. In short, as Impressionist
theory stands, it is unfinished, only a rough sketch ~f
a complete theory.
Besides such cracks in its theoretical anatomy,
the Impressionist position suffers from at least two purely
logical defects. There i~ first, the move from an account
of cinema's basic nature to normative recommendations
about film style. The problem of how to justify a shift
frDm descriptive to prescriptive propositions--how to
get from "is" to "ought"--is a classic one in logic, aes-
thetics, and ethics; how to solve it remains a theoretical
difficulty. A second problem lies in the nature of the
normative argument from the alleged "purity of the medium."
In film, the problems of scope attending such purism have
levels of the Impressionist movement. From a diachronic
perspective, the theoretical position may be seen as
the product of specific interactions with the activities
on the level of the film culture and with the alterations
in film style. The tracing of these interactions is the
business of the final chapter of this study~ From the
synchronic perspective adopted in this chapter, the theory
of film as an autonomous art with its own expressive resour-
ces provides some conceptual support for the polemical
and cultural activities in which the Impressionists
engaged. A theoretical position provides a set of general
p~inciples to which a rhetoric can appeal. Similarly,
seeing photogertie and rhythm as the expressive resources
of cinema offers conceptual grounding for a film style
~hich emphasizes camerawork and rhythmic editing. (In
this general respect, Impressionist theory agaill illtE'I's('et.s Notes
with Symbolist poetics, for as Lehmann has pointed out,
lLouis Delluc, "Cinegraphie," Le Crapouillot
the Symbolists often theorized not for theory's sake but (November 1932), p. 24.
as a way to support th~ir poetic practice.9 4 ) Impressionist 2S ee La P00sie d'Aujourd'hui (Paris: Sir~ne,
1921-, passim.-----
theory will be seen to both reflect and affect Impressionist
3Riccioto Canudo, Usine des Images (Geneva: Office
film-making. To an examination of the results of such Central d'edition, 1927-, p. 58.
film-making the following chapter is devoted. 4Marcel Defosse, "Une Certaine Photog~nie,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 94 (1 October 1927), 13.
5Paul Ramain,"Pour une Esthetique Intellectuelle
du Fulm," Cinea-Cine pour .Tous no. 58 (2 April 1926), 14.
6Riccioto Canudo, Helene, Faust et Nous (Paris:
Chiberre, 1920), p. 28.
7Canudo, Usine, p. 22.
8Ramain, "Pour une Esthetique Intellectuelle du
Film," 4.
9Canudo, Usine, pp. 39-40.
10Jean Epstein, Bonjour Cinema (Paris: Sir~ne,
1921), p. 117.
l1StephaneMallarme, "Music and Literature," in
O. B. Haridson, Jr., ed., Modern Continental Literary
Criticism (New York: Appleton, 1962), pp. 178-181.
!;'Canudo, Helene, Faust et Nous, p. C): Usine, p. "';<).

13Michel Ooreloff, "Suggerer," g.L~.!.0a-Ci.r:.£~

Tous no. Cj1 (15 August 1927), 2).
14Epstein, Poesie d'Aujourd'hu~, pp. 172-173.
1f:iIbid., p. 148.
16 For detailed examination of such issues, see
::a.rold Osborne "The Quality of Feeling in Art," Aesthetics
in the Modern World, ed. Harold Osborne (London: Weybright

, -"" "'-'-"-',,,'
'""_._,~~~~
~

, ," - ~ ,- _.-..
.... ~~

,
..,.,-
-~,
..,,,,-,,-,
.,."_.~.",~,,",--,
this general respect, Impressionist theory again illters('ct.s
with Symbolist poetics, for as Lehmann has pointed out,
the Symbolists often theorized not for theory's sake but
as a way to support th~ir poetic practice.94) Impressionist
theory will be seen to both reflect and affect Impressionist
film-making. To an examination of the results of such
film-making the following chapter is devoted.
Notes
1Louis Delluc, "Cinegraphie," Le Crapouillot
(November 1932), p. 24.
2S ee La Poesie d'Aujourd'hui (Paris: ~;irl'nt',
1921-, passim.----
3Riccioto Canudo, Usine des Images (Geneva: Office
Central d'edition, 1927-, p. 58.
4Marcel Defosse, "Une Certaine Photog~nie,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 94 (1 October 1927), 13.
5Paul Ramain,"Pour une Esthetique Intellectuelle
du FUlm," Cinea-Cin€ pour Tous no. 58 (2 April 1926), 14.
6Riccioto Canudo, Helene, Faust et Nous (Paris:
Chiberre, 1920), p. 28.
7Canudo, Usine, p. 22.
8Ramain, "Pour une Esthetique Intellectuelle du
Film," 4.
9Canudo, Usine, pp. 39-40.
10Jean Epstein, Bonjour Cinema (Paris: Sir~ne,
1921), p. 117.
11StephaneMallarme, "Music and Literature," in
O. B. Haridson, Jr., ed., Modern Continental Literary
Criticism (New York: Appleton, 1962), pp. 178-181.
12Canudo, Helene, Faust et Nous, p. Cj: Usine, p. ')9.
13Michel Goreloff, "Suggerer," ~2!2.Pa-Ci.r:_0~
70us no. 91 (15 August 1927), 23.
14Epstein, Poesie d'Aujourd'hu~, pp. 172-173.
l'.Jlbid., p. 148.
16 For detailed examination of such issues, see
Harold Osborne "The Quality of Feeling in Art," Aesthetics
in the Modern World, ed. Harold Osborne (London: Weybright
 no
and Taney, 1968), pp. 105-124, and B. R. Tilghmal~ 'j'he
Expression of Emotion in the Visual Arts (The Ilague-:-
Martinus Nijhoff, 1970).
17Canudo, "Manifeste des Sept Arts," Gazette des
Sept Arts no. 2 [n.d.] , 2.
18 Ib id.
19Canudo, Usine, p. 17.
20Elie Faur§, Fonction du Cinema (Paris: Gonthier,
1964), p. 23.
21Ibid., p. 24.
22Ibid., p. 25.
23Jean-Andr§ Fieschi, "Entretien avec Marcel L'Her-
bier," Cahiers du Cin§ma no. 202 (June-July 1968), 29.
24Jean Epstein, Le Cin§matographe vu de l'Etna
(Paris: Ecrivains R§unis, 1926), p. 24.
25Epstein, Bonjour Cinema, p. 115.
26 Ren § Doumic, "L'Age du Cinema," Nouvelle Revue
des Deux Mondes (15 August 1913), p. 930.
27Louis Delluc, Cinema et ~ie (Paris: Grasset,
1919), p. 85.
28Blaise Cendrars, "Lectures," Cinea no. 56
(2 June 1922), 11.
29Jean Pascal, "Le Vocabularie du Cinema," Cine-
magazine II, 5 (3 February 1922), 146-147.
30paul Val§ry, The Art of Poetry (New York: Vintage,
1961), pp. 46, 185.
31For a contemporary account of the "pure poetry"
controversy, see Henri Br§mond, La po§sie Pure (Paris:
Grasset, 1926).
3 2Quoted in Marcel Tariol, Louis Delluc (Paris:
Seghers, 1965), p. 109.
131
33Louis Delluc, Drames du Cinema (Paris: Monde
Nouveau, 1923), pp. x-xi.~~~·~~~~~
3 4Canudo, Usine, p. 20.
35Germaine Dulac, "Ou Sont les Interp1'01<'s '?" I
Film no. 153-134 (14 Octob\?!' 1Y18), pp. l i 9 - 7 L l . , e
36Delluc, Cinema et Cie, pp. 44-46.
37canudo, Usine, p. 21.
C ~8Jean Galtier-Boissi~re, "Bilan Cinegraphique "
Le rapoulllot (March, 1923), p. 3. '
39Paur6, Fonction du Cin&mB, p. 27.
40Pierre Porte, "Un Id~eal," Cinea-Cine Pour Tous
no. 41 (15 JUly 1925), 9.
41Canudo, Usine, p. 20.
42G ermalne
. Dulac, "Films Visuels " Le Rouge et
le Noir, Cahier speciale (July 1928), 39.' -
43Epstein, Le Cin§matographe Vu de l'Etna, p. 24.
44Lou~s Delluc, Photog§nie (Paris: Grasset, 1920),
p. 94.
45Epstein, Le Cin§matographe vude l'Etna, p. 46.
46 Georgette Leblanc, "Propos sur le cinema,"
Mercure de France (16 November 1919), 279.
47Epstein, Le Cinematographe vu de l'Etna, p. 11.
" . 48 ' t . K'lrsanoff, "Les Probl~mes de la Photoge-
~ Dm~ ~l
, 91nea-Clnenpour Tous no. 62 (1 June 1926), 10. See
Klrsanoff, Les Myst~res de la Photog§nie," Cinea-
no. 39 (15 June 1925), 9.
49R ene~ Cl' .
alI', Clnema Yest~rday and Today, trans.by
C. Dale (New York: Dover, 1972), p. 73.
50Canudo, Usine, p. 76.
 68 Lou is Delluc, "Notes Pour Moi," Le Film no.
5 1 Louis Aragon, "Le Decor," Le Film no. 131 125 (5 August 1919),5.
(16 September 1918), 9.
69Canudo, Usine, p. 133.
52Epstein, Bonjour Cinema, pp. 35-36.
7 0 See Jean Tedesco, "Etudes de Ralenti," Cinea-
53Delluc, Photogenie, p. 5. Cine pour Tous no. 57 (15 March 1926), 11-12, and Jean Ep-
stein, "Le Ralenti," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 108 (J May
5 4Quoted in Tariol, Louis Delluc, p. 4H. 1928),10.
S'iUelllc's early writings minimized the artistic 71 Henr i Lamblin, "De la Deformation," Le Rouge et
calculation implicit in photogenie's transforming powers. Ie Noir, Cahier Speciale (July 1928), 169-171.
Hi~ love o~ authentic landscapes and of documentary films
suggests that he saw photogenie as an almost natural pro- 72Canudo, Usine, p. 42. See also Leon Moussinac,
cess, somewhat akin to Siegfried Kracauer's view of cinema's "Technique Commande~~zette des Sept Arts no. 2 n.d. ,
affinity for nat~re. In this Delluc was unique among 12-13, and Pierre Porte, "Cin§ma Intellectuel au Affectif~"
the Impressionists. By 1923, however, Delluc had apparently Cinea-Cine pour To~ no. 61 (15 May 1926), 9-10.
acquiesced to the emphasis on cinema's stylizing capaci-
ties, and his preface to Drames du Cinema (Paris:Monde Nouveau 73Epstein, Bonjour Cinema, p. 94.
1923) makes most of the standard expressionist assumptions.
74 Ib id., p. 105 ..
56 See Delluo, Photog§nie, pp. 11-12.
75Canudo, Usine, p. 81.
57Epstein, Bonjour Cinema, pp. 35-36.
76Pierre Porte, "Une Loi du Cinema," Cinea-Citl<"
58 Rene Schwob J Une M§lodie Silencieuse (Paris: pour Tous no. 9 (15 March 1924), 11.
Grasset, 1929), p. 260.
77Ibid .. , 12.
'59Fpstein. Le Cinematographe vu de l'Etna, p. :;0.
'78Canuuo, Usine, pp. 23, 29-30.
60Clair, Cinema Yesterday and Today, pp. 72-73.
79Quoted in Tariol, p. 96.
61Epstein, Le Cinematographe vu de l'Etna, p. 11.
80Epstein, Le Cin§matogra~he vu de l'Etna, pp.
62Epstein, Bonjour- Cinema, p. 115. 59-60; Blaise Cendrars, "Lectures, 11.
63Andre Bazin, Jean Renoir (New York: Simon & 81Epstein, Le Cinematographe vu de l'Etna, p. 24.
Schuster, 197:;), p. 105.
B?Tedosco, "Cin6ma-ExprcBsion," 27.
CallU d 0, U'
b1j, s~ne, p. 3 8 .
83Epstein, Bonjour Cinema, p. 33.
6'1 1-) II 1 ;le, "F'~ I ms V'~sue I s, "36 .
81IIbid., p. 30.
66 Jean Tedesco, "Cinema-Expression," Cahiers du
Mois no. 16-17 (1925), 23. 85Dulac, "Films Visuels," 39.
67Rene Jeanne, "La Controverse de la Couleur," 86Faure, Fonction du Cinema, pp. 29-36; Clair,
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 78 (2 February 1927), 27. Cinema Yesterday and Today, pp. 44-45.

_." '' .. _
_.-
~ ~_ _.m._._.~_·_.~""~,

___ ~ _ · · _ · · . " _ _·_ _ ..

~ , ~ . ' ~ . ~ m ~' • __, ~ .• __
~,"< •• ,_,~ '~".'''''''.~~'_~.",''_O> _
 1 135

87S ee Germaine Dulac, "Le Cinegraphie Tnt0grale,"

in Marcel Lapierr'e, ed., Anthologie elu C..02emn (I'ar'l~;: Cllf\P'!'r';fl TV: 1\ Pf\HADTGM OF IMPflESSTONTS'I' 10'1 "~1 :;'j'YI.I':
La Nouvelle Edition, 19 146), pp. lb')-1~
88 paul Ramain is one of the few Imprl'"sil)nisl Constructing a Style Paradigm
theorists to use the motivic forms of'~lusi?al l'onstl'Ul'-
tion as models for cinema, especial~y 11J ~IS an:.lly~;;s of
La Roue, Der Mude Tod, and MetropolIs as sympllOnH. . The Impressionist movement consists or IIll)!'l' t,han
s t ruc t ures of plastic "themes . II See "De ]a ConstructIon
~~ (2
an ensemble of cultural activities and an imp1 i c' i \ tlll'OI't'-
Thematique des Films," Cinea-Cine pour Tou~ ~1O. • ~
September 1925), 9-11, and "Metropolis," CIn~a-CIn~ POU[
Tous no. 91 (15 August 1927), 21-22, and CInea-CIne pOUl tical position. Perhaps the most important contl'ibution
Tous no. 93 (15 September 1927), 21-24.
of the movement is the films which its members made.
89Abel Gance La Beaute ! Travers Ie Cin~ma
(Paris: Institut Gene;al Psychologique, 1926), pp. 2 6. In those films, historians like Leprohon, Lanl:';ll)[';, L'\Ul'ch,

9 0 Leon Moussinac, "Du Rhythme Cinegraphiqu~,"
Le Crapouillot (March 1923), reprinted in L~ c~apo~lllot
(November 1932), pp. 20-22. See also Ma~sslnac? L Age
Ingrat du Cinema (Paris: Editeurs FranQaIs ReunIs~7),
pp. 75-81.
Sadoul, and Mitry have perceived a distinct style. More-
over, as Chapter I has suggested, such a perception of
stylistic homogeneity was present among the members of

91Rene Clair, "Rhythme," Cahiers du Mois no. this and other grqups. But no writer has specifically
16-17 (1925), 13-16.
identified the features of the Impressionist style. Taking
92Andre Bazin, "In Defense of Mixed Cinema,"
in What Is Cinema? vol.I,trans.by Hugh Gray (Berkeley: previous research as an initial guide, my project in this
UniversIty of California Press, 1967), pp. 53-75.
chapter is to identify the features of the films which pro-
93Morris Weitz, Philosophy of the Arts (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1958), p. 28. duce the sense that these films may be grouped signifi-

9 4A. G. Lehmann, The Symbolist Aesthetic in France
(Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1950), p. 47.
cantly. Such features can then be assembled into a para-
digm which will consist of a systematic outline of the
significant traits of the Impressionist style. Defore
constructing the paradigm, however, it is necessary to
determine the set of films to be considered, the lOGical
nature of the proposed paradigm, and the concept of film
style most appropriate to this study.
 The Set of Films in cultural activism for film's artistic status (see
Chapter II) and by writers prominent in film theory (seL'
Such an ~nterprise as this is immediately confront-
Chapter III) were focused upon. The third eX\;l'l'n,d criter-
ed with the problem tlTat has been dubbed the "hermeneutic
ion was that defi ned by previous research: if il lli s torian
circle." In order to define a phenomenon, one must delimit
or critic characterized a given film as innovative, popu-
a field of data; but a major criterion for delimiting a
lar, or stylistically significant, that film was included.
field of data is the definition of the phenomenon to be
A final external criterion was availability: the film in
investigated. As Lucien Goldmann has suggested, in prac-
question had to have survived and be accessible for view-
tice the investigator must break into the circle and work
ing.
to and fro, so to speak, by successive approximations:
Occasionally, the study was limited by availabil-
One starts from the hypothesis that one can assemble
a certain number of facts in a structural unity; ity, since many films of the periOd have not survived in
tries to establish among these facts a maximum of
comprehensive and explanatory relations, attempting accessible film archives; however, virtually all of the
also to encompass other facts that seem alien to
the structure which is being adduced; thus comes works considered important by contemporaries and pl'~'vio\l5
to the elimination of some of the facts with which one
began, adding others and modifying the initial hypo- researchers are still available in the Museum of Modern
thesis; and repeats this procedure in successive appro-
ximations until one arrives (an ideal more or less Art, George Eastman House, and La Cinematheque Fran~aise.
realized in different cases) at a structural hypo-
thesis capable of accounting for a perfectly coherent On the whole, then, it was possible to guide the course
ensemble of facts. 1
of the research by successive approximations which modified
I have used a similar strategy of successive approximations.
the original set of films. These approximations were
I have begun with several conventional external criteria
chiefly made on the basis of internal criteria--i.e.,
for the ~;('L llf films to be examined. Historical chr'l1110-
stylistic features. By such criteria, for' instance, thl~
logy was one such criterion: following standard historical
relevant period for stylistic study was narrowed to include
periodizatiun, the study was initi::l1ly limited to Frl:nch
chiefly the years 1918 to 1928. On the other hand, inter-
films made in the silent period. Another external cri-
nal criteria revealed that the external criterion of
teriqn was that of authorship. Because of the hypothesized
authorship had not inclUded enough film-makers, and so a
homogeneity of the movement, films made by people prominent
 139

few works by film-:nakers who played little part in either The Logical Nature of the Paradigm
cultural activities or theoretical disputation demand0d
This study assumes that a style paradigm may he
inclusion in the style paradigm. As a result, t111;:' int0r-
constructed on one of two logical models. The first is
play of externally defined hypothesis and internally
that of necessary and sufficient conditiollS: t II:l L 1 ~; ,
refined observations resulted in successive approximations
first, to be a member of X class a film must have a cer-
which finally focused on a set of fifty films, of which
tain trait (necessa~y condition), and secondly, having that
thirty-five exhibited a stylistic homogeneity defined as
trait constitutes grounds for inclusion in X class (suf-
the Impressionist style. From this group of thirty-five
ficient condition). For example, a necessary-and-suf-
films come the elementary data for the paradigm; from
ficient-conditions model might entail our requirill t'; that
the remaining fifteen films come pertinent contrasting
an Impressionist film contain rhythmic editing and that
data for comparison with the paradigm. (See Appendix A
the presence of rhythmic editing be sufficient to make
for a complete listing of films examined in this chapter.)
a given film a member of the Impressionist class. Fol-
Finally, to anticipate a point that will b~ dis-
lowing the lead of Ludwig Wittgenstein, many philosopher~
cussed in Chapter V; this paradigm is restricted to a
have criticized the necessary-and-sufficient-conditions
historically specific group of French films. There is
model. In aesthetics, Morris Weitz has attacked the model
the possibility, however, of regarding Impressionism as
in a celebrated essay, "The Role of Theory ~n Aesthetics,"
a more permanent and extensive stylistic trend in film
where in he argues that definition of the concept art and
history. Here I shall reserve the adjective Qlmpres-
of artistic styles by necessary and sufficient conditions
sionist" for French films of the stipulated period and
is a fundamental error because th e 1 ogle
. 0 f such concepts
style. Later, I will propose that "Impressionistic" l,a
does not per~it the categories to be closed by arbitrary
used to apply to films from other times and places which
stipulation. 2
possess similar stylistic traits.
This study does not utilize the necessary-and-
sufficient-conditions model for the empirical reason that
it is too restrictive. If one l'S to a VOl'd ar b't
1 rary
definition, there is apparently no single stylistic f~ature
set. Though there is no feature necessary and sufficient
which, taken alone, constitutes a necessary and sufficient
to define the class of all Impressionist films, there is
c6ndition for including a film in what trained observers
a cluster of features which do strongly characterize
would agree to be the class of Impressionist films. For
Impressionist style. While we cannot say that if a film
example, rhythmic editing in a film of the period would
possesses A it must be Impressionist, we can say that if
be an indication that the film might belong to the Impres-
the film lacks A, B, C, D, and E it canllot be Impressiollist.
sionist class. But such a trait is not a sufficient
We can also say that if the film has A, B, C, D, and E,
condition because .there are films (e.g., Symphonic Diago-
it is Impressionist. If the film has, say, only Band C
nale, Ballet Mecanique) which use rhythmic editing but
it mayor may not qualify as Impressionist; we must scru-
which virtually all 'scholars would not call Impressiollist.
tinize, argue, and compare until we either decide its
Nor is rhythmic editing a necessary condition, since ex-
membership one way or the other or simply consign it to
perts would include certain films (e.g., Rose-France, La
that logically untidy but empirically necessary category
Femme de Nulle Part) in the class of Impressionist works
of borderline cases. Thus the paradigm which I propose
despite their lack of rhythmic editing.
will outline typical but not riecessary-and-sufficient
'rllt' model I have chosen instead is that of 30-
features of Impressionist film style. Formal definition
called "family resemblances." At the conclusion of Witt-
is not the aim; rather. the family-resemblance model per-
gensterD.'s famous analysis of the concept of "game," he
mits us to see typical patterns among features of the films
cha~acterizes the nature of the similarities he has dis-
in the set.
covered nuL ;Jc; common traits but rather as "a complicated
By itself, however, the family-resemblance model
network of similarities overlapping and crisscrossing:
will not yield a sense of the salient traits of the
sometimes overall similarities, sometimes similarities of
Impressionist group. This is why we need films from other
detail."j Wit.Lgenstein's family-resemblance concept can
stylistic sets. In the course of tracing the style para-
help us understand how trained observers have perceived
digm, I shall utilize deductive categories of film style
features of films as coalescing into a significant stylistic
which permit us to contrast traits of Impressionist style
 142 143

refers to "relatively small-scale relations Elllle'ng the subor-

with logically parallel traits of other styles. Such
dinate parts"; for example, the Sl11'ft l' rom one' Ill" leldy to
contrasts will throw into relief salient f0aturcs of Impres-
another, the phrasin~
<:> of a SOll'loquy, th e dyn:1ll1i('~, or one
sionist style.
patch of color in relation to another,5 Beardsl"y goes on
The Problem of Film Style to poinL out., LlwL Ul'.1 Cl'l'L'les' use of Lh,' \."1'111 ""Iy l,'"
can be translated into these re 1 at10nal
' concepts, For
Style has been an extensively-contested concept in
instance, a critic may speak o l' the style of an individual
aesthetics for centuries, and it is not within the scope
painting or musical composition,' th·~s"
~ ~ Wl'l] 11,' "~I :ltc'1lI0nt,s
of this study to review the literature or to reinvestigate
about recurrent features of the texture of the' p~linting
the concept itself. For purposes of this investigation,
or the musical piece. ("Th e pa1nting's
' style utilizes
an object-centered model of style was chosen--a model,
thick brushstrokes"; "The symphony's style l'S Ol\e of dark
that is, which locates style not in the artist but rather
harmonies and abrupt modulations,") In sum, Beardsley
in properties of art works. Monroe Beardsley's clarifica-
points out that critics' style-statements make claims about
tion of the concept of style in art criticism has been
recurrent features of the work's texture,' siml'l'lT'
_ c13.ims
selected because of such object-centered concerns.
about texture may be made a b out groups of works,
Beardsley takes for granted the common assumption
Since film study has been hampered by inexact
that art works are wholes composed of subsidiary parts
and inconsistent attempts
. to d ef1ne
' film style, I shall
which are related in various ways, Within the class of
use Beardsley's distinctions in this chapter. 1\,'xtui'e in
"form" statements (i.e., "statements tha~ describe internal
a film, then, can refer to any small-scale relations of
relations among the elements and among the complexes
parts. Since a 1"1
1 m not only presents spatial reLations
of the object"4), Beardsley distinguishes two kinds of
but also unfolds in t1'me , th ese small-scale rel<1\.iong may
aesthetic form: structure and texture. "Structure" refers
be either simultaneous or successive. Simultaneous
to "relatively large-scale relations among the main parts";
s~ll-scale relations would inclUde, for example, the rela-
for example, the movements of a symphony, the acts of a
of a character to his or her setting, or the relation
play, the triangular c,omposition of a painting. "Texture"
of a light source to an object: that is, spatial relations.
 transformation moves in the direction of suggesting e-ither
Successive small-scale relations would include, for exam- the film-maKer's attitude or characters' inner states.
ple, the juxtaposition of one shot to another or the move- In the first event, film techniques are bent to the purpose
ment of an actor from one action to another: that is, of stressing the film-maker's interpretation of the filmed
temporal relations. Consequently, the style of a single material. More often, it is characters' psychological
film may be characterized by statements about recurrent states which are expressed through the Came1'3wol'l" mi s,'-,'n-
features (either simultaneous or successive) of texture. scene, optical devices, and editing. Camcl'B di",r,:ll1c,',
~or example, in characterizing the style of Welles' Citizen angle, and movement present either a character's optic:d
Kane as that of "deep-focUl? composition," one is referring point of view or represent a state of the character's
to the recurrences of a hierarchical pattern of simulta- feeling. To a lesser extent, mise-en-scene permits
neous relationships among figures within the frame. emphasizing psychologically significant elements, but
Again, in characterizing the style of Eisenstein's Potemkin (in contrast to German Expressionism) a character's
as that of "dynamic montage," one is referring to the recur- SUbjective state is almost never projected directly through
rence of abrupt, kinetic relationships between successive the mise-en-scene. Optical devices (dissolves, superimpos-
shots. Thus the general categories of what are usually itions, gauze-focus) are much more important than mise-en-
called film techniques--camerawork, mise-en-sl'.l'ne, eell tlng, scene in denoting subjectivity: through Jeformations and
sound, and "optical" devices--may be considered as denoting distortions, optical devices represent pllrely menta]
stylistic (i.e., recurrent textural) qualities of indivi- images (e.g., a fantasy), affective states (e.g., gauze-
dual films. focus over a character's wistful expression), or' optical]y
The main textural features of Impressionist subjective states (e.g., weeping, blindness). Finally,
cinema may be summarized in advance. Impressionist film editing in Impressionist films is often used to denote
style Addresses the problem posed by Impressionist film subjective time, space, and rhythm. Cuts to flashbacks,
theory: Ilu\v ,:an cinema tl'ansccnd the mechanical t'r'cot'dilll" .
memory-images, and fantasles .
glve t~e temr:ora1
USll". ) pattern
of action? As we saw, the Impressionists see the film of a character's thoughts. Intercutting shots of the
artist as utilizing the medium to transform nature and
cxpl'e'c'~' 1't'<' line;. In Impressioni st 1'i 1m style, thi~,
 147

character looking at something and shots of what that

character sees traces the flow of the character's optical
was almost wholly stylistic; contemporary crit.icc; and film-
attention. And rhythmic editing per~its the film-maker
makers were quick to note stylistic devices but paid little
to indicate the tempo of a character's experience. In all,
attention to the films' content. 'rhird, utd,'Sc' C'nt~ lISL'S
the style char'acteristically 3uggesto tlHc! f'low 11f' :\ CIWl'<Il:-
very broad terms (e.g., "romance"), tll"rl' al'" \'c'!'y ['C'\V
ter's consciousness and thus transcends objective mechani-
characteristic Impressionist SUbjects or themes. I believe
cal recording of appearances. "Impressionism," then, is
that subject and theme are more profitably seen as ways
not a misnomer: the style renders the film-maker's or a
of distinguishing one director's work from anoth0r's;
character's impression of a situation. As the Impres-
compare, for example, Gance's interest in historical
sionist painters seek in their medium stylistic equiva-
pageantry and the solitary hero with L'Herbier's preoccu-
'lents for a perceiver's fleeting optical sensations, S0
pation with romances among the rich in different epochs.
Impressionist film-makers--given a medium that involves
French cinema has nothing like the social-revolution theme
both time and space--use cinema to suggest the flux of
that sweeps through virtually all the Soviet films of the
optical and psychological experience, True to Impres-
1920's.
sionist theory, nature is always seen transformed by human
Despite such heterogeneity of content, however,
consciousness. The film style thus offers a set of devi-
Impressionist films naturally exhibit an interplay of sub-
ces which, established both contextually and conventional-
ject, theme, and style. I have therefore viewed SUbject
ly, suggest the inner life behind overt appearances.
and theme chiefly as what Russian Formalist critics would
It should be added that subject matter--what a
call "motivating devices" which make certain stylistic
.given film is concretely "about"--and theme--those concepts
strategies appropriate. 6 For example, Impressionist
or ideas that are imbedded in a given film--will not be
films often contain a scene where a character is traveling
explicitly dealt with in this study. First, subject and
at high speed--either by horse, train, car, or plane.
theme are not intrinsic parts of style as here defined.
Speeding vehicles as a subject are not part of the Impres-
Second, the historical impact of Impressionist cinema
sionist style, but in the context of a given film they
"motivate" a rhythmically-edited SUbjective sequence of
images, which is a trait of Impressionist style. Or
 ~e~i~itive feature of Impressionist film style. In the

;:'2:"2.cigm, I have assumed the presence of narrative in

thematically, Impressionist fl'lms often center on the
:rpressionist cinema and in the standard commercial work;
importance of memory. Th'lS th eme " motivates" stylistic
~~e paradigm will isolate differences on the textural
devices like the flashback, th e fantasy-image, and subjec-
~ather than the structural level.
tive optical effects. In the course of outlining the
Before turning to a more detailed examinCltion of
paradigm I shall indicate recurrent contextual functions
t:-;e paradigm, two final points must be noted. First,
of stylistic devices, and where useful I shalJ
to include descriptions of all the instances of a given
some thematic aspects of such functions.
stylistic device in the text of this chapter would render
Another factor which is related to style deserves
it bulky and unreadable. I have instead confined myself
consideration: narrative. As Chapter I has pointed out,
to selected examples and relegated most of my evidence
both contemporary critics and subsequent historians have
to Appendix B. Second, the following paradigm is orga-
distinguished between the abstract cinema on one hand
nized deductively, considering stylistic parameters common
and the Impressionist cinema on the other. This distinc-
to all films: camerawork, mise-en-sc~ne, optical ~evices,
tion rests partly upon that between narrative films and
and editing. As mentioned above, this has been done not
non-narrative films. I mpresslonlst
" films tell stories
only to shOW systematically the Irnprcnniol1ist utili,z,)tiol1
about characters; abstract films ( e.g., Symphonie Diagonale,
of standard parameters but also to facilitate comparison
Ballet Mechanique)
_ tell no story but lnstead
. juxtapose
between Impressionist films and other kinds. Accordingly,
~hapes, movements, and gestures in a "pure" rhythm.
after the paradigm has been outlined, I shall use it to
Within a Ct'J'tain range, narratl've provl'des a useful internal
compare: a) French Impressionist films with Prench non-
criterion, and many of th e speclflc
. . differences between
Impressionist films, both narrative and non-narrative; and
Impressionist style and abstract-film style are related
b) French Impressionist films with German Expressionist
to the 13<:11(','al narrative/non-narrative distinction. But
and Soviet montage films.
narrative as a cate gory Wl'11 not help us distinguish
Impressionist films from other fl'lms whl'ch are not abstract.

Narrative, then, constitutes a significant but not

 1',11

Characteristics of the ImaGe here proposed are traditional and object-orient0ll, Ihus

Pur' c:xplanator'y pur'po:,e,:, Llli:: IJt.'c:Li':)11 il; divitl"d

per'mitting una]y:,is or t.he small-sci1le r'('lal"i')II" :1111')11;'; pal'ts
of a given image.
into three parts: camerawork; mise~en-sc0ne; and opU C:1 j

As I indicated above, Impressionist st.yl,' "subject-

devices. In conformity with standard critical usag~, 1
ivizes" the film image. Through specific kinds e)f camt'ra-
shall use all of these terms in an object-oriented sense.
work, mise-en-scene, and optical devices, the Impressionist
Thus although the distance, angle, and movement of
might seem to refer to properties outside the image (since film strives to add to whatever the filmed subject may

the camera filming is almost never st:~en in the film), express in itself by suggesting thoughts and feelings

such terms have become accepted as referring to charac- through film technique as well. But how maya film

teristics of the image. Respectively, "camera dist.31ll'e" icn.age be said to be "subjective"? Jean Mitry has proposed

refers to the relative size of the filmed subject with an analysis of SUbjective images which will be useful

respect to the frame; "camera angle" refers to the l't'lative tor our purposes. 7 Mitry isolates several kinds of sub-

angle of the filmed subject with respect to the frame; ive images. First, there is the purely mental image

and "camera movement" refers to the movement of the frame .g., memory, dream, fantasy) which is not optically per-

with respect to the photographed space. "Mise-en-scene" eeived by the character but which is in some sense an

I shall take as generally denoting the composition of the vision." There is, secondly, the semi-subjective

filmed material within the frame; this covers such possi- i:r.gage, which provides a view of a non-mental event but

bilities as decor, lighting, and the deployment and l1l~ha­

, by including the observing character 'in tile frame,

viol' of figures and objects in space. Finally, again either a character's perceptual viewpoint. on the

following critical practice, I shall use "()ptical deviet's" (e.g., an over-the-shoulder shot of someone ahserv-

to denote various transformations of the image's surface somethirig) or a Character's emotional attitude toward

or speed: these include fade-ins and fade-outs, dissolves, event (e.g., in EI Dorado the gauzy quality of Sibella's
compared to the sharp focus upon the other dancers'
wipes, superimpositions, split-screen techniques, irises,
masks, and slow- and fast-motion. In sum, the categories Finally, there is the optically SUbjective image,
:which shows an event as seen through the eyes of !J charach'r'
witnessing the event (e.g., a shot of the highway seen from
the point-of-view of the driver of a car). Althout-;ll nIl
three general kinds of subjective images appear ill Impres-
sionist films, the mental image, the optically sUbjective i-
mage, alld Ll1C emotionally-based semi-subjective illlagl~ art' lly
far the most common; the perceptual semi-subjective image is
quite rare. In ~he following examination of Impressionist film
style, Mitry's categories of sUbjective images will be applied.
Camera Work
Camera Distance. Impressionist films make use of a variety
of camera distances, from extreme long-shots to extreme
close-ups, but non-Impressionist films of the time draw on
as wiLle a r'ange of camera distance::;. Within tilis [':1I1gc, Ih'W-
ever, one can distinguish an outstandillg utili::ation of one
parameter of camera distance: the close-up. Close-ups are
prominent in Impressionist films for reasons that go beyond
simply magnifying a character's expression for better
visibility. Impressionist close-ups also frequently concen-
trate Oll pnl'ts of bodies and objects: hands, feet, clottlinp;,
'hats, pipes, clocks, flowers, and other extremities and
objects. As a result, these close-ups may embody in an
object or a gesture a dramatic, thematic, or' :lb:",tl':ICl.)y
conceptual meaning. To take a clear example: in L'Hommt'
du Large, the father is identified with the pipe he fre-
quently smokes, so that the entry of the pipe in c1o::;e-
up is sufficient, by synecdoc11e, to illdic:1\.e lli~; pn~~;<'llt~t'.
Similarly, a single shot of tvJO IIIJnLl:; eJ i IIkil)!.': l~l:l:;:>"s
in a bar in La Belle Nivernaise suffices to inform us th8.t.
a bargain has been stuck over a drink. A more abstrartly
conceptual scene occurs in J' Accuse, wherein the dep8.1'-
ture of a village's men for war is shown entirely ill c1080-
ups of hands--packing bags, drinking farewell d1'inl,8,
clasping, and praying, thereby suggesting a c;eneral human
response to war.
The function of such symbolic close-ups is often
sLr'engthened by their being set in 0. context which make~o
them subjective images. Some arl' purely mental im:J.Ges:
in Le Diable dans la Ville, a flashback is showll wholly
in close-ups of a shattered statue and a smashed window;
a lover's recollection of his or her loved one is suggested
by close-ups of the loved one (Six et Dcmi-Onze, L'Inhumaint:,
La Belle Niyernaise, La Femme de Nulle Eart, and others);
the inserted close-up of a delicately-built house of cards
in La Dixieme Symphonie symbolizes, via a fantasy-image,
the precariousness the composer feels in his life. Other

close-'ups become subjective by suggestirq; a chapucj,l)P'S
optical viewpoint on an event. POl' l)Xamp I c~ " Pc;u'l i 11
Glace! Trois Faces is waitinc; for a call j'l'c)1I1 Ill:I' JUVl'l',
closer and closer subjective shots of tIll' t,c:lephollfc' l'lIIbody
her anxiety. When the boy in Visages d'Enfallt<, stands at
his mother's grave, there are several abrupt close-ups
of the coffin as it is lowered, emphasizing his point-
of-view. A more subtle instance occurs in La Belle Niver-
naise, in which at several points, close-ups have shown
Clara washing Victor's striped shirt. After Victor leaves
the barge, Clara stares at the shirt which he has left
behind. In the next scene, her father invites her t~)
checkers, and as they play, quick shots showing Clara's
poised hand holding a checker are intercut wi t~h ,: l\'~,<)-ups
her mother's hands washing dishes at the sink; disturbed,
Clara pushes the game away. Combining close-ups of drama-
tically significant objects (the checkerboard pat torn link-
ingwith Victor's shirt, the mother's washing recalling
Clara's waShing) concisely expresses a character's train
of thought.
Comparison with contemporary works like L'Atlantid0,
Le Coupable, Crainquebille, Poil de Carotte, and Narw
suggests that such synecdochic, symbolic and sUbjective
use of close-ups is characteristic of Impressionist film
154
style: in all, twenty-two out of thirty-five 1I1lf'I'c'St' i l'l\.lst
films utilize close-ups in these !];eneroal 1'8811 \\'11:;, :1:'
,~~
compared to only two of the ril'tc'en non-1lllpr,\",,'i\'l1i:;\.
films examined.
\
Camera Angle. As with camera distance, Impressil)l1ist film
style makes use of a range of camera angles which includes
high-angle shots (i.e., looking down from a height
low-angle shots (i.e., looking up frolll a deep
position), and tilted angles (i.e., viewing the subject
from a tilted rather than a horizontal axis). Sometimes
such extreme-angled shots are relatively autonomous and
play do not function subjectively in any of the sellses which
Mitry's categories imply. They are, in Mitry's terms,
-descriptive sUbjectivism," or the point of view of the
film-maker. But more often camera angles in Impressionist
films are subjective in Mitry's third sens~: used in a
characteristic editing pattern (to be examincd b~low),
such shots indicate optically SUbjective point-of-view.
t.ow-angle shots, then, are typically used to pres(cnt the
point-of-view of a character who is spa';;'ially \cllvcr tllan
events he or she views. In Le Diable dans 1a Ville,
instance, the viewpoint of a man on the ground is
as a low-angle image of faces looking down at
him. Similarly, in Yisages d'Enfants, a boy's view of his
 stepmother't, bl'ooch is shown in a low-angle c loc~e-up.
Correspondingly, high-angle shots are typically uS0d to
clearly from other French narratiVe' ['jlm,; \,1' 1.Iw \.illl".
present the viewpoint of a character looking dowll. For
in t,hit~ ,;tlldy
The no n-Impressionist narrative films exnmined
example, in L;J. Roue, high-angle close-ups or a glus,; and
rarely use high- or low-angles or U t 1. I lze
. t' h t"Ill S u t'.i e' c t. j v c ] .v .
a pipe suggest Sisif's vantage point on tht'nl.
, ' sN
· Reno1r
A good contras t 1S _ana Whl' ch , the)ugll l'ont3ining
a husband's view of his wife, who is sitting Oil t.he rI(,or,
a motif of spying, almost never provides shots fl'orn the
is given in it high-angle shot. Even lev(~l, llliddl';-8J1glt'
spy's point-of-view; for example, Bordenave's spying on
shots are frequently shown to be sUbjective. For example,
Nana and her gentleman is presented in a long-shot which
in L'Inhumaine, La· Glace ! Trois Faces, and Six et Demi-
. f rame,
,. the typical
includes all three characters 1n
Onze, the views of the road are shown from the driver's
Impressionist strategy would have be\?n to include' :1 subj pc-
seat. Common also are head-on medium shots of one charac-
tive view through the peep h 0 1 e. Again, in Antoine":3 L~'
tel' addressing another, as if presenting the addressee's
Coupable there is only one shot which is compal':'lblt' to t.he
point-of-view; this technique recurs in Coeur Fidele,
subjective-angle shots which are frequent in Impressionist
L·'Auberg"8 Rouge, L'Argent, Le Diable dans la Ville, La
works. Specifically, twenty-three Impressionist films
examined contain high-, low-, or tilted angles, and in
Finally., "",,;,,',iull;illy an lmpl'essionisl. filill wiLl c'ul,l.:lill
nineteen of them such angles at 1 eas t E
onu" represent sub-
a shot taken at eye-level angle of a sUlJjc'ct thr'c,ugh ;\
jective points of view. Non -Impressionist abstract films
window, standing for a character I s view through tlw wi ndow;
all utilize high, low, and/or tilted angles on their Bub-
this ,vi"II;',] 1I\c.l.if becorn,'s through l'erw1.il.·i()11 ;1 11I:"i<lI' dl':I-
j (~(;ts, LJu L nevce indicate su b J' cc tlv'C' puillt-'d'-vi,'w. Only
matic element in La Roue, Coeur Fidele, La Petite Marchande
t ·
two non-Impressionist narra"lVa films Iltili",\:,
. - c'lll~11 :lllgles,
d'Allumettet;, and Feu Mathias Pascal.
In
and invariably to l'nd1'cate optical subjectivity.
The use of camera angle to indicate optical sub-
general, thr;n, both the variety of C .'lrrl,"I'C1 :lnp:.,les
. :JIHi t11l'iJ'
jectivity i" 111\1,; a dominant feature of Irnpressioni.sL
represenLation of SUbjective pol r; t - CJ [' - v i (.' \>i ,,() n:', 1.1 t. IJ t (> :1
film style. In this respect, Impressionist films differ
recurrent textural featur e of Impressionist films.
 lS
1')8

Impre:.';t;ionist films examined. Som8t.,im(~s ~~ucli 11I\)ll i 1\' l'1';1l1\-

Camera Movement. A third characteristic of mnny Trnpressjon- ing will be used to establish a scene, ns wrwlI :11 t.lle' l','-
ist films is the use of the mobile l'ramin£; that, fJf'OCl""c\S ginning of L I Inondation the camera tracks forw:l\'d (11J'ollt;il
Crom the movement of the camera. While rn,lI1y typ(\logie~;
the village square to establish the locale 01' Wil"III,~~

of camera movement in general have tJ0UI\ i'1'\)P()~\,;'d, LII\' Glace !! 'l'rois Paces opens with a tracldng shut d"\vll a
tl
following synthesis is adequate Cor purpose's L'C (',hi~, study. city street. A reverse tracking shot may also 110 used to
There is camera movement which follows a mnvint!: obj l'ct, establish a scene: in La Roue, the camera tracks back
or person (e.g., a tracking shot with a man walking), from a sleeping man and moves through a doorway
and there is camera movement which functions independently main room, where other men eat and drink; in Lt:
of any subject movement (e.g., a pan around a room). Arden t, one scene opens with a med i um shot of tile 11iiS b:l1hi

Other possibilities include camera moveme nt that is not
defined as representing a character's optical point~of-
view and camera movement tha t is to be taken as representin~
.
a character's optical pOlnt-O f '
-Vlew. Inlpressionist Cilm
style sometimes utilizes all these possibilities.
Camera movement in Impressionist films is most
frequently used to keep moving persons in the Crame;
twenty-three Impressionist films so use 1't . On the whole,
however, moving-camera shots following moving objects nre
fairly common in non-Impressionist narrative films (see
which tracks back to reveal him at his desk.
More frequently, camera movement independent of
the subject will be used to direct attention without
violating the temporal or spatial flow (as editing might):
the camera takes on a revelatory role. For example, in
?inis Terrae, a crane shot exposes a church behind a
hill. In Le Diable dans la Ville, a swift tracking movement,
\,;;:> to whispering men brings them suddenly intc) rl'e)minence.
In L'Inhumaine, very fast panning shok; to post"I'S announc-
irlg Claire's concert build up a kinetic rhytilill. In L'llomme

Poil de Carotte, Nana, and Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie) au Large, we learn that the mother has taken sick hy
and abstract films (see Ballet ~
M ecanlql.e
'" and Disq\ll~
- 927)·
:tt<eans of a panning shot from the daughter by the wall
Such camera movement is thus not particularly definitive the ailing mother in bed. InL'A~gent, many of the most
of Impressionism. ic uses of such camera movement occur: the camera
Much more characteristic is camera movement inde-

pendent of SUbject movement, which occurs in fourteen

 constantly tracks up to board members confpontillg a CPl1Wd,
reflections of customers in restaurant mirr'ors, and elos\"-
ups of the pr'osecutor denouncing Saccard.
Finally, we sh_ould note some USl:S of carner-a mOVl'-
ment independent of the sUbject which pt:rJ\)pm no establish-
ing or revelator-y functl'ons but Whl'cll •(lecome Spl'l~taeul:l)'
visual flourishes l' n th' ,
ell' own,rlght. Thus in L'Argent,
the fate of the airplane flight is linked to the economic
health of the Bou~se b Y I'ln k e d camera movements: a pan with
the taxiing plane is followed by a similar pan across the
facade of the Bourse, and a swooping overhead shot of the
plane is continued in a swooping
overhead shot of the
Bourse. 9 Fait Divers opens with
sideways rocking views
of city traffic, announcing the
contorted style of the
film as a whole. Such uses 0 l' camera movement independent
of SUbject, however, are very rare outside Impressionist
films; of the non-Impressionist films examined, only
~ makes use of camera movement independent of SUbject
move\l1ent.
NUll<' "t' the varieties of carner'a lIJovellJ('Ilt.
so far is contextually defined as representing a charactel"s
optical poi liI-,,j'-view on an event. [\llt :ill Jrnpl'elJniolli::L
cinema there are also several instances of moving-camera
shots that al'e SUbjective in Mitry's third sense: that is,
~.l1e context defines such shots as representing all event.
25 seen through the eyes of a witness, Perhaps the most
;:onmon use of this technique is that of the "J.rivt'r's
'(leioipoint" : the road is seen through the driver's eyes
in La Glace a Trois Faces, L' Inhumaine, Six et Dl>.llIi-Onze,
"hereas in La Roue the railway is seen from tlle: t'Ilr;:i Ilt'er" [)
'{iei1point. But other uses of such "subjeetive" n1L"1vinr;-
camera shots are plentiful. For example, in La Petite
Harchande d'Allumettes, when the boy and the girl art:" riding
the magical horse through the sky, they turn to see Death
galloping after them; a bobbing-camera shot simulates their
viewpoint on Death's pursuit. Similarly, in Les Aventures
de Robert Macaire, after a shot of Macaire standing atop
a hill there comes a subjective panning shot around the
horizon. La Glace a Trois Faces contains several subjec-
tive tracking shots toward a boat, dock from the viewpoint
of the approaching couple. More boldly, in L'Aubcrge Rouge,
as an innkeeper surveys his tavern wi th an expansive wav,'
or his arm, the camera indicates his point-of-view by rotat-
d i :1CIJf;:3{'d ing to keep the arm framed in screen right. None of the
non-Impressionist films examined utilizes this technique
of' :;ulJ,jc;(;tivc; moving-camera shots, so although it occur's
in only about one-third of the Impressionist films ex~
allJined, it is highly characteristic of Impressionist
 163

film style.
To summarize: apart from the use of eamera t('eh-
among elements within the f'rame--relat'Ions, tilat. c'onsti-
nique as an expository, revelatory, or purely pictorial
tute lighting, decor, and the arrangement of figures.
device, the overriding purpose of much Impressionist
camerawork is sUbjectivity. Close-ups, bosidpB their uses ~.!:U:'.:L~l.e;. Like ImpT'BSIJionist nnint
st.yl,' ill ,
. . l l I Iill
p l "" l " ' : ' ; -

for symbolic and synecdochic purposes, are often used to Slonlst film style undertakes the
exp 1 oration of the tex-
represent a character's optical point-of-view. Similarly, tures and behavior of light under .
varlOUS circumstances.
high, low, and tilted angles and the movement of the First, we may notice a great degree of experimentation wl'th
camera often indicate a character's optical vantage point. the angle a· nd position of a slngle
' light-souI'ce Ught-
The emphasis which Impressionist theory places on t11e ing
. from behind the f'
19ures, for example, is
Al ht used in
transforming powers of the camera thus permeates the style - g films to create d ramatic silhouettes. III J' Accuse,
of Impressionist film, confirming Germaine Dulac's claim that: the rendezvous of the poet and the wife is backll't
, as
L'Avant-garde a ete la recherche et la manifestation are later battle scenes. In L
-9:. ~, similarly dr3.matic
abstraites de la pensee et de la technique pures
appliquees depuis a des films plUS clairement humains. bac klight ing is created by torches plaYl'ng
over the
Elle a pose, non seulement les bases de la dramaturgie
de l'ecran, mais a recherche et propage toutes les -reeked train and slashi ng s h
arp' silhouettes out of the
possibilites d'expressions enfermees dans l'objec-
tif d'une camera. 10 Less harsh is the backlighting reserved for
The Impressionists' figurative and psychologically expres- ffith-like shots of beloved
sive camerawork thus intersects with Impressionist film L'Inhumaine, L'Auberge
theory's conception of J2hotogenie' s transformation of na ture. Symphonie) ,
As common as b acklighting is the utiliz~tion of
Mise-en-s'c1~ne
strong light-source from the side, which occurs
Impressionist film style is also characterized Impressionist films examined. In L'Hamm8 ctu
recurrent textural features that consist of relations s' sidelighting f rom a window brings out Dicial t~x-
In a close-up of mother and daughter lying on a bed,

as later the side lighting of a dance hall starkly

 ?.c.scal, or the shadows of the roulet tf' players add inr;

illuminates the smoke-wreathed dancers and leaves the back- ~o the seedy atmosphere of the gambling den in L'Argent.

ground totally dark. In La Dixieme Symphonie, several Nore interesting is the use of shadow Which, by alluding

scenes are played in side-lighting, most notably that to offscreen space, suggests action rather than showing it

which occurs when, during a private concel't, a seducer cirectly. For example, in L'Homme du Large, when the nun

turns out the room light, plunging him and the composer's and her ex-lover meet each other again, their reunion

wife into a darkness lit only from the side'; silt' turns and is shown solely through their two shadows on the ground,

is swallowed up in darkness by walking behind a black ::eeting, then kissing hesitantly. Similarly, in La Roue,
curtain. Le Diable dans la Ville furnishes a similar in- rather than inclUding Elie' s cross in the same frame wi tIl

stance: when one young woman opens the door to admit ano- Norma, the composition shows only Norma sitting in the

ther woman, there is a shot of the second woman in a total- snow with the croDs's shadow before her. Sometimes such

ly dark frame, with only the candle and her sidelit face allusiveness begins to operate in foreground and back-

visible. Perhaps most striking, however, is the way ground space. In La Dixieme Symphonie, at the conclusion

sidelighting (cor,bined with careful deployment of figures of the private concert, there occurs a shot of the composer

and obj ects) creates a visual metaphor on one shot c'f !:~~ and his daughter talking in the foreground while in the

Aventures de Robert Macaire. A young woman is brushing background the shadows of the departing guests cross the

her hair on screen left, while on screen right coils of rear windows. Similarly, in Le Diable dans la Ville,

a soft fibre are hanging down from a spinning wheel. while villagers gather in amazement in the foreground,
,
'l'lle llU.il' i:; ""1I1plll'ed to the fibre by the sicle-ligllt, which a hoader] monkl ikc: flhadow slips post a. building in tht'

highlights both identically. The various positions of the distance. More thoroughgoing is El Dorado's use of fore-

lighting S"lll'"c', then, tend to create atmosphere and to ground and background shadows as a visual leitmotif. Tho
underline important dramatic actions. heroine Sibella is a cafe dancer, and a white curtain

Another lighting phenomenon which is extensively separates her backstage world from her onstage activities.

used in Impressionist films is that of shadows. Sometimes, As a result, many shots of her backstage life use shadows

they function in a broadly atmospheric way: e.g., the simi-

lar shadows slanting across the ceiling in Feu Mathias
on the curtain as reminders of the activities Oil \,I)(~ emphasizing the shimmering of sunlight elll wut.C'I', "l1c'I'<';lS
Early in the film, as she comes b~~kstag~ L'Inhumaine, La Glace! Trois Faces, L'AubL't'8;c' J,OUgl',
"public" side.
after a performance, the sha dows of the applaudillg c'l'owd L'Argcr:!!., and -La -
Chute de 1a -
- - - -- -~
MaLo;on U:,hc'I' 111:11", ",I"II"ivc'
--- --'-

are seen on the curtain. Later, While she writ~5 a letter, use of the fJatter, more glaring ref'lectiollS oj' light
the approach of a would-be seducer is signaled by \.hc' striking glass and silverware.
looming shadow on the curtain behind her. '.dll illustrate the virtuosic play of lightillg Lypical of
able is her suicide: she stabs herself and falls buck Impressionism. During the aviator's return, H woman in
,~C)ll­
against the cur'tal'n while shadows of dancing C:LJtq'h',o; a glistcming metallic dress is watchillg 1'1'0111:1 \Villdt\\v ;18

tinue to move blith.ely across it, ironically suggestinG the milling crowd below flashes lights acposs tilt' sky ;111d

the customers' indifference to her death. In all, eighteen her body. There follows a high-angle Sill'\' of a
Impressionist films use such shadows to indicate offscreen full of glasses and silverware gleaming aGainst
action. mirrored tabletop. When the count enters, he set?s
More generally, Impressionist films seek out not woman shining brilliantly against the backlighting
only single-source side- or back-lighting and shadows by the crowd's moving searchlights. By such
but also a range of extreme lighting situations. Indeed,
the entire scene gains an ethereal quality.
the interplay 0 f 11' ght and various materials becomes an again in Impressionist films, light plays a
important concern of Impressionist films. lighthouse in Finis 'I'el"rt~'. the' lantel"tl
or stucco, for example, gives El Dorado, its shaky illumination through trw housE' in Le
L'Homme du Large, and Feu Ma thOlas Pascal compositions Ardent, the 'curtains that Freu pushes opel} to
juxtapose large segments of white surfaces the pi tch-dar'k villa in La D,~uxi0mo ~XI1l1\I.l~~t.21£,
of very dark space. Light on smoke or f og is salient that picks out thG bare tahl~ in Six ct Demi-
scenes in J'Accuse, La Roue, L 'Inhumaine, and Finis perhaps most strikingly, in La Petite Marchande
Similarly, several films (e.g., Six et Demi-Onze, Rose- the light that transforms the rose petals
France, La Belle Nivernaise, and La ~) contain scenes ng the dead match girl into a stream of showflakes.
This insistence on examining the behavi or of 1 i e;lJt i rI V~ll'­ defines the styles of individual film-makers more clearly
ious situations is one strong characteristic of IlTlprl'ss_Lol1- than the style of the movement as a whole. I shall 1.hol',,'-
ism and as such partially justifies OU1' a~>L:rlhing the nalllt~ fore confine myself to pointing out broad similarities.
"Impressionism" to the movement. Of the non-ImpressioIJi::it Some Impres s ioni s t cinema tend s to liS (' sLy 1 i 7,ed
films examined, only L'Enfant de Paris, witl) its :1J(.erllal- settings. In Don Juan et B'aust, Faust'l> l~llafllb(;!' i0 (-'Xpr'('l-;-

ing dark and light scenes, Le Coupable, with its blacl( sionistically twisted in the Caligari mode, and the gal'dt'l1

backgrounds, sta"rk sidelighting, and use of a sliding scene of L'Inhumaine includes some projecting tusklike
shadow to suggest a stage curtain, and Dulac's abstract shapes reminiscent of the fronds in many shots of Caligari.
films (e.g., Disque 927, Themes et Variations) approach Similarly, the scientist's laboratory in Paris Qui Dort,
the range of lighting effects present in Impressionist with its huge circular tympanum and two angled rods strik-
film style. ing it, resembles the decor of Metropolis. In other set-
tings, Art Deco style is more prominent: Robert Mallet-
~. Due to the extreme diversity of the SUbjects ,,1'
Sevens designed the striking sets for Clare'S house in
Impressionist films, it is difficult to argue that specific
L'Inhumaine, and similar Art Deco influences may be seen
setting:; 1'('('11\', From the medieval c,ottingn or Lc !}iable
in the man[3ions in Six et Demi-Onze :Hld L'Ar'gvnt. l,ill:;r'"
dans la Ville to the twenty-first century surroundings of
laboratory in L' Inhumaine is of anotht:'!I' design al togetilel'--
L'Inhumaine, Impressionist cinema develops little in the
the cubistic machine-style of Feroand L§ger--that is some-
way of a fixed iconography. Impressionists' ends were
what akin to the bizarre, rigidly mechanized set of the
mainly stylistic, and these ends were sought ill and throue;h
detective bureau in Le Brasier Ardent. Different still
a great vat'iet.y of locales and furnishingt~. As inliiv:i.tiunls,
is Lhe simple grandiosity of the huge map-pooms in L'Arg(>nt,
the film-makers tended to cultivate idosyncratic settings:
the giant toyshop in La Petite Marchande d'Allumettes, and
in L'Jj('!'bi,'!', nn Expressionistic distortion of uppor-
the fairyland decor of Voyage Imaginaire.
class milieux; in Delluc, a sober drabness in the rendering
Twenty-seven out of thirty-five Impressionist films,
of the countryside; in Epstein, a concern with the chang-
however, utilize natural, undistorted decors: villages,
ing moods of rivers and seas. Like narrative, decor
 171
170

and windows to frame actions within shots; somt~

domestic settings, Parisian landscapes, and provi\\l'ial compositional uses o f wlndows

. have been ment. i l)lll-'(l l'ove,
:1

countryside. If any style of decor, Ul"n can be ,;;1 j d to it is worth noting here that d oorways have similar func-
predominate in Impressionism, it ie UI,i\' uJ' "\1:1\'111':11 ism" tions'• t;;.
, g . , tl1e elaborate
' c t rlC
oncen ' doorway,; ill !'\'U
in settings. Natural settings, however, nre also prominent Mathias Pascal, the arches and tall doors of L'lnondatiqn
in all but one (Nana) of the non-Impressionist film" the 1 aVlsh
. corridor-doors of L'A rgen.
t On t hl' \vl101t',
examined, thus making such "natural" decors relatively while the non-Impressionist films studied lack the extremes~

weak defining qualities of Impressionist style as a whole. of decor styles, the abstract non-narrativt' fillJls Sil31'e :1
One other typical (though not definitive) trait of concern with stronG abstract patterns--indeeti, lI\:lKt' \.l1"m
decor in Impressionist film style is a recurrent interest the films' raisons d'etre.
in strong abstract patterns. In L' Inhumaine, for' t'xample,
Arrangement and Behavior of Figures
_ in Space. Film study
one shot is a bird's-eye view of' acrobats performing upon
lacks an analytical a pparatus for defining parameters . of
a strong patternqf squarish zigzags on the floor. The
spatial manipulation within the shot. Without such an
vague flowery patterns in the courtyard of El Dorado,
apparatus, the researche r can only note contin[;l'tlt pheno-
the zebra-striped decor in the restaurant of L'Argent,
mena. Nonetheless, spatial manipulatl'on of fi[;1I1't O
S and
the geometrical cross-hatching walls of the gazebo of La
ects does n?t appear to be a significant t eXclll'3 1 1'<"a-
Glace ~ Trois ~, the densely checked net-like windows
ture of Impressionist cinema. For example, maJ1,\' TlI\f'l't:'ssion-
in La Petite Marchande d'Allumettcs all testify to a con-
ist films (e.g., Le Brasier .....;;...;;,;,;e:.:n:.:..:::,)
Ard t L 'Inhumailll', • L'Argent,
cern with using abstract patterns as compositional devices.
Souriante Madame Beudet) mae
k little usc 01' J'l'l'egroulld
Occasionally, these patterns will be echoed in CL)st\lme
background; such spatial re 1 ations are usuall y dt'tcr'-
a::.; well: MeprJistopheles' cape repeats Ull~ WhOl'h; of 1"'1\I"t'8
editing, as will be shown below. Of tell, however,
chamber in Don Juan et Faust, while ti,e lov"rsin L,1 ~
t films make extensive use of a dramatic
Nivernaise wear striped clothes that "rhyme" with the win-
between foreground and background. In Fievre, when
dow slats in the ship's galley. The same use of abstract
sailor and the bar hostess talk on the terrace, a
pattern can be seen in the occasional use of doorways
little figurine kept in the foreground recalls his wife;
later, the Oriental wife sits despondent in the f0r0~round
tend to be characteristic of Impressionist style.
while through a back window we can see the police takine;
Ther3 are three fairly standard functions of such
the hostess away. In La Roue, the rear window of Sisif's
opt.ical effects: marking transitions, denoting maGical
home serves to frame dramatically significant elements
effects, and emphasizing dramatically significant aspects
outside--the railway signal, the tral'n, N'),rma
, ' ,
sWlnglne;,
of scene's, A 1] of these function2- are notnbly pl'l'Sl'nt.
Norma leaving--while other action oceurs in tilt' J\)l'l'gl'clUlhl
in Impressionist films. Irises, dissoJ ves, VJi!,t'::;, ~lI\d f'adl'-
inside, On the wHole, though, neither the rel<1t.ivc'ly
ins and -outs are standard transitiolls in many Tmpl'c'ssion-
i'flat" space nor deeper space may be called chaI'actc"I'ist,ic'
ist films, usually marking ends and beginnings ,'1' ::,,,<'lh'S,
of Impressionism, since both techinques are widely t'c)und in
For example, Carnival des Verites, Don Juan et. Faust, and
non-Impressionist films of all types: abstract films likL'
L'Homme du Large use highly decorative wipes and masks
Symphonie Diagonale and Anemic Cinema alternate between
to move from one sequence to another; several films demar-
flatnese.~-"d depth, and' L'Enfant de Paris, Judex, Le Coupa-
cate sequences by dissolves. Time is somet.imes abridged
ble, Pail de Carotte,Nana, and L'Atlantide and ot.her non-
by means of dissolves and changes in focus: in one scene in
Impressionist. narratives all contain both shallow and deep
La Glace! Trois Faces, there is a dissolve from a pen
spatial arrangements.
starting to write a letter to the finished letter; in
Optical Devices ?eu Mathias Pascal, an entire courtShip and malTiage is
compressed into four shots linked by tl'ClDsitional ,iissulvc's,
By "optical devices" arc meant all the distortions
Orten a dissolve or superimposition will \.;lkc' tile pLll'e
and manipulations of the surface of the image--masks,
of (l cut. within a scene, providing a ":wrt.cr" tr'ansit.iun:
diSSOlves, superimpositions, focus, irises, wipes, fades
the cJissolvr from a long-shot t.o a medium-shot. to a closer
in tlnd ('11\.--:1:' \v,'11 8S the dl"tor!;'ion:\ ;i\,t"ndinfJ: L}", II"C

shot of a efJUI'aeLer in La Houe reCU1'S in COe:UC I"ide"!':,

of slow- and fast-motion. Although no device considered
Si~ ~ Q~j~Onze, L'Inhumaine, Mauprat, b~~ Aventures
in iso.1:lt. i Oil i" a defini tive textured J'C,ltUl'CI) uf' LIII[lI'(;:'-

de Robert Macaire, and other films. This can offer a

sionist films, certain functions which these devices perform
strikingly sensuous quality; cuts would not so emphasize
 175

Equally standardized is the use of opt i ,'a 1 devic8S

the languor of this scene in .!:'Aub~~ R0.!:ill~ in which 11
for emphasizing certain aspects of scenes.
young man slowly glances around a young woman: trate attention on a f ace, a gesture, ox' :111 I '
, l,) ),J \, '\' t,: g. ,
1,:. ...

1. (ms) Young man, looking. the iris in to t11e muslng

.
2. (rna) Woman from the side. Dissolve to: Pascal l't') ~
F' Ma tl 11:1:5
. ['ascal,
3. (cu) Her face, 3/4 view. Dissolv(' 1;0: the iris in to the 1
4. (cu) Her bosom and arm. Disso 1 ve \,0: casped hands of Jean and Fl':lll,") i"
5. (ms) Her back. Dissolve to: in J'Accuse, or the iris in t
6. (cu) Her face, 3/4 view. o the woman seated thinking
Wi th exceptions such as these noted, howevec, tile transi- beside her lover in La _Fete E 1
spagno e. Similady, v:lpious
tional functions of such optical effects remain :3tanl1apd masks and framing devices
are used to mark a ch:ll':1l't.er off
throughout both Impressionist and non-ImpcessiL,nist films. for special attention .
, as 1n L'Inhumaine or Le Diable dans
18 Ville. In Fini T --
Similarly, the use of optical effects t,) indic<lte --...§. err'ae, even slow-motion L~ u"l:d to
magical occurrences and to emphasize dramat.ic points is emphasize certain t'
ac 10ns--the dropping of a handkerchief
into the sea, the .
striking but not idiosyncratic. The march of the dead smashlng of a bottle on the rocks, the
s101o/ roll of
soldiers in J'Accuse is shown to be supernatural by being waves crashing on the shore. In La Petite
Marchande d'All
filmed as a superimposition. The magical power of the umettes, Death' s awesome leap ont,) llis horse
storm in La Chute de la Maison Usher is indicated by slow- is underlined in a slow-motion shot.
Wi th the p"ss i b le
exception of such slow-motion shots
motion shots of books tumbling out of cupboards. As one , most uses or optical
would expect, fairy tales and fantasy films maizE' extensive effects for magical purposes
or dramatic emphas0~ ar0 not
use of these devices: in Voyage Imaginaire, the c lerlzs distinctiveof Impressionism: cf. the appear-
transforming the witches into beautiful women by a kiss of the ghost in Poil de Carotte, the superimposed
, names in Na d . .
is shown by changes of focus; the fantasy Chacleston , ~, an the attentlon-concentrating iris-
contains scenes of animation, pixillation, and negative the basement window in L'Enfant de Paris.
----
shots revealing the film's fantastic bent; and La Petite Other functions Which op't;ical effects ~ fj U",
Marchande d'Allumettes includes animated cutouts, superim- more characteristic of Impressionist style. One
positions, pixillated marching soldiers, and stop-motion is that of pictorialism, the inclusion of
filming of roses springing to life on a tree.
optical effects for purely decorative purposes. Eleven
Impressionist films contain examples of optical effects
which signify nothing in narrative terms but simply add
to the composition of individual shots. A white arch-
shaped mask around a garden party (Les Aventures de Robert
Macaire), wltite irises (La Belle Nivernaise, El Dorado,
Coeur Fidele), gauze-focus in certain scenes (the long-
shots of the Usher mansion, the lovers in L'Auberge Rouge,
Clara combing her hair in La Belle Nivernaise, the party
guests in L' Inhumaine), square or ovaloI' tr.iangular
or ziggarat masks around certain images (the train wreck
in La Roue, the lovers in El Dorado, the party guests in
L'Inhumaine), and slow superimpositions (the sea and bridge
in L'Inondation): all these are used so inconsistently and
are so difficult to justify contextually -that one must
conclude that their primary purpose is purely grapllic.
By emphasizing shape or design, such devices simply make
interest.ing images. Such purely pictorial \~ses of optical
devices are evident in three non-Impressionist films
examined, all of them abstract films (Ballet M€canique,
:lnd Themes et Variations). 'I'his is hClrdly
surprising, since such abstract films would logically
utilize optical devices for purely graphic ends.
Otlt",'r characteristic uses of optical devices,
~hile of course contributing to the composition of images,
~onvey meanings as well. At the most abstract level, opti-
~31 devices may give images abstractly coltceptual 01' symbo-
!ic meanings. Neither SUbjective nor pUl'oly pictoriaL,
such images qualify as what Christian Meb3 calh; "11011-
diegetic inserts" or what has sometimes l'l'elt call",d "Jil'\'c-
torial comment." Examples are numerous. In J'Accuse,
images of Valkyries and classical battle scenes are super-
imposed on image~ of battle. In Rose-France, superimposi-
tions identify the heroine with a rose and with Jeanne
d I Arc. In La DiY-ieme ·Symphonie, various movements of
a symphony are symbolized by four freizelike landscape
compositions over which is superimposed a dancer. The
endings of some films tend particularly to emphasize tIle
symbolic functions of optical devices. At the end of
J'Accuse, for instance, a horizontal split-screen effect
metaphorically compares ~he ghostly soldiers to marching
soldiers leavinE for war. At the close of Coeur Fidele,
over a close-up of the lovers is superimposed the motto
they had scrawled on a building, "Toujours Fidele."
Similarly, at the end of El Dorado, when Sibelle lieR dead
on the table, the crowd that gathers around her slowly
fades out, the words· of the title appear and then her body
also fades out. This symbolic function of optical effects;
which occurs in twelve Impressionist films and in liD Ij()n-
is then superimposed on the couple agal'll. A fin:ll "h"t or
Impressionist films examined, is a l'lit;lllY l~llal':)l'\'l'J'i~1L.ic
the smoke dissolves back to t}le map j n the gCllgr':Jpll,V book
textural feature of Impressionism,
and V;cLr)J"S reaction, 13 oa'"t l'l' v"'!' , sky, :11l1l'!"', :111<1 his
Most idiosyncratic is the usc uf upU ":l.i dc'v i l'l'~\
love for Clara are unified in his_nl'~nlory,
, ani,
j ( }llS
' I l t l,l t y
to indieate various kinds of sUbjectivi.ty, Fulh)win['; Mit.I'y'S
is suggested by the careful use of dissolves alld SUp"'t'-
scheme, we may distinguish three sorts: pUl'01y IlIel1t:11 imaGe:s,
impositions.
semi-subjective images, and optically subjectiv~ images,
Much more common, however, is the use of optical
Of these sorts, purely mental images comprist' by fill' tlH:
devices to indicate a c h arac ter' s fan tasy or ILI,Vd! "':lIl1,
greatest number of optical devices; thirty of t.he thirty-
Typically, the entire image constl'tutes an lmaginary
. vision.
seven Impressionist films examined utilize lJptical ctcvj~cs
In ~ Femme de Nulle Part, the watching woman "sl'es"
to indicate such mental states as memory ur fantasy, In
herself (via a dissolve) as one of the lovers. In MaupI'at,
La Femme de Nulle Part, for example, the movements of tllE'
the hero's fantasy of the woman l'S ln
' d'lcoted by a super-
woman's mind from the present to the past are signaled
imposition of her face over the castle. La Roue contains
by gauzy focus shots of the flashbacks. In Le Brasier
several optically-indicated fantasy images: whet! Norma
Ardent, the wife's memory of her honeymoon is given in
imagines Hersan's riches. l'mages of wea Ith f ade in and
J

negative shots and freeze-frames. La Belle Nivernaise

surround him in the shot; after Norma is gone, Iwr name
offers an even more remarkable sequence of such optically-
materializes betw
, een t'"e d'lstraught Sisi1' and I,:! i.I'; !'L,tUl'Il-
controlled memory-images. At school, Victor opens his
ing from the wedding, Sl'Sl'f'lmaglnes
, Norma's face super-
geography book. A subjective point-of-view shot of the maps
imposed in the smoke of the locomotl've,' th B ma d SI'Il' tchman
of r'ivers dissolves to a long-shot of tilt' rivel' lll' :lnd
shouts at the fatal tral'n sl'rrllal
to and l'n a SUb,Jl'l't.
. i VI'
his foster parents lived on. Superimposed 3mok~ giv~s
iris-shot he imagines l'tS h aVlng
' a grihning fscp, More
way to a shot of Victor and Clara superimposed against
comically, in Voyage Imaginaire, a young woman visualizes
the barge. After several dissolves to c'loser views of them,
her lover's face attached to a dog'S body. Carnival des
a shot of smoke in the sky dissolves to the river, which
Verites contains severa 1 scenes of such fantasizing: a
superimposed image of a corpse expresses a woman's fear
 of what may be inside a house; a man's imagination elimi- conveying of dream-states, while Impressioldst. films tl'l1d

nates his friend from his side and sUbstitutes the WOTJI.:111
to avoid dream-situations and use mental images to jl1dh':1h'

in whom he's interested; a woman trying to decide betWl.'OIl waking states of memory and fantasy.

two men is presented in the center panel of' ~ triple' it'i:,; Consider now a shot which occurs in Epstein's

and a man smoking meditatively "sees" himself and the wom:lll Coeur Fidele. A young barmaid has just watched her lover

whom he desires in the rising smoke. leave her. A close-up of her dissolves sloWly to n ~hot

of boats dumping garbage into the sea. The foJlowing im~Ge

Using such optical devices to indicate pureLy
mental images is not unique t o I mpresslonlst
" films, but is of the flotsam saperimposed over her face. By such

certain contexts in which the devices occur ~ distin-. an optical effect, Epstein has suggested the character's

guishable. In the main, Impressionist films contain wistful resignation to her sordid life, This shot exem-

surprisingly few dream-images per se; only in Le Brasier plifies what Mitry calls the semi-subjective image, in

Ardent, Les Aventures de ·R o b er t Macalre,

. which a character is included within the frame but optical
and Voyage lma-
ginaire are there images which l'ndl'cate what a sleeping distortions and stylization suggest the character's

character is imagining, On the other hand, when llon- mood .or psychOlogical attitude, Unlike the purely mental

. Impressionist narrative films use optical devices to indi- image, the semi-subjective shot is not completely imagin-

cate mental images, it is almost always in the context ary, since the character is seen in his or her real sur-

of a dream, In Cfainquebille, the old peddler dreams that roundings; the image has an imaginary component.

he QS sentenced and J'ailed,' l'n POl'l de Carotte, the boy Seventee~ Impressionist films contain examples

dreams of his mother punishing him,' in L'Atlantide, the of optical devices used in such semi-SUbjective fashion.

delirious soldier's dream provl'des subJective

' For example, L'Inhumaine and La Glace! :!:!,ois Paces both
images; in
~, tIll' dy i lit': :lctresa is- haunt"'.-.ll b dcI11'ioll:1
. contain shots of the hero driving his car down the highway;
"y irnllfr,inillr,:'.

This is not always the case: Nana, for instance, also although the angle is from behind his back, several images

contains SOllll' waking fantasy-images. But on the whole, of moving roads are superimposed over him, thu·s signifying

non-Impressionist films reserve mental-images for the the ride's speed as he experiences it. In EI Dorado,
the heroine is seen sitting morosely among four dancehall characteristic of Impressionism are attempts tl' l'l'llder
, th
the only one In . e Shl,t
- Will"'''' imag;e phYc\iolQgically confuned or inadequate model> "(' !'\'I'\'\'pti,)n
Sirlgers, but she is
when her turn comes to d~Il\"", 1\,"'1' by optical devices, this occurs in eleven Impressionist
is gauzilY blurred;
uggesting thot hc;l' lIIoGd has films examined. In ~' Argent, for example, wlwn .J:1CClIH'S
comes into sharp focus, S
a close-up of Norma stBl'in[; LL'arfully realizes that he has gone blind, he stares at his hand,
changed. In La ~,
n Elie is reinfoI'ceJ by beil1f.'.~ and a SUbjective close-up shows it blurring from 11is view-
down the abyss at the falle
it Divers, the rapid supeJ'iIllPosition~ point. La Roue contains many instances: the ha If-blinded
in soft-focus. In f.a
nd machinery over the lovers' meetings Sisif sees multiple superimpositions of trains passing;
of city landscapes a
. 1'1" On the whole when he gets spectacles, SUbjective close-ups show 8 glass
suggests the frenetic pace of thelr a all'.
. t' 1 devices is of wine and his pipe from his now-focused vantage point;
then, almost the entire repertory of op lca
of characters' later, as his sight fails again, SUbjective shots show
used to render certain images expressive
S h semi-subjective his blurred vision of the distant mountains. Terror ren-
psychological or emotional states. uc
., only two non-Impres- ders a witness confused in LeDiable dans la Ville, and he
use of optical devices occurs 1n
'dered (in the less abstract sc"ctiol1s sees the crowd in triple-exposed and distorted images.
sionist films cons1
of Disque 927 and ~ et Variations), so tl1is use ,'1' In LI Auberge Rouge, a weeping thief sees the magis t.l'J te
, hl'ghly characteristic of Impressi onst as a blurry shape. Such optically subjective di.st"l'tions
optical devices lS
occur in only one non-Impressionist film, making them
film style.
The final kind of subjectivity conveyed by optical highly characteristic of Impressionist style.
. combl'nation with subjective To summarize: apart from conventional uses of opti-
devices is achieved by thelr
eate optically SUbjective cal devices, Impressionist films contain several charac-
camera angles (see above) to cr
images. A simple (and cliche) example occurs in Fe~ functions of such devices. First. optical work
p
keeper looks through a keyhol simply stylize an image, bringing out pictorial
Mathias Pascal: when a house
a vertically elliptical mask suggests the keyhole's shape. ities. Second, optical images may function as comment,
'n many non-Impressionist films, e.g. "'''~H:,ning symbolic meanings. Both of these functions,
(This effect occurs l
'Enfant de Paris and Na!2.§:')
the binocular masks 0 l' L
 we should note, are congruent with the desire of Impres-
sionist film theory to indicate the creative artist's
expressive transformation of nature. F'inally, optj\~:11
devices may indicate sUbjective states via purely m\~nta]
images, semi-subjective images, or optically subjective
images. Thus Impressionist optical techniqu,cs :11 ,~,) I"~I)I'\'_
sent dreams or fantasies, iriterpret a charactel"s mooel,
or indicate physiological. states like blindness, dr\mken-
ness, or delir'ium. As L'Herbier writes amusingly in the
program of the premiere of his Rose France:
Un 'cache' n'est jamais fait pour cae her qUt.'lque c!J,lSe'
par son rythme, son dessein, son ombre, il est tout '
Ie cachet d'une psychologie .... Pour deux fiances
qui s'etreignent dans un paysage, plus leurs baisers
sont fous, plus Ie decor est flou ... 11
Editing
The previous sections have described certain typi-
cal textural features of the individual image ill ImpressiO!l-
ist film style. This section will describe some typical
textural features of the relations among images in Impres-
~ionist film style: i.e., editing patterns, The typology
I propose to use is a mOdification of that advanced by
Noe] BUI'cll, 1;' Putting aside purely graphic relations,
editing relations between one shot and another rest upon
two parameter's: the content of the shots (temporal relations
and spatial relations) and the comparative lengths of th0
shots (rhythmic relations). An examination of Impr't'sslon-
ist editing style reveals that, like ImpressionL;t. image
style, it is characterized by sUbjectivit.y: tIll' t illlt',
space, and rhythm of the relations among shots tend t.o
• • n.
t st.81 mind.
exprO:lS a eharactcr' El opti.cal V:U~WP01 01' <' \)f
Temporal Relations Between Shots
The possible variations in this parameter include
continuous chronological relations (AlBIC), reverse temporal
rela tions or flashbacks (C/BI A), extended temporal re la-
tions or repeats (A/A/A), compressed chronological rela-
tions (A/C) or ellipsis, and atemporal relations (e.g.,
fantasy). As Burch points out, continuous chronological
relaiions and compressed chronological relations ar~
predominant in cinema, and they are also pl'edorninant in
Impressionist editing. But Impressionist style makes
unusually extensive use of two other temporal possibili-
ties of editing: that of flashbacks and that of fantasy.
As the section on memory images has sUGgested,
flashbacks are frequent in Impressionist films, occasional-
ly comprising almost the entire narorative (La F"'IIl!E~ 0:.=.
Nulle Part, Six et Demi-Onze, La glace ~ Trois ~~ces).
- - - --- - - -
.
Also frequent (present in ten f~lms ) are b r ief
- flashbacks
 . I sh)t) that tempoI'arUy IJreak t.lw ehl'l l lh ' - cards--subjectivity at another remove, by n11':1II'; ell' tlw
(often only a Slng e c '
r nv,u' 1<I b I y, l; u" h [' Illll-nw ke r" s metaphor for a charac tero' s C"t'l i III':",
logical sequence of the previous shots.
ed as a cha1':1et,~r' s menll)I'i"l;. 111 Although editing that stresses flashb:l,:k" and
flashbacks are present
' l l t,lle present
La Femme de Nulle ~, a shot of the womnn I fantasy is quite typical of Impressionist style, neither
------ affair is followed by a "Ill'\.
recalling her youthful love is distinctive: several non-Impressionist nal'l'aLive' films
. h t In Le Br~lsh'r Ardent, examined utilize either type of temporal r('l:1Li,)n~ (es~w­
of her and her lover In t e pas .
. a series of '1 1t1 ,·\, cially flashbacks in L' Atlantide and fantasy ill N3n~).
when the wife first meets the detectlve,
. dl' Sgul' ses represents he:l' memory Nonetheless, such editing patterns contril1LILl' tOI>J:ll'd maid
shots of him in varlOUS
Most extreme are Impressionist temporal editing "SUbjective" ill Mitry'~
of him in various roles in her dreams.

the very short flashbacks in La ~ ~ --

Trois Paces that
her fickle lover.
first,sense--i.e .• expressing purely mental images.

accompany the story a woman tells about

Spatial Relations Between Shots
fantasy obviously
Atemporal relations expressing
partake of the same subjective emphasis as the flashback A sequence of shots may deal with one homogeneous
• t 1 frenuency (in ten films). block of space or several heterogenous blocks of space.
and occur with abou equa ~
is to cut from a shot of a As Burch points out, the standard cinematic practice in
Again, the editing pattern
. or her imagillm'y visions. the first case is to show the entire block of space in
character to a shot expressing hls
t of Je3n e;rievinf, OV,'l' \li:, one shot and then to allow successive shot~ L0 break up
For example, in J'Accuse a sho
'S followed by a shot t)f a plwntl)11l l'!l'IIl,\l1 the space into significant details. This is 111,' dl'lIli-
m9 ther 's death l
of one of Jean's paintinf,s. nant procedure in Impressionist film style as well.
in black crossing the landscape
'calous llUSl)and, lIIu:dllt;; 011 11i~; Occasionally, however, the spatial whole will nut be
In Le Brasier Ardent, tile J
. SUl'tors divine; to rescue the decomposed by the succession of Shots but ra~her composed,
flirtatious wife imaglnes
Still more abstract is the cut from built up, by them. This means that several shots of spa-
woman's fallen fan.
'n La Dixieme Symphonie to a shot of tial parts will indicate a spatial whole instead of that
the anxious composer l - -
d S etting up a house of whole being indicated in one shot. For example,
hands against a neutral backgroun
 in La ~ de NUllePart, when the old woman on the house
.
the subsequent dramatic actlon. Such an editing pattern,
steps watches the young lovers in the garden, the spati~l
'1 (occuring ill only
...· hile fairly rar e in Impressionist fl ms
whole is never given to us in one frame; inste~d, St~pnr3t.('
. no non-Impression1s. t . t'iJ m c: xami lwd .
five films), occurs 1n
shots of the watcher and the watched build up n sense of
Far more central to the editing of spatia1 ro1a-
spatial homogeneity. Similarly, in Six et Demi-On::,~~,
tions in Impressionist films is a specific pattern of cut-
the lovers are not seen in the same frame as the trees
ting within a spatial whole which follows a character's
they watcll; l'ather, the cutting is back and fort.h fl'olll
act of looking at something. The typical sequen~e is
the couple on the' grass to the treetops. Considerably
this:
more elliptical is the occasional pattern of beginninG a
t looking offscreen.
1. Shot of charac er 1 ked at seen from
scene on an extreme detail and delaying the revelation 2. Shot of object.or pefr~~~W 00 ,
character's pOln t ~o - . .
of the entire space. One scene in Six ~ Demi-Onze begins 3. Shot. as 1 of character reactlng.
with a head-on close-up of a man. followed by a medium- Film students Wl'11 recognize this as S imilar to the famous

shot of an old woman clasping her hands worriedly and then "Kuleshov effect," so-called because of the Russian film-
\ y" (al thou[jh
a close-up-of glasses and a plate sitting untouched; only maker's experiments with "creative geograp'
then does there come a long-shot of the man sittinG :]\; accounts do not specify if shot 2 was a point-of-view
the table refusing to eat while the old woman and :1 butler' shot in his tes ts) . This editing pat t.er·n is important for
look on. More extreme is the fragmented buildup in loll,,' French Impressionism in several respects. First, the pat-
very opening of Coeur Fidele: .
tern is pervaslve,. n 0 fewer than thirty-two out of thirty-

1. (c u) Woman's hand wiping bar cle:ln. . .lns tances of it . Second,

. t fl'lms contaln
five Impressionls
2. (eu) Woman's eyes watching.
3. (eu) h f'fteen non-
Bottles and goldfish bow] on silt'l t'. the pattern is very distinctive; out of t e l
4. (e u) Woman's face.
s. ee contain instances
( rli,; ) Woman pour'ing n d l'i nl, , Impressionist films examined, only thr
l>. ( I" ) Woman pouring at lla ['.
of it. Third, the pattern includes another characteristic
Again, the homogeneous space of the shot has been construct-
. t film style: the optically ~ubjec-
element of Impressionls
ed out or slf;niricant details that will pr'ove important in e case of flash-
tive point-of-view shot. Finally, as in th
back and fantasy editing
 190 .I q 1

Frequently, as one would expel'.t" . j

WllllOW~; ~)I'c' 11:',c'.j ill thL;
patterns, this pattern carries SUbjectivity to th~ level
glance/object editing patter'n.
of' inter-shot relations, again making 0ubjl!Ctivity :J t,'x-
Pascal v lews an oxcart going by out~d de alld 1:11 ,'I' lle'
tural quality not only of simultaneous parts (e.tj., CameI'll
looks through venetian blinds l'nto .".. gardl'l1.
style, mise-en-sc~ne, optical devices) but also of sucaes-
::lans la Ville, shots of Mar'c 10()k1'rlg a It t'I'n,l t c' IV i t,il V.1 l'W-
sive parts. In short, this pattern, which I shall call
point shots through the window frame. More stl'iktng stjl]
-glance/object editing, is a major trait of Impressionist
in La Roue is the scene a f S'1Slf
, watahing N,))'JlI:l ,)jJ the swinf,:
film style.
swiftly alternated close-ups of him watl'hlIJ[r, t hl','Jlgll \ Iw
Instances of glance/object editing run from the
window and of her swinging legs fr'om Ill''''
v V ll..:-'\\)}""~ l,i l t l'l)llVt:'Y
very simple to the quite complex. Most basically, thls edit-
his falling prey to her attractiveness. In ~1:tUP1':1l" Carni"'-
ing pattern permits inanimate objects to be integrated
val des Veri ties, Aventures de Robert Macail'e :11hl "t ilc'I'
into the d,rama: the act of looking endows objects with dl'ull1a-
films, windows playa similar revelatory 1'010,
tic significance. In L'Auberge Rouge, the roaming eye of
Logically, sometimes the glance/object editing
the sheriff looks down to our left, and there follow two
pattern incorporates a mov1ng-camera
' shot as it.s optical
short shots of a man's muddy boot and pistols on a nearby
point-of-view shot. For instance, in La -
Chut."
bench before another cut brings back the shot of the watch- - - dt' la Mai-
-- - - -

~ Usher, shots of an old man lookine; back dovi11 :) ,',l),1'i-

ing sheriff. In El Dorado, we see Sybella's eyes in close-
dol' as he exits are intercut with fasl low-angl0 tl'acking
up, then a close-up of candles from her point-of-view,
shots following leaves blowl'ng toward the ,ioor. III
then another close-up of her eyes. In La ~' the depar-
.;.....::.:.:.::..:::.:.:.=, a medium shot of the boy's roaming e;:l,~" is
ture of Sisif's train is given in alternating glance/
lowed by a panning point-of-view shot which ]'0 I Il1WS hI:;
object shots from his viewpoint. L'Inondation goes some-
similar shots occur in Le Diable dans 10 ~2':?
what further and supplies a continuous play of glances:
Les Aventures de ~obert Macaire. Likewj se, Hel'lliH'd' s
in a close-up, the heroine looks off to the right; there
from the castle in Maupra t '1S rendered in alternating
follows a viewpoint shot of a broom and stool, she looks to
of the onrushing grass and trees seen from his
the left, and there follows a viewpoint shot of the fire.
 •V..L<::WjJU.LflG ana Shots of his face. The instances of the
,cc;;Jolexity of the glance/ ooj ect pa t t ern .. i n t 11 e :, e seq U t' ll,~ l' ~~ ,

moving camera referred to in the previous section llrf':'l'

such. editing conveys an entire psychological attitud(' in
further examples of glance/object editing in r':dation t.o
an economical fashion. In La Petite Mal'l~hande d'i\llumet.tl's,
sUbjective camera movement.
the starving match ~irl looks into the, wi nd(Jw llt' :1 I'l'stall-
Such an editing pattern is used in a more Cllll1pl,'x
rant:
fashion in many Impressionist films. Apart fr'on! its fUIIC-
1. (mls) Girl's back as she peers into [r('s tt'd window
tion in rhythmic montage sequences (to be discussed below), of restaurant.
2. (mcu) Hand wiping window and her point-Dr-view:
such complex editing operates in several ways. For one blurred figure. . ':l
3. (cu) Her face through frost, seen from ll1S11 e,
~~~~~~~~
thing, the glance/object pattern may be applied to two or
4. (ms) out of focus at edges: man and wom311
more different viewpoints simultaneously. For example, welcomed by waitress.
5. (cu) Her face, as 3. She rubs nose and peers.
in Coeur Fidi'!le, the barmaid looks through the tavern 6. (ms) Waitresses, vignetted, as 4.
7. (mls) Her back, as 1.
window. There follows her point-of-view on the advancing
Similarly, in Feu .
Math~as Pascal, Pascal stands outside
man. This shot then becomes the basis for moving to his
the window of the house where his mother is dying:
point-of-view on her, seen hazily through the window.
1. (ms) Pascal looks. . It b
As he advances to her, head-on subjective shots alternate: 2. (ms) Through window: mother, prlest, 3 3 1 ' ~y.
3. (ms) Pascal, as 1, moving so that patt~rn 0
each sees the' other from his or her viewpoint. Another lace curtains falls on face.
4. (lTls) Servant goes to windOW and starts tLI shut
instance of a shared Point-of-view occurs in b.Q. Belle it; as 2. .
5. (ms) Pascal, as 1, move.s lnto shadows.
Nivernaise. On the barge, Victor and Clare look out, 6. (ms) As 2; window shutters close., side light.
7. (cu) Pascal, staring in horror. :::>trollg
smiling, at the water; there follow point~of-view shots of
t .
In both sequences, powerful emO;lons ,are exp~f'~esBed thr(Jugll
waves, sliding patterns of light, and the prow of the ship;
the economical means 0 f sl'mply alternating optical view-
then we roturil to the initial shot of thE) sllIilinl': 1,)v('I':~:
point ~5hoL~o .
and reaction shots', no words und VI'I'.'! ['f'W

their shared peace has been suggested by the lyrical shots

Gestures are necessary.
of what thl'y ill't' both watching.
. glance/object editing pattern
Moreover, the b aBlc_
Two final examples illustrate the possible . . to
may be modified by th e use of various optlcal deVlces
"subjectivize" the poini;-of-vipw.ev\'n \'U['tll,')', ~;u,'I\
editing frequently b
device~; have been discu:;::;\:,d al>uvt! (pl" 111- 11(,\), :llld l'I','vid,' eComes of structlll"ol. .
" S 1[':11 ii' i ,'Ill"','

:,ti 11 more examples of' the glance/objl'eL l'~\tt\'I'I\,

as well, par·t:icularly in nalTatives
- ] i k,' J~i:! l~'~ 0:..:
NUlle Par't n n r:J r'.:J CUF.lce i1 '['ro j s
Both editing tu build uIJ ::;patLiJ. CUlllp'''; i \. i \III 1111<1 .- -- ~.,. . . . . . . , 'H,"._~

actions in one
glance/object editinc are characteri0Li,'l[11pr'L'2,~,i'H1i~;j. locale in the present wiLlI 1\,'ti"I'c; i l l
another locale in the
methods of dealing \-lith a homogeneous blocl, 01' ;;I':le,', past. Although 1)")"1[1'1 j"
... r- ,.. ... l l'\ I t lIlt': i~
not unique to Impressionism
Impressionist film style also has resources fur d,':l J i 11[; (L1Atlantide, ~~, ~2..:~i.!.!-
quebille, Poil de Car t
with the editing of two distinct spatial \-Il1o}es. 'J'ypi":l] ly -- - -~, and Un Chapeau d co r '
-222,1,' ~_
called "parallel action" or "crosscuttin~," \IIi:; Ill\"'I'~I:I-
..u.::
all contain instances f '
0 1 t, as do, ill :.1 ;""1;;,', '''c'ver::)l
abstract films), it does
tion of shots of two or more actions in diffel'l'lH· :3l':ltial remain a characteristic textural
feature of the style.
wholes is characteristic of Impressionism.

contains several examples: Elie's violin premiep0 is rruss-

Rhythmic Relations Between Shots
cut with Sisif's being examined and fitted for spectacles;

during a mountain storm, Sisif at the window is CI'ossCUt The final parameter of
editing to be eX:lIliined is
that of the duration of each
with lightning and hazy landscapes; Elie dangling from a shot in an edited C"'llstj'UC-
tion. Th'
rock is crosscut with Sisif's efforts to find and l'c:'f;cue 1S may be viewed either in tel'ms
of WiLl t [~i S c'l1-
him. La Brasier Ardent contains a long sequence of the- stein called the "absolute lengths
of the p'iec<:'s" 1 ') or
in terms of the t'
matically significant parallel action, inter'cutt Lng tlh' 1me each shot lasts all "'1'
v
.
~ I.' I'! 'l '11 {L. ,

wife and her husband with, respectively, the det,','t i Vt'

shall follow standard procedure '
in using the t'l'allle :IS \',110
and his grandmother: while the husband eornforts \.11\' wit'c', unit of measure of shot-length.'
the number or f)'am,':,
the grandmother bandages the detect,ive'~, "Luotll:\(,I),'''; shot will, accordin~ly, f
<:> 0 flo'l' :1 way 'If
- , l'
j t "1'111 I" II I 11[':

While the husband dozes in the foreground and th" wife relations between shots.
(Although histori ilrlS
disagree on the p . t'
sleeps on the sofa,. the grandmother sits in the rOJec 10n speed of silel1\; films,
frames pe
while the detective paces in the rear. Such parallel r seCond seems to have been at least
ly stabilized in France by 1921. 13 )
 the sleeper's jewel. In the first shot, which is over
Quick rhythmic editing iti Olll' or trw m(lsi, dil~t.in,·l
:liQ hundred frames long, he sits on the edge of liis ['t'J
textural features of French Impressionist fi Imt:. WII,'I','::"
::eciding what to do while a storm rages outside. rrheT'e
no non-Impressionist narrative film eXCllTlith'ci mal,,'t: us,'
follows this sequence:
of such editing, many Impressionist works utILi:",,' p:lt.t.t-'J'I'::
1. (cu) Rain pattering in puddle. 16 fro
built of several short shots. Usually, such 0diting is 2. (ms Wind tossing branches. n fl'.
3. 113 Rain splattering mud. 16 ['r.
in accord with the sUbjectivity characteristic uf other 4. cu Tossing branches. 14 fr.
5. ms The young man sitting. b'i fl'.
features of Impre:;;sionist style, though it is nL) lonf,c'j' 6. cu Rain on windowsill. 10 fl'.
7. ms Wind tossing branches. lr:; fl' .
a matter of optical subjectivity but rather of affective 8. cu Jewel. lU fl' .
9. cu Rain on walls. 13 fl'.
sUbjectivity; the editing suggests the pace of t11t' exp,'l'- 10. cu Tossing blossoms. II) fl'.
11. cu Glittering jewels. "'i6 fl'.
ience as a character "feels" it. Usually this is pj'0SC'l1h',i 12. Os Spattering rain. 16 fl'.
13. (cu) Tossing blossoms. 16 fl'.
by an acce.1er8ted cutting rate: shots get steadily ;:;1)('l'\<':' 14. (cu) Glittering jewels. 24 fl'.
15. (ms) Young man sitting. 44 fl'.
and shorter in some fixed pattern of alternation, creatinG 16. (113) Rain outside. 15 fl'.
17. (cu) Jewels. 24 fl'.
a measured, quickening tempo. 18. (ms) Young man sitting. 21 fl'.
19. (ms) Wind tossing blossoms. 8 fl'.
The conveyance of psychological or physiological 20. (cu) Hands opening satchel. 6 fl'.
21. (ms) Young man sitting. 6 fl'.
states by l'llyLhrnic editing emerges most clearly In scenes 22. (cu) Hand taking out jewel. 13 fl'.
23. (ms) Young man sitting. 6 fI' .
of affective stress. In L'Inhumaine, for instance, Claire'~ 24. (cu) Hand taking out jewel. 6 fl'.
25. (ms) Young man sitting. 5 fl'.
confronting of Einar's corpse in his laboratory is shown 26. (cu) Hand taking out jewel. 5 fl'.
27. (ms) Young man sitting. 6 fl'.
in 'quick rhythmic close-ups of the record on the phonogra~'h. 28. (ms) Young man sitting. 13 fl'.
the corpse's face, and her face; later in the salTle film, The last shot of the sequence is identical with the fiI'<;t:
short shots of her performance of a song alternatlnr; ",'fer two hundred frames long, it shows tht' young man :::;ittillt;
wit.h t,h,)\.t' "~I' :.l clock pendulum indieate her excitl'lTlcnt.. anxiously on the edge of his bed. Throughout the entire
In L' Auberge Rouge, tension is conveyed by even more aC'~l'll­ $equence, the turmoil in the young man's mind is expressed
tuated accelerated editing. A young man is tempted to ~1 the rhythm of the editing: first, fairly lengthy shots
rob his sleeping companion and imagines himself stealing ~r him sitting (nos. 1, 6, 16,) are interrupted by
 199

- t of the (symbolic) stol'm; 1.11"11 a ver'y short shot of a cannon firinr;, and thel',' 1\,11"\",,
progressively shorter sho s
. th gem replaces \,hl" st,)rlll ~lrld nl" ~ shot or the fleeing as a shell exp·lodt:~s~ tht' t'tl~;lljt)t~
the fantasy of steal~ng e
no. 25) get evc'n SI101'\,<>r cattle scene is composed of similarly S!J01't sllllls.
interpolated shots (except for In
.
az the temptIng t
f' an-asy builds to Q climax.
An even faster sequence occurs in Vis;)(~,'~; ~En- a precipice is rendered in very quickly-cut closc-ur s ,
os standing by !Jis mother's
In the first shot, a boy ~ "hile several fight scenes in Coeur Fidele a 1'," ~ll'es"ntc'd
grave as her coffin is lowered. There follows this serie::i in sequences of short shots of fists, eyes, blood, and

of shots: ":;,,ashed obj ects.

1. (ls) Boy by grave. :3 fl'. The rhythm of Impressionist editing tends not
2. (ms) Head-on, boy. . ') fl'.
3. (ms) High angle: coff~n. d 5 fl'. only to suggest characters' experience of physi'-~(11 violel1<:c-,
4. (ms) High angle: cross's shadow on roO. . 8 1'1'.
5. Quick pan. . 3 fl'. also their experience of great speed. In L'Aubc-rge
6. (ls) Head-on: backs of.2 mehnocS·arpro~nlnt~Of
coffin in processlon, ~ ~ for example, a scene of galloping horses l'id ing
view. 3 fl'.
7 . Blurre d shot of coffin. hill with moun- 4 fl'. the inn is rendered in Short, blurring shots; each frame
8. (mls)Top of pine tree on
tains and sky. . fl'. empty before the horses plunge quickly intoi L al1d c)Llt,
9· Coffin, slanted opposite D~ 3 (h~gh angle). 3 fl'.
3
10. (ms) Cross silhouetted agalnst sky. 4 fl'. ing a pulsating, stroboscopic effect:
ll. (ms) Coffin, as 3.
12. (ls) Top of tree against sky.
2 fl'.
3 fl'. 1. (mcu) Horses' flanks blurring past. . 37 fl'.
13. (mls)Bells in bell tower. at funeral. :2 fl'. 2. (cu) Hooves splashing into mud. 11 11 Cr.
14. (ms) Blurred shot of two men ~) fl'.
3. (mls) Low angle: riders' shadows move
15· (mls)Bells, as 13. against sky.
4. (Is) Inside inn f s tavern.
3', fl'.
of dozzying shock are again ~x- 160 fl'.
.
The character's feellng s ~ ') . (mls) Low angle: riders against sky.
38 fl'.
'-'. (Is) Inside tavern. 1')8 fT'.
short shots that build to a t' • (ml s ) Riders against sky.
pressed by a series of very fl' .

climax. overall increase in shortness of the riding :;il()ts

• J -I 0 '
Such editing to convey psycholog~ca - Sl ~
of extreme physical
stress is especially common in scenes
1 tend to be cut
action. Violent scenes, for examp e,
iers' rest is interrupted
quickly. In J'Accuse, the sold
k l) l'
~, 3, 5, 7) combines with the virtually constant
of the inn shots (4, 6) to suggest the building speed
the riders~
More common is the use of rapid machinery
to provide rhythmic material. L' Argent contai ns St'vera 1 Landscape whizzes by. 13 fl'.
53.
54. Train, head-on. 6 fl'.
quickly-paced montage sequences of stock exchange activity. Sis if st.ares. r:; 1'1' '.
55.
56. Train, head-on. 7 fl'.
built around telephone switchboard::>, typewriters, prinUnt; Sisif turns right. () fr.
57.
58. Train, head-on. G fl'.
presses, and mail-sorting machines. In La Roue, a loco- Sisif, staring right. ~l fl'.
59· c) f'r.
60. Train, head-on.
motive provides occasion for several sequences of marked 6l. Sisif, staring. 11 fr' .
62. Train, head-on. lj fl'.
rhythmic editing. The 79-shot sequence of the "Death of 63. Sisif, staring. 'S fl'.
64. Train, head-on. S fl'.
Norma Compound" is a celebrated. example. The despairing, Sasif, staring. -:, fl'.
65.
66. Train, head-on. i fl'.
half-blind engineer Sisif ciimbs into the cab of his formpr Landscapes whiz by. .l;} fr.
67.
68. Cab's point-of-view: approaching logs. 28 fl'.
locomotive and proceeds to start it down the tracks. As 69. (Is) Train smashes into logs. 18 fl'.
70. Dark, blank, smoky shot. ' fl'.
the speed of the train builds, so does the pact? of the: Train smoking at logs. l7 fl'.
7l.
72. (mcu) Sisif tottering in wreckage. 96 fl'.
editing. First, somewhat lengthy shots of thtO' entirt> tl',1in
The dynamic impression of speed is created by the accelerat-
(e.g., nos. 15,17,20) and the track (nos. 33,36)
ed cutting; the progressively shorter shots represent
are interspl'l'scd with quite short shots of Sisif in tIlt'
Sisif's experience of the hurtling locomotive and the
cab (nos. Ib, 28, 30, 35) and parts of the train (e.g.,
nos. 2':" ,''(, ", I, 3 1j). It is wi th Gh,)t number J'(--a hcad-
crash.
rfhe rhythmic possibilities of macllintOs :11::"0
on tracking shot of the train (24 1'1'.) that the tempo of
explain the recurrence of fairs and amusement pad,s in
the scene accelerates even more and the character's sub-
Impressionist films. Consider, for example, th0 1'ail'€",l'Hc1und
jec~ive impression of speed becomes even stronger. In
sequence of Coeur FidiHe. which is cdl ted to 8. v ilJ.l'ant
two series of shots (e.g., 40-41-42-43, 45-46-47), Sisif'~
rhythm which suggests the giddiness felt by th0 younG
glances al'e ['utlowed by shot~> of trw l;lmh,capc t'uu!,;h] Y
woman riding with the bully:
from his optical view-point. What follows is a Cl'l~scl'nJ'.)
l. Boyfriend walking away from camera down 148 fl'.
of fast cutting as the train reaches top spl'ed utld sma::;hes road.
2. (Is) Fade-in from white: carnival, seen 21 fl'.
into logs piled across the track: from above.
3. (ms) Woman sitting on bench. 4 fl'.
4. (ms) Calliope turning to left. 4 fl'.
 :~ u:'
?D3

.~ 1'1'. of eleven shots repeats eactl aspect of the 1':1 i I' ~,lh1\vll
5. (eu) Piano 1'011. II ['I'.
6. (ms) Child with balloons. II fl'. in tile ear-lier' br'ief Shots, but in difft'1't)nl (1)'d,'I' :\1ld Ivit:h
7. (ls) Crowd from above. Ii fro
B. Car on ride whirling past, confetti. LI 1'1'. each shot only half as long (two frames). Th,' vie:')T'ously
9. (cu) Dr'urn. II fr.
10. (ms) Merry-go-round, left to right. II fl'. metric beat of the sequence is all the more remarkable
11. (cu) Horse's head, left to right. LI 1'1'.
12. (ms) Four people on merry-go-rouIH"j. in that, unlike most such editing (cf. La Rout') , tht're
13. (ms) Couple on ride; he kisses her neck, 69 fro
• throws more confetti. is fr. is not a steady acceleration: the sequence: begins fas\.
14. (cu) Bully shouting, eyes closed. 12 fro
15. (cu) Woman. 2 1'1'. and abruptly dOUbles speed, sacrificing clarity or image-
16. Spaghetti pot. 2 fl'.
17. Piano roll on calliope. ;:' fro. content for expressiveness in Gllgge~ting t.llt' I~i.ld illl";~;
18. (ls) High angle: fairground. 2 fl'.
19. (ms) People on merry-go-round. 21'1'. felt by the young woman.
20. (ms) Low angle: boats swinging. 2 1'1'.
21- (cu) Merry-go-round horse. :: fl'. Another motivation for speed and rhytilm in Imp1'C's-
22. Drum, as 9. :: fro
23. Child with balloons, as 6. 2 fro sionist editing is the tempo of sound or music. A dance
24. (ls) Crowd. 2 fl'.
25. (ms) Statue of angel on calliope. :: fr'. is frequently a pretext for rhythmic cutting: the village>
26. (ls) Merry-go-round. 4 fl'.
27. (cu) Woman, as 15. 4 fro dance at the beginning of J'Accuse, the dance at the end
28. (cu) Bully, as 14. 4 fro
29. (ms) Couple in car, whirling. ~) 0 fr'. of La Roue, the mad cabaret dance whic!l becomes more and
30. (ms) Rotating calliope, moving right to
left . 14;) fl'. more frenzied in La Brazier Ardent, the village d:1nCt' in
31. (cu) Cookie in shape of pig, hand deco-
rating it with word, "L'Arnour." L'Inondation, and the bouncy modern danct' in ::;ix ~ D0mi-
The extended first shot of the forlorn boyfriend sets off
~ are all examples of attempts to suggest a l'ily t llmic
the rapid pace of the fairground sequence, introduced by sensation of kinesis by means of cutting. In I.e Diable
a long shot of the fair that is only 21 frames long. ~ la Ville, the ringing of a churchbell sets the tempo
Th~re follow ten quick shots (all but one of them four Cor' rhythmic editing. While the village miser' !,lc)!\S ,'lit
of various aspects of the fair:. an old womall,
frames long) on the quiet town, the churchbell begins mysteri0l1s1y t.o

a calliope, a drum, and the merry-go-round. Only after Call, and its sudden interruptions of various plluses of
this very abrupt exposition is there a fairly lengthy village life are given in several rhythmically equal shots
shot of the bully and young woman on the ride; this is of the ringing bell:
followed by a short close-up of each one. Then a "reprise"
 1. (ms) Bell hanging--no swing. 11 1'1'.
2. (ms) Hand pUlling rope. ;,(, fl'. 22. (cu) Light on waves, as 18. (, f'l'. C' ,
3. (ms) Bell swinging--to and from us. 14 fl'. . Is)
2'l) Trees against sky, as ~O. 8 fr. 0'
As 1. 24. Is) Wat'er, clear sky, and wind. ~'4 fl'. F
4. (ms) Miser goes to window. 73 fl'. 25. cu) Hand strumming, as 6. 7 fl'. A'
5. (ms) Bell swinging-to and from us. 12 fro 26. cu) Waves, as 14. 7 fr'. C'
As 1. 27. Os) Water, as 24. G fl'. F'
6. Os) Street empty. ') r.: fro
L) 28. Os) Sky, horizon dark. lili fl'. n
7. (ms) Bell swinging--l/2 swing, from 12 1'1; .
us. As 1. Apart from the specific content of the interspe1'sed SllOtS--
8. Os) People come out with lanterns 93 fp.
to street. which makes them not only atmospherically cvol~at.ivt~ but
A similar"but shorter sequence in Le Carnival dramatically and thematically significant in the film
des Verites crosscuts a tolling bell with the young man as a whole--the pattern of the editing follows a strict
who hears it. tempo, breaking the shots into sets. We see sets of

A final example from La Chute de la Maison Ushel' three shots of roughly uniform length which ar0 r0110w~d

will illustrate the potential formal complexity of rhythmic by a single, lengthier shot. Here are the sets and the
editing in Impressionist films. Usher is playing the respective lengths of the shots:
guitar and walking as he sings. These shots follow: 1. Shots 2-5 (33-36 fl'. each). ABAC
2. Shots 6-8 (17 fl'. each) . A'CD
2. (ms) Guitar as Usher strums. 35 fro A 3. Shots 9-11 (7-8 fl'. each) . A'CD
3. (l ,,) Mi"t over marsh and wind. -,,11 f'r' . f', 4. Shot 12 (23 1'1'.). E
4. ms) Guitar, as 2.
,-J. Shots 1)-15 (7-8 fl'. each) .
3() 1'1' . A AIC'E
5. Is Sea waves under wind. 33 fl'. C 6. Shot 16 (23 1'1'.). E'
6. cu ll:.lnd strumming. 17 1'1'. A' 7. Shots 1r-19 (5-8 fl'. each) . A'C"E'
7. Is Waves, as 5. 17 fl'. C 8. Shot 20 (24 1'1'.). D'
8. Is Trees, silhouetted gauzily. 17 fl'. D 9. Shots 21-23 (5-8 fl'. each). A'e"D'
,9. cu Hand strumming, as 6. 8 fl'. A' 10. Shot 24 (2 11 1'1',). F
10. Is \'~~l VL'S, as 5. 8 1'1' . C 11, Shots 25-27 (6-7 fl'. each). j\'C'P
11. Is) rrrees, as 8. "( fl'. [, 12. Shot 28 ( 46 1'1'.). G
12. ( 1 s ) flr'8nches, sky, water, all r,ilUZY. ;, 3 fl' . l':
13. ( C \I ) 11:llld strurruning, as (, . 'f 1'1'. A' rrhu,; the, r;0qucnce begins with three suceesi5ivI·ly ;;hort,r'r
1 11. c' 11 ) \v ~l V l" S • 'f 1'1' • C'
15. Is Bl'3nches, as 12. e fl'. [~: sets of shot;; (sets 1, 2, and 3), then continues with ~
16. Is Ivater, tree, both gauzy. 23 fr. E'
17. cu Hand strumming, as 6. 8 fro A' pattern of yet shorter sets (sets 5, 7, 9, and 11), inter-
18. cu light on water and waves. 8 fro C' ,
19. (ls) Water and tree, as 16. 5 fl'. E' rupted by single shots (sets 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12), all of
20. (ls) '1'1'ees against sky, gauzy. 2 11 fro D'
21. (cu) Hand strumming, as 6. 5 fl'. A' the latter being of almost exactly equal length, except
for the concluding set 12 (shot 28) which is almost exactly
 ?o6 207

In general, rhythmic editing is a freqllt'llt sty 1is-

Lvii,,': Lh" 1 cnr~t;h of the others, Furth8rm<)re, it' <'Ill' )l\)t.8~'
Li" d<·v i C<' in IlIIpl'('uu.iull,i uL l'i llltCl ( "" I d, ,I i 11<' <! itt I Iv <'Illy
the general content of the shots and marks eu\.'h vi,~;u<\l
films examined), No non-Impressionist narrative t'ilm
wJtir i.1:cl on,: would marK a musical motif (notinl': Val'i~111ts
1I~;\':; I'JlyLlllllic <,<!jLjnrj, I\lLI
. 1 0 u g II :,3<~ v l' 1':11 I1tl ,; I I'; t .' I [' i I III ,)
of each motif with a ' or " marking), the p,lttern uf the
utilize rhythmic editing, i t is significant t'.)wt'.
sequence becomes even clearer, Set 3 is 3 "repeat" l.1f
editing is there used to convey a "pure" rhythm, 11clt to
set 2, in a quicker tempo. Then each successive three-
express a character's emotlonal
' or physiologl'.0,~,l
~. experience.
same basic motifs
shot set begins with some variant of the
To summarize: Impressionist editins tt\,ili:-'L'S
but ends wit, h t,he
A and C (i.e. , the Cuitar and the waves) characteristic strategies for handlin~
u templ)['I1.l, ::;~'~lt.ial,
s i ngl<:' shot,
motif that dominated the previous lengtt1Y and rhythmic relations between shots. Apart t'rc'm C\.'l1vel1-
dominated set ~ (shot
Thus set 5 ends with the motif that tional me th 0 d s of indicating temporal relations between
12) ; set 7 ends with the motif that
dominated set 6 ( sh0t
shots, Impressionst editing frequent 1 y suggests memory
16) ; set 9 ends with the motif present
in set S (shot
and fantasy by means of intercut flashbacks or f311t3sies.
in set 10
20) ; and set 11 ends with the motif present
Spatially, Impressionist ed't' ,
1 lng sometlmes builds up a
completely
(shot 24). The final shot 28, containing a
homogeneous block of space "synthetically" from shot.s L,f
new motif and lasting fully twice as long as any other
isolated elements. More frequently , I ll1pr0S~nc'111Sm
. ' . utilizes
shot in the sequence, brings the whole sequence to a
the glance/object pattern to define space as well as to
calm close. The consequence of such highly or'ganized
indicate Psychological states, F'lllally, rhythmic 0liiti11g
editing is a quasi-"musical" sequence, with a pattern of
frequently indicates a character's sense ell' t,I)~
, f':]" l" ~\1ld
introduction, repeat, and "variations" bull t upon the
tempo of an experience. F or the Impressionist, tl)en,
rhythmic form provided by varying the 1engtt1s of the shvts.
editing offers a significant means of expressively trans-
Such complex rhythmic organization of shots is lh1whel't'
forming the nature which the camera records.
apparent in any non-Impressionist narrative films examined,
although abstract films like Ballet Mecanique and Themes et
Variations make frequent use of similar rhythmic editing.
 Conclusions: The Paradigm Applied conclude with a comparison of French Im-

The foregoing paradigm has described, through

pressionist style with other avant-garde styles or th", timt',
Both La Roue and Ballet !1.ecaniq~ share 3 common
analysis of textural features of individual films, the
graphic element: machines in motion. Yet the Impl'es-
categories of Impressionist film style, In the period
sionist paradigm permits us to distinguish their respec-
in which LllC films were made, both contextual stipulation
and repetition from film to film set up what emerge now tive styles, First, both films make extensive use of
close-ups, but in La Roue these close-ups frequently sym-
as certain styli~tic conventions: decorative and subjec-
bolize forces at work in the drama (e.g., the close-ups of
tive camerawork; rhythmic and glance/object editing pat-
wheels and circular signals as symbolic of "the wheel't ,of the
terns; and optical devices indicating optical and psycho-
title); in Ballet Hecanigue, the close-ups have purely gl':l-
logical sUbjectivity. Taken as a whole, these conventions
phic functions. In La Roue, there are many optically :5ubjec-
may be seen as a family-resemblance cluster that distin-
tive camera angles and close-ups, whereas nothing in Ballet
guishes Impressionist films from contemporary films in
Mecanigue can be contextually defined as subjective. Both
other styles--i,e" abstract films on one hand and non-
La Roue and ~allet Mecanigue contain moving camera shots
Impressionist narrative films on the other. While the
which follow a moving subj ect, but only the former contains
family-resemblance paradigm, by its logical nature, cannot
shots in which the camera moves independently of a subject
specify necessary and sufficient conditions for membership
(e. g_., the tavern scene) and shots in which the camera's
in the class of Impressionist films, it can outline a
movement presents a subjective point-of-view (e.g., 8isif's
cluster of textural features which identify the film as
wanderings after his blinding). La Roue furtherm<.1re con-
likely ur' 11,1\ likely to belon""D to the f't.y-_l_l-~,
., • '1'1 1<, ;])"
1 1. T'il C t.
tains a much wider range of single-lighL-50urce and clwouw-
of the style paradigm in Appendix B may be consulted for
lighting effects (e.~., the train wreck, the tavern :5cene,
a compressed outline; what follows are cioncrete applica-
tions of the paradl'gm, -Fl'-rs t I s h a 11 d'lstlngulsh
, , the snowstorm) than Ballet Mecanique, but the latter ex-
an Impres-
ploits to a far greater degree abstract and semi-abstract
sionist film from an abstract f'l
1 m, and then distinguish
an Impr eSSlonlS
' . t f'11m from a non-Impressionist narrative patterns of line, shape, and movement; indeed, the entire
 210
?11

film is built on such patterns. Both films make extensive

use of optical devices (prismatic images, masl,s, et~.) as some commentators have noted, is remar\\ably J:Il'killt~ in

for magical and pictorial effect, but only 1&. Ii'2~1-,,~ \It,,'';
close-ups; the film chiefly uses long- and medilll1l-::;llut.S

them to indicate various ::;Ubjeutive statu::; (f:.ltlt,'J:;y, lI1('III<.l['y,

of ViH'iou:3 spatia] groupings to indicate dril1l1~IL i " illl['Ul'-

mood, and near-blindness). Both films rely heavily ('n tance. Several sequences in Kean utilize optiC:l11y ~'1I1)j~~c:­

editing, but only La Roue uses editing to indicatt' f'las!l- tive angles and close-ups, whereas although Nan3 is Cull

backs or fantasy. The editing in La Rou~ often links of characters spying on each other, there arc only two

glances and obj ects ) whereas in Ballet W?caniqup, the roe- opt ically s ubj ec t i ve s hots in the fi 1m (ne ittl el' Croom tl1E.'

peated image of a woman's eye opening and closing becomes protagonist's viewpoint). Both films contain mMny 11l0ving-

a graphic element in its own right and has no spatial or camera shots, both with a moving SUbject and ind,'pendent.

temporal relation to the objects shown in adjacent shots. of a moving SUbject, but only Kean utilizes optic'ally

Finally, whereas both films use rhythmic editing, ~allet :subj ective moving-camera shots. Similarly, bot.11 films

M§canique juxtaposes objects, figures, and actions foro utilize single-light-source and shadow-lighting as a natural

purely graphic effect, while La Roue uses accelerated rhythm extension of their predominantly theatrical locales.

to suggest the pace of the characters' experiences. In But Nana uses optical devices very rarely and usually not

sum ectively. Kean, on the other hand, is full of elabo-

, -La Roue and Ballet M§canique belong to different
styles, the one Impressionist and the other "abstract." rate optical effects, almost always to indicate memory,

Both Kean and Nana share a common sUbj ec:t--tI1e , or optically distorted vision (e.g., tilt' vaJ'ious

and loves of a famous stage performer--but the'style para- from Romeo and JUliet, several superimpositions in

digm permits us to see the former as owing more to Imprt's- park scenes, split-screen effects when Kean gOl'S l'iding

sionism than the latter does. First, ~ contalns many focus and changing-focus shots when Kean cullapsl'l;,

extreme close-ups of people (Kean, his a~mirers, Ilis rotating prismatic shots of the angry crowd). Tlh'

servants) and especially of dramatically significant ob- of Nana is chiefly analytical: cutting is into and

jects (a side drum, a bouquet, carriage wheels), but Nana a block of space) with only two instances of glance/

editing; in this film, the looker and the object

looked at are almost invariably in the same frame. Kean, by the accelerating pace of the dance itself and by an occa-

however, makes extensive use of the glance/object edit.ing sional tracking shot, but not by any rhythmic editing;

pattern: the characters in the film are introduced via u ~he spatial unity of the sequence is dominant. In Kean,

stagehand's peeping through the curtaill; two women watch t~e hero executes a drunken dance in a tavern, which is

Kean with fascination; Kean's drunken spree and his fin:ll presented entirely in rhythmically accelerated editing:

performance are also treated in the glance/obje,~t fashiL'n. Quick panning shots of Kean are intercut with quick pun-

The salient differences emerge clearly in the films' ning shots around the other dancers; there are fragmentary

handling of two similar situations. In Nana, the prota- close-ups of dancers' feet, clapping hands, Kean's face,

gonist is ill and deliriously dreams of ghosts: her dreams and bottles trembling on a shelf. As the pace of the dance

are indicated simply by fading in and out of imases of builds, the shots get shorter and shorter until the dancers

the ghosts. In Ke~, the protagonist is drunk and imagin<:'::' collapse from exhaustion. The use of rhythmic editing to

himself spurned by his female admirers: dissolves link present a scene as the characters experience it, entirely

the female admirers' refusal of his bouquet; then multiple absent from Nana, occurs elsewhere in Kean (notably in the

out-of-focus shots of laughing faces are superimposed; scene of his drunken visions). On the whole, then, the

as Kean runs away, we get his point-of-view of the house of style paradigm reveals that although Nana does contain some

the woman he loves, on Which is superimposed a woman's features of Impressionist style, they are very few in

laughing face. The elaborate optical transformations of number and not particularly strong in quality, and the

Kaan (especially the multiple superimpositions) are more absence of certain highly characteristic features (optically

strong.Ly ,:hat'acteristic of Impressionism than the ::dmpler sUbjective moving-camera shots, elaborate optical effects,

fade-ins and -outs of Nana. More sharply defined, however, glance/object editing, and rhythmic editing) suggests

is the differ'ence in the two films' handling of another' that Nana is not properly classified as an Impressionist

situation: the protagonist's drunken dance. In Nana, the film--a jUdgement which most commentators on Nana have

heroine becomes drunk at a ball and performs a frenzied implicitly assumed. Kean, on the other hand, belongs

cancan; the increasing rhythm of the scene is created firmly to the Impressionist style.
 The above paradigm also pl'T'mits u,-; I,' di"I.ll1l';IIL',ll of view on the same obJ'ect that l'S c,laract,'l'L,t
l
ie' "I' Eis\'ll-

between the French Impressionist st.y Ie and :lV:lll\'-t'::II'lk stein's and Pudovkin's styles, TI'
11 s 1, S not. t. l' ":l.V tll:1 t.

stylistic movements in other counll'll"" the Imprcr;,; i oni,,!-. style was wi ttJOuL influC'Il('\', :: i Ill'\' \':lIr'\)-

a cimj lar outline for German Expressllmi,'t. pean film-makers in the 1920' s borT'owed exten:,j \I,' Iy from

1920-'s, for example, we would observe IIIUdl lc"\" ltC'\'

01' each 0 Ltlcr'.
devi- ists may be found in Uberfall, Die Strasst:', :':':~~I'c'lS :::i 3-
the SUbjective possibilities of camel'aw())'k, opt ie:1J
er use of mis'~-t'll-sl'~'I1L' :.1" Soul, and other German films of the lime; the ckbt of Eisen-
ces, and editing and muc h great
a vehicle of psychological expression, SubJ 8" t. j v~, Sll).'\"I'- stein and other Rus~l'ans
- w'll
1 b e d'lscussed more specifical

impositions and rhythmic editing are rare in Expressionist in the next chapter. In their main outlines, l1o\'iever,
r the Impressionist, Expressionist, and Soviet
cinema, but as many historians have noted, ExpI'cssi0nis 1I10V\'lllt'nt.s art?
mise-en-scAne is graphicallY and plastically distorted clearly distinguishable on stylistic grounds.
Similarly, In sum, Impressionist film style enriches tile nal'ra-
as a projection of neurotic inner states.
the Soviet montage school of the 1920's has little recourse tive by increasing the film-maker's commentativ0 role or,
'cal devices and stresses more often, our awareness of the char'acter' s inl1t'1' states.
to subjective camera wor k or optl
editing as its primary technique. But Eisenstein, Pudov- Reveries, fantasies, memories--such purely ~ental imagery

kin, Vertov, and Kuleshov go beyond th~ glance/object is expressed through te c h nlques
. such as dissolves, super-
, t' d' tl' ng of' Impressionism impositions, fade-ins and -outs., selective fOClI';, and slow-
pattern and rhythmic subJec lve e 1
to explore the metaphorical and rhetorical possibilit.ies lOOtion. Shifting moods are indicated by such :3t'mi-subjec-

of shot juxtaposition. There is nothing in Impressionist tiv.: techniques as gauzing over a shot of a ch:-n':lcter',

cinema to compare with the inter-cut bu.lJ/workerl' :,l:lIll':I1t.<'!' Subjective rJOint-of-vl'e,w -"'11"1\:.5
- pJ·"·,"serlt
- ," e Ila 1':1,' t \' I" :;

I sec1uence ill ~:I\(i optical vantage point on events, and if necessary such
in Strike, the battlefront/stock eXClange
of St. Petersburg, or the " degra d a t'lon of the gods" s Shots distort that point-of-view to indicate extreme

in October. More specifically, we find no Impressionist states like drunkenness, blindness, or terror, Similarly,

film giving us the rapid intercutting of different angles e/object editing presents the patterned flow of a
 character's attention. Rhythmic editing indicates the p~~~
of an experience as n character undergoes it. 'rhllt', s~1t'ci­
fie uses of film techniques bend the external world to
the purpose of expressing feeling. As Germaine Dulac
writes:
L'impressi~n~sma fit envisager la nature, les objets
c~m~e des elements concourant a l'action . . . . On s'il1-
gen~a a faire mouvoir les choses, et, la science
0I?tlque i~te-l'venant, a essayer de transformer leurs
Ilgnes SUlvant la logique d'un etat d'esprit.
In this way, the cinema can achieve the end envis~Ged
by Impressionist theory: the artist uses a mech~lIlical
means of reproduction to achieve that transform~ltion c)f
nature by feeling which is photogenie.
The purpose of this chapter has been to consider
the stylistic features Characteristic of the films of
the Impressionist movement. The affinities with the cul-
tural activities discussed in Chapter II and the theoreti-
cal assumptions considered in Chapter III now need to be
made explicit; furthermore, the essentially static accounts
of Chapt,,!, III and this chapter need to be integl'ut.,"d
into a temporal framework. Thus the task of the final
chapter is a historical account of the Impressionist
movement by period.
Notes
1 Luc ien Goldmann, "Genetic-Structuralist. Mt'tllcld
in the History of Literature," in Serel Lang and FC'rrl~st.
Williams, eds., Marxism and Art (Nt'w York: McKay, len;'),
p. 14~. -
2jVjorris Weitz "The Role of Theory in Al'stll<~tics,"
in Holley Gene DUffiel~, Problems in Criticism or the
Arts (San Francisco: Chandler, 1968), pp. 212-22 G.. See
also William E. Kennick, "Does 'l'raditional Aestl1t'th's
Rest on a Mistake? in Duffield, 191-211.
3 Lu dwig Wittgenstein Philosophical Investigations,
trans. by G. E. M. Anscombe(~ew York: MacMlllan, 195~),
I, 66, p. 320.
4Monroe C. Beardsley, Aesthetics: Problems in
the PhilOSOPh~ of Criticism (New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1958), pp. 16 -167.
5Ibid., p. 168.
6 For discussions or the concept of "motivation,"
see Lee T. Lemon and Marion J. Reis, eds., Russ~an Forma-
list Criticism (Lincoln: University of' Nebr'aska Press,
1965)·
7Jean r.1itry, Esthetigue et, Psychologie du Cinema,
vol. II (Paris: Editions Universitalres, 1965), pp. 61-7'1.
8 See for example, Marcel Martin, Le Lo.ngaf;e
Cinematographlgue (Paris: Editions du Ccrf, 1962), pp. .
27-52, and A. Ayfre, Le Cinema ct la Poi Chretienne (PaJ'ls:
Fayard, 1960), pp. 59-64.
9Noel Burch has closely analy2ed the ur;e of' l"':llll-
ing and camera movement in LIArgent. See his Marcel
L'Herbier (Paris: Seghers, 1973), pp. 129-162.
10Germaine Dulac "L'Avant-Garde," in Hem'i F,'~;­
court, ed., Le Cinema (P~ris: Editions dy Cygne, 1932),
p. 364.
11Quoted in Burch, Mar~el L'Herbier, pp. 62-63.
 219

12Noel Burch, Theory of Film Practice, t.l'nlls. by

Helen Lane (New York: Praeger, 1973), pp .. 3~. CHAPTER V. A HISTORICAL PERIODIZATION AND ASS~SSMENT OF

13S M Ei sens te in "Me trlOd s 0 r MOil to ge' ," !"i.l.f.I.I THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONls'r Ml1Vl~·.m:N'l'
Form, trans. 'by'Jay Leyda (New York: Meridian, 19')7),
PP:-"72-83. Two primary assumptions have ruled till' last. trll'(~"

ef!apLers: Lhut history may tHe' constr'uetcd 11PC1\1 ;1 Illcl'-'

archie model and that the French Impressionist. 1II,1\'c'1IIent

may be seen as operating at the strata of eu J \.11)'0 I ad.i vi-

ties, film theory, and film style. The mat,'l'i:ll ill t.hose

chapters has been presented in a temporally stat.ic fashion.

A fuller historical account, however, needs to )'<:'l<1t,' these

three levels temporally. This I. shall do by clarifying

causal relations within a periodization scheme. I shall

conclude by offering an estimation of the histo)'il:al signi-:-

ficance of the movement as a whole.

Periodization

The task of periodization of tlw'Imp)'<:'ssionist

movement is not an easy one. Many films of tilt' ti1ll(, no

longer survive, and the interwoven texture of ill!'l.llenGes

is di[,ficulL to recover. Such difficultlee, t!"lIl'lll'e;\;

explain the unsatisfactoriness of prC'vlous atL,'lIIpLs at.

periodization of the movement. Of the two principal essays

in periodization, Dulac's "L'Avant-Garde," though full of

interesting insights, distorts the movement by seeing it

wholly as a prelude to the abstract-film avant-garde,

 while Langlois' "L'Avant-Garde Frangaise"l draws on very
relies wholly on mise-en-scene to structure our at.t,'ntil)n
little data to support his conclusions. This chapter will
.... ithin each scene. Neither camera angle' and distance: 11l11'

attempt to put the cultural, theoretical, and stylistic

editing gives the slightest clue to the workings ,)1' the
data of the previous chapters into a more coherent, integral
characters' minds; we have only their overt behavior to
period framework than previous studies. In the interests
go on. Feuillade's style is perfectly suited to his mystery
of specificity, my argument will distinguish between sty-
plot, which hinges on the permanent possibility of decep-
listic changes internal to the films and external changes
tion: if a hero may turn out to be really a villain, Feuil-
in the writing, activities, and environment of the move-
lade's style must not spoil the surprise by revealing the
ment.
hero's villainous thoughts before the villainy is t'nacted.
Around 1918, certain French films exhibit a signi-
Similarly, Feuillade' s style abstains from any overt camm"llt,
fie ant stylistic change, marking an initial trend which
drawing. no parallels between the film's situations and, say,
.I shall call Impressionist pictorialism. This trend con-
mythological or historical situations. In contrast, Gan~e's
sists of recurrent techniques which utilize pictorial
style in J'Accuse is at pains to mediate, explain, and
qualities to indicate characters' psychological states.
interpret. We are in no doubt as to the mental lives of
The pictorialist trend includes use of optical viewpoint
the characters: characters' fears and imaginings are pictori-
shots, superimpositions, gauze-focus, slow-motion, and dis-
alized by means of superimpositions; memories and fantasies
torted images; glance/object editing also plays a role
interrupt the narrative; vivid point-of-view shots (e.g.,
at this stage of the style. Typically, all these stylistic
down the barrel of a gun) present us with characters'
devices arc tlsed t.o indi.cate a charact.el"S percept.ions, . t s on even t s. Th"~ percctltulJ1, pll1otionol,
optical vantage pOln ,
dreams, or fantasies. The freshness and force and mental acti~ity of the characters is presented not unly
of this style may be seen by compering Feuillade's Judex
in their behavior but also through camerawork, editing,
(1916) and Ganoe's J'Accuse (1919). In Feuillade's film,
and optical devices. Similarly, the style draws symbolic
all the action is external, giving us no privileged access
oarallels, likening a war parade to a danse macabre and a
to characters' consciousness. Feuillade consequently
battle to classical war paintings. In sum, J'Accuse,
 many firms that fresh appr8aches (especially in
first instance of Impressionist pic~0r"' wri ting) were needed. 4 Hence there occurred ~1 l'iSt' ill sc'mi-
though not the very
le of how that style differed independent film production (most notably under ehe aegis
ialism, 2 is a clear examp
directors .lik~ Feuil1ad~ in
the mise-en-scene style of of Louis Nalpas) which favored the Impressionist film-

the pre-1918 period. makers. Dulac, Delluc, and others wex'e al)lt' lu CI'c.':lt<..' 'their
. . l'lS"
The emerging plctorla ,t style , which was to own small production units and borrow or rent studio
, La Dixi~me
continue throughout the 1920's, includes Gance s -- faci l i ties from Pa the, Ec !ipse, and Gaumont in c.' xdlange
L' H t' er' s Rose-
Symphonie (1918) and J'Accuse (1919 ) , . ern --- for distribution rights.5 Similarly, the larg0 firms'
Verites (1920), l ' Homme du
France (1919), Carnival des search for new talent is exemplified in the caS0 of Jean

Large (1920), El Do rado (1921), and ~ !~~ ~~ ~ Ep:Jteirl, who after making a short documentc1!'y ['c)I' l'clt.l1<"
(1920), ~~ (1921),
(1922), Delluc's La ~ Espagnol e was offered a ten-year contract at two thousanci fp:ll1CS pel'
and Dulac's La Souriante
and La Femme de ~ .E.§;.rt (1922 ) , month. 6 Moreover, some films were sufficiently popular
l use the SUbjective style of pictor-
Mme. Beudet (1922). Al with a mass audience to allow their makers great latitude.
nal action and evoke tile psyehi e
ialism to go beyond exter L'Herbier worked for Gaumont until 1924, while Gance's
As Dulac writes in describing earliest efforts were hugely profitable (Mater Dolorosa
flow of the characters.
the films of the period: earned four times its cost, La Dixieme Symphoni(> almost,
~ 1 'sion de ses' pense es ,
l ' on aj outa a ses gestes, at' Vl Joindre aux six times its cost'!). In a related development, film tech-
de ses sen t'lmen,ts de ses 1sensa
d~
lons.
riptiotl des impres-
faits precis d'un dram~, a ~s~ontraires au cours nology of the period had advanced remarkably. By 1920,
sions interieures multlple,S ~ t . rlt plun'en eux-m§mes,
. 1 fits n eXlS"ale. u )
extreme slow-motion and stop-motion, superimpositions,
d'une actlo~, es a ~ nce d'un ftat moral.
mais devenalent la conseque
tinting, and gauze-focus were all technically ['0~sible for
'1 style, we may discover its
Given such a change in fl m
t 1 preconditions and experimental use. Thus the industry conditions could potpn~
historical sources in several ex erna
tially support an avant-garde film style.
twq specific and immediate causes.
ench film industry at the The Impressionists came out of a sociocultural
Most generally, th e Fr
f new styles in film-making. that constitutes another general precondition for
period had some tolerance 0
6 had convinced
American conquest of the market after 191
the emergence of their film style. As Chapter' II ha"
indicated, throughout the 1910-1920 up..:ade, "ll1<'I11,l t':r'\-'I'i
populari ty both among general audiences and ,lmUlte; i 11(.<' I 1\'\'-
tuals. 'In the latter circles, the Imprl.)ssionist film-
makers were decidedly_-at home. All had aspired to be ;)l'tbC,;--
playwrights (Gance-, Delluc), musicians (Dula..:, L'Herbic-~l'),
poets (Epstein), actors (Clair), or belletrists (Dellue,
Canudo). Thus they swam within specific intellectual
currents of the time: Gance and Canl,.ldo were close friends
with Cendrars and Leger; Delluc was a protege of Claudel,
as Epstein was of Cendrars; Clair was friends with Picabb
and Batie. In this at~osphere the Impressionist aesthetic
was distilled. Despite the dive-rsity of such personal
alliances, however, that aesthetic had a remarkably uniform
consistency. Ironically, Impressionist theory had little
in common with that modernist avant-garde whom Roger Shat-
tuck delineates in The Banquet Years. As our examination
of I,mpressionist theory has suggested, the film-makers
and writL'l's were far more in debt to Symbolist tllOught.
than to the work of Jarry, Satie, or even Apoilinaire.
Delluc and Epstein provide the two most apl. instances of
the essentially nineteenth-century strain in Impressionism.
We have already seen Symbolist assumptions in
Delluc's theorizing; his activities from 1913 to 1923 are
ess revealing. In an era of flour'ishing <:IVallt -['::11,,1<'
ill journals run by Apollinaire, Albert-HiI'ut, PicabLl,
Reverdy, and Breton, Delluc wrote fut' Cmlluedia-Illl1sl.r'.2,
the newspaper Paris-Midi, and his own I'jlm magazitlt's. fie
apparently took no interest in Cubi8L painting or mockrn
poetry, preferring instead the impre8sionism of Vuillard
and the Symbolism of Verhaeren. He considered Wagnel' the
model of musical art; significantly, for many Symbolist.s
since BaUdelaire, Wagner had been the pUl'adigm of Symbolist
possibilities in music, and in 1913 he wa.s the fourt11 most-
performed composer in Paris. 8 One can infer from Delluc'~
work-that Mussorgsky; Borodin, and St. Saens shared program
bills with Wagner in Parisian concerts of the day, but ont'
would never know that at the same time Petrushka, L'Heure
Espagnole, Jeux, Le Sacre du Printemps, and Les Choreophores
were being played. Similarly, while more C'xtremeavant-
gardists were going to galleries and eXhibitions, Delluc
was going to the theatre. The avant-garde' drama which
attracted him was not that of Jarry's followers but rathel'
the work of Lugne-Poe, who staged such Symbolist dramas
as Maeterlinck's Pell€as at Melisande lind Verllaeren's
---- - -----
Le Cloitre. 9 Of the younger direct.ors, only Jacques Copeau
seems to have touched Delluc's life, chiefly because Delluc's
wife played in Claudel's L'Otage under Copeau's direction.
In short,Delluc's affinities were for the Symbolist
 ;?2(1

avant-garde and not the more experimental flO'st. Lv i t. il~s and L'Herbier in 1917, while Clair worked as ,In :ld.l)!' for
of the modern movement. Feuillade. The general situation was favorable: sl'veral
Jean Epstein was more avowedly radical in 11is Impressionists were already established professionally yet
choice of allegiances than Delluc. A PI'l)\.0gc 0[' C(~ndl':H'~,
were also temperamentally inclined toward .:lvClnt.-t:;ar'dl'
an employee of Laffitte's La Sirene pub liSlling house, experimentation.
Epstein worked the forms of his verse il\\'o apPI'llPl'i,lt.ely
One other general external condition needs reite-
Yet Epstein's aestl1t:t.ic is Sl':n'l~l'Jy ration.
Apollinairian shapes. The foreigh films deluging France betweerl 1915
less nineteenth-century than Delluc's. In Bl.)I1.i,)~ l~jn;;lIIn,
and 1922 offered the Impressionists stylistic :11 t.l'I'I111tives
Epstein suggests that cinema has the trutll or dl'l'''II1~"
to the dominant commercial style of French cinema. Canudl.~
that it creates phantoms of memories. Since the lI1ind giv~s classed American films first both in quantity and quality,
us reality only through symbols, he argues, film provides While Delluc praised Thomas Ince'suse of natural locales,
a quintessence, a symbol of a symbol, a doubly distilled simple stories, and striking "impressionist" lighting. i i
product.10 As we have seen, he also claims that the cinema Germaine Dulac attributed to D. W. Griffith the close-up,
not discursive knowledge but feeling. Epstein never
offers soft-focus and irises; Griffith's Intolerance and Broken
broke with Symbolist assnmptions; he simply articulated Blossoms were considered masterpieces by the Impression-
them with more clarity than Delluc did. On the whole, 12
ists. Epstein's delirious poems to Chaplin, Hayakawa, Hart,
Delluc and Epstein are typical of the Impressionist Pearl White and others testify to a similar admiration of the
group in identifying their aims not with a radically modern- American cinema's pictorial qualities. A similar impact
ist aesthetic but rather with the principles of Symbolist was felt after the influx of Swedish films that began
poetics. vith Gaumont's release of Sjostrom's The Outlaw and His
Impressionists thought and lived in an avan\'- ~ on 31 October 1919. 13 The trend cOlltimlt,d Lhl'ough
garde atmosphere, many worked professionally for film !9?2 with Sj ostrom's Monastery of Sendomir, Tria 1 by Fire,
studios before the movement's homogeneous film style Ingmar's Daughter~ and Stilier's Treasure of Arne.
ed. Gance directed his first film in 1911, Dulac in week in 1921, no fewer than eight Swedish films
 manipulation that was central to the Impressioni st J'i.lrnt;.
were playing in Paris--nearly all by Sjostrom and Sti11"I,.lll
The films of DeMille, Sjostrom, StiJ ler, and tht' G"I'mam~
Again, it was the pictorial values of the SWl"ctis1J 1'1 lnlt;
typically made mise-en-scene the central creative faGtol';
which were praised by Delluc, Epstein, and others. The
pictorial qualities and meanings were dependent upon the
Swedes' use of flamboyant lighting effects and occasional
manipUlation of light, setting, costume, and spatial
optical distortions (e.g., the superimpositions in Sjos-
arrangement--"naturalistic" in the Swedish films, slightly
trom's Phantom Carriage) probably reinforced :wd encouraged
stylized in' DeMille's work, and radically distorted ill the
certain tendencie.s in French film-makers' worlr.
, F'Jnally,
German films., Even Ince and Griffith, whose styles placed
on· 14 November 1921, the third wave of foreign influence
more emphasis on editing, were praised by the Impl'essil'llis t.s
struck. Paris: Louis DelIuc screened Weine's Cabinet .of
chiefly for their mise-en-scene. The pictorial qualiti~s
Dr. Caligari. A spate of German films swept into Francto .
of the foreign films, then, are not of the same 0rd~r as
By August of 1922, Delluc was able to cite eight such films
the optical effects, SUbjective viewpoint shots, and camera
which had been shown recently, including Murnau's Burning
manipulation characteristic of the Impressionist work of
Soil a-nd Nosferatu, Lang's Destiny, and Pick's Genuine. 15
the time. Foreign influence was doubtless a strong initial
Like their American and Swedish counterparts, German
motivating factor, but it was mediated by the ideology of
Expressionist and Kammerspiel films continued to be screened
the movement. Although foreign films often sparked theore-
in Paris throughout the 1920's, and their use of distorted
tical and polemical argument, the Impressionist movement's
settings, stylized costumes, and stark lighting exercised
writings in the 1918-1922 period offer a more immediate
a marked influence on films like L'Herbier's Don Juan et
explanation of the change in the film style.
Faust (192:') and El Dorado (1922) and Mosjoukirlt"S !:-£
'l'heoretic:al and polemic:al wOl'k at tile U,I1I" 11Ot.
Brasier Ardent (1923). In short, the foreign films which
only responde'd directly to the French work and ttlt~ f')l't'igll
the Imprcc~si"llists ranked highly were valued chicrly ror
imports but also generated ideas that could be pursued in
their pictorial qualiiies.
film practice. In this respect, Delluc'S journals and pole-
Significantly, however, the American, Swedisll, and
mical works seem crucial. Le Film, Journal de Cine-Club,
German films were not characterized by the kind of camera
,and Cinea, as wen as Delluc t s books Cinema et Cie and
 230

cinema.") Furthermore, a dialectical glve-alld-!.:llil'

" h"\.Wl'l'll
pbotogenie, created a good example of what Raymond Willi:3D1s
theory and practice emerged. 'l'he ADler'j,~all t'i II1IS pl'l)\!llkl'd
bas called a "selective tradition." '''rhe selection,"
Delluc to claim that film art was anchored in pllOtog0nil'.
Williams writes, "begins within the period itself; from t.\w
In turn, the films of Gance and L'Hel'bit'l' were ,; ll':lJ'ly
whole body of activities, certain things are selected for
influenced both by American films and by the primO-l'Y thel)-
value and emphasis.,,16 Delluc's writing denigrated the
retical concept of th e t"lme, photogenie or tlll' l'ClIllt'ra' s
dominant French tradition of Feuillade, Perret, Jasset,
transformation of the profilmic materl'al. In turn, Delluc
Linder, and others and ptaised the American and Swedish
and his colI eagues responded with praise for the film-
films; of French directors, Delluc selected and campaigned
makers' efforts. "il Dixieme SymphOl1ie," wrot0 Dl'lluc
for Gance, Dulac, L'Herbier, and to a lesser extent Poirier
of Gance's rilm, "a l'honneur d'etre
- le premier cornplet
and Roussell. (Today, the dominant selective tradition
et Ie premier fini de cette periode de renouvellement cin~-
finds Feuillade, Perret, and Jasset significant in a tradi-
graphique,,,18 while D'J.amant-Berger
. concluded t.hat the
tion that later includes Vigo and Renoir.) Delluc's and
brilliance of Ganee p~oved that ·f1 Mieux vaut un homme neuf
other writers' demand for a "nontheatrical," intrinsically
pour Ie cinema qu'un homme quJ.' connait trop l'ancien
cinematic style embodies the need for alternative sources
cinema.,,19 Of L'Herbier's Rose-France Delluc remarked:
of inspiration. Had the Impressionists known Georges Meli~s'
"e e t lmpressionisme
" poetique est d'un virtuose.,,20 Although
oeuvre, perhaps they would have turned back to ~im as a
Delluc died in 1924, before the movement had run its full
source, but there is no mentiori of him in early writings of
course, his journals continued to fulfill the influential
the period. 17 Thus the foreign imports gained great impact
function Which he had established for them. Similarly. as
because they vindicated the journals' claims that. alt.ern<l-
was pointed out in Chapter II , the journalistic polemic
tives to the native product could be created. Neverthel~s~,
of Delluc and his colleagues had a stl'ongefft'l'l. Ill)t only
Delluc and his followers discouraged slavish imitation of
en the establishment of cine-clubs but also on the tastes
foreign cinema. It was up to the French avant-garde,
of the audiences which support the clubs. In sum, out of
Delluc insisted, to find its own way. ("Que le cinema
the interplay of film viewing and theoretJ.·cal and polemical
frangais soit franqais. Que le cinema franqois soit du
argument, encouraged by the industry and technical f03Si-
bility, a "selective tradition" emerged whid1 influenct'd
the trend toward Impressionist pictorial ism in film styl~,
In 1923, the Impressionist style underwent ~ chane~.
While continuing to utilize the techniques of pictorial ism,
many films from 1923 ~o 1928 included a new stylistic
device: rhythmic morttage. As mentioned above, such editing
usually functions to indica~e the pace of a character's
experience, often by means of accelerated cutting-rates,
Before 1923, such editing occurs in only one film I have
seen, and there it is very brief: in Gance's J'Accuse
(1919), an artillery barrage is indicated by a short shot
of a cannon inserted between two iengthy shots of mel1 under
fire. After 1922, however, rhythmic editing becomes perva-
sive. Some typical examples appear in Mosjoukine's 1i:.
Brasier Ardent and Epstein's L'Auberge Rouge and Coeur
Fidele (all 1923); Epstein's La, Belle Nivernaise, Vollwv's
Kean, Clair's Paris Qui Dart and Entr'acte, and L'Herbier's
L'Inhumaine (all 1924); Feyder's Visages d'Enfants, Dulac's
Le Dinhle dans la Ville, L'Herbier's Feu Ma.!:hias f.Qscal,
and Epstein's Aventures de Robert Macaire (all :19:,lt);
Epstein's Six et Demi-Onze and Kirsl;l.noff's Menilmontilnt
(both 1926); and Gance's Napoleon and Epstein's La Glace a
Trois-_Faces (both 1927). Thus 1923 marks the emergence of
a new trait of Impressionist film style. What caused this?
The immediate, cause is acknowledged by a11 Imprt's-
sionist writers of the time and of later periodS: till'
release of Abel Gance , s ~
L ~.
R e First presented privntply
in late December of 1922, premiering pUblicly in February
of 1923, La Roue captured Impressionists with its innovaL:ivt'
use of rhythmic and ac'celeratcd editinr; of trains :lnd Ch:1SC'S,
sometimes, building to a c 1"lmax ln whl'ch shots were only one
Rene Clair wrote that "We had already seen
frame long.
trains moving along tracks at a velocity heightened by
the obliging moving camera, but we had not yet f,'lt our-
selves absorbed-~orchestra, seats, auditorium and every-
thing around us--by the screen as by a wh'lr 1 po 01 ' ,,:?:1
Canudo praised La Roue's evocatively sUbjectiv~ editinG:
~ montr0e~
"Des images amorc~es, suggerees P 1 us que enchL've-
tr§es dans Ie rythme haletant d'un trail! lanc0 a un~ vit~~~~
folle, signifiant tout l'angoisse d'un homme PO\lSS~ all
paroxysme du d§sespoir." 22 Some saw the 1'"1 1ill O,!'\
• "
'1 vindi-
cation of the purist assumptions: Dulac noted that "on
peut emouvoirsans personnage, d one sans moyen de thG~tre:
voycz la chanson du rail et des roues. Unc thern0, lOais
non un drame"." 23 Epstel'n clal'med that "Par ce film, Ie
cinema a requ Ie rev§lation de ses moyens propres, a pri~
conscience de sa personnalite, de sa capacite d'etre
un art autonome.,,24 That the Impressionists were taken
 235

influence on subsequent film style and film thenry.

only with the film's style and not with its story is
La Roue made rhythmic editing a slgnl
, r i l~;lll\,
suggested by the many journal reviews which found the a::,pe,·t.
of Impressionist film theory and film style,
narrative banal and maudlin,25 Later, the film was rarely Before 19;'<',
theorists did not see editing as a sin'nifl'("lll\ t
shown in its entirety, but Canudo's Club des Anli~1 dll b " , , ' l' I1n i l:;\ I
dimension. Delluc's essays
emphasized plot and mise-t.'I1-
Septiime Art and Tedesco's Th&itre de Vieux Colombier
scene, at one point scoffing at the l'd
ea that a film
screened extracts consisting of the rhythmic montage
company could value an ed't1 or more highl ' ' 2Q
sequences,26 In retrospect, Epstein and Dulac credited Diamant-B ' y than a dlrel'tor.
erger ,s volume Le Film ( .
La ~ with being of central importance in adding rhythmi,' sid - - - pUbllshed in 1919) con-
ered editing soleI y as a procedure for joining
editing to the repertoire of sUbjective techniques,27
and se quences . A wr1terin
.
Journal du Cin~ -
scenes
. ,
What caused Gance's stylistic innovation is still unclear: Intol - e Club crltlcized
erance's crosscutting of d'f
1 ferent epochs and ignored
most historians attribute his rhythmic editing in La ~ it
s cumUlative rhythmic montage.30 Cinematic rhythm was
to his temperamental urge to experiment and l1is acquain-
conceived of as the t empo rUling . d' ,
tance with Griffith's work. 28 Certainly, however, Gance's th 1n lVldual shots ratller
an the rhythmic relations among shots. But after La
success with the style depended partly on the stud{OS'
Roue, rhythmic editing was quickly recognized for its
and critic~' general openness to experimentatioll, (It is
expr eSSlve
' pot~ntial.
In a 1923 interview', Ganc"~ made his
a measure of industrial tolerance at t.he time tlwt, seVc'l1
premise explicit: "La valeur du cin&ma ne
years earlier, Gance's boldly exper-imental polie du !2G. d r&side pas
ans la photographl'e sur les images, mais dans le rythme,
TUb~ was denied release by producers bec<iuse of its dis-
ent~~ les images, et dans• 1" J d ee,
~ derrier'B l'ill\;lt;l, ... ",)1
torted optical effects,) Gance tlaS Jisclail1leJ adl1el',,'n('(~
Canudo wrote of "Ie rythme de~J'a> e~t bl'
a 1 par 1
to any movement, but even apart from the Impressionist 'plans,'''32 e jell des
and Moussinac devoted an entl're
assumptions in his writings, his films partake completely to the 1925 article
SUbject of "I' y th me cin&graphique.,,33 Later Dulac
of the Impressionist si;yle. At the level of the Impression-
echoed Gance'. "Le mouvement et les rythmes res tent
ist movement as a whole, then, La' ~ is not only highly , en
tout cas, meme dans une incarnation plus materielle et
typical of Impressionist style but is also a decisive
significative, l'essence intime et unique de l'expres-.
Delluc noted that certain pictorial effects had b~come cli-
sion cinegraphique. ,,}4 As outlined in Chapter I IT, rhyth-
ches and were used illogically.39 Itl 1924, Clair cal10~
mic editing became the Impressionists' theor'etil:Hl soluti\.lll
for the avant-garde to rid cinema "of nIl the false art
to the problem of filmic construction, although no [1(' re-
that is smothering it," and he claimed provocatively that
solved the questions about structural unity which the pro-
Chaplin's !l Woman of Paris was "the most novel of the s<!aSOll.
posed solution raised.
This leads us to reflect on the excessiveness or the pUl'ely
In the film style of the period 1923-1928, La
technical experiments which have interested us so de~ply
Roue's impact was~even stronger than it was upon film
l' n Franc.e.,,40 And'ln J anuary 0 f 19 2
, a5 '
wrlter ~
in Cinea-
theory. The influence was immediate: at least five 192)
Cine pour Tous charged the avant-garde with abusing opti-
films utilize not only Impressionist camerawork and optirnl
cal effects. 41 Rhythmic montage, like sUbjective camera-
effects but also rhythmic editing, and many of the decride's
work and optical devices, continued through the 1920's
most celebrated films borrow freely from Gance's innov::lti\.Hl.
in films by Epstein, LtHerbier, Autant-Lara, Clair, Volkov,
Mosjoukine's Le Brasier Ardent (1923) opens with a rapidly
Dulac, Feyder, Gance, and Kirsanov, but by 1925 members
cut nightmare scene that contributed to its critil:al
of the movement were aware of how the style could degene-
popularity.35 The "f§te foraine" sequence of Epstein's
rate into empty virtuosity.
Coeur FidiHe (923), with its rhythmic editing of SllOtS of
Activities in other strata of the movement suggest
a country fair--games, rides, dolls--was widely praised,36
that around 1925 the possibilities of Impressionist film
and, as Jeanne and Ford point out, became one of the most
theory crystalized as clearly as those of the style had.
imitated sequL'I1CeS in French film of the time. 37 But tIll'
In that year, Leon Moussinac published his book Nai~8aRce
montage style reached its apogee fairly quickly. As
du Cinema, whieh synthesized the primary tenets \'f 1mpJ'es-
early as lk"l'lIll"_'l' of 192 11, at 11 l:OnrCl'CIlCC "POlll' IIIH'
sionist film theory and thereby constituted a ~ oj'
Avant-Garde N()uvelle,~' Epstein warned that techniques likt'
the dominant critical-theoretical position that had emerged
rapid montage had become empty fads.38
between 1917 and 1924. The book's preface, which lists
Indeed, by 1925 the entire repertoire of Impres-
the Impressionists' cinematic touchstones (The Cheat,
~ionist technique was starting to appear repetitious.
Inee's and Griffith's work, the Swedish films, the German
 ,: ~q

until 1929, but there is some (" v j d l' l1l~ C' c' l' ~,t Y Ii:: Ii,,' d ii'" \ I _
films, and the work of Delluc, Gance, L'llorbi021', 1'1I1n\~, sion ill th ycar'~, 1926- Jl,)~ln.
" L'
'J Wit ,il c lit,' ~,i,' I "I' i ,I Ii;; 1 : I I hi
and Epstein), became, according to Ren0 CIai)', "\11,' m~ll1i 1',':3\'"
montage trends were still operative t.1t !'lluglh'll t I Ill' P"I'j "d,
of a new generiJ.tion or fLIm-muk\;.'r,:::;,,,II:; .III M()\j~,::,il\:\\":" mLllly of' til('. m'lj , (l1'cet.or'~,
j'
", (II bc'c;all ,-'Xl) I \)1'1' II,"," I II
t · \' : 1 I' '1 \, ) \ I ~~
subsequent chapters, the influences arc :tppar't,llt alld \;11('
stylistic directions as well. III Napo10ol1 (r\' I \':,,,\'d 1\);'7),
landscape is familiar, Moussinac arcues f()J' tl1l' ,~j nt~m:, Gance l,j'l' ::,p 1 ::tyed a new concerll
for' the IWlldl1l' I Ii ":1111\'1'.1 and
as an autonomous art with its own laws and is p:n,t.il~uL11']~f a use of th ree screens or "triptych"
for ('pic' :llid s'ymbo'j ic
careful to distinguish it from theatre. He l(lc:ltes filml" effects,' nel'th
. ; er t echnique lli:ld much il1l'lUt'II,'\' ,'II ,)\11"1'
beauty less in the sub,ject than in the plastics of the 1ma£,;,',
film-maker'u. L'llc'l'bier b'egan' t''ll '
expl'I'lm\'IIl. \v i I II 1,'III':ll1y
He summarizes Delluc and Epstein on photogenic', estaolh;lh's tracking and c r'a ne shots, cUlminuting ill \ Iw l'l':IV:ld,'
technique as the foundation of cinematic beauty, and cata-
fluidity of L'Argent (1929), whel'ein the' C:lrn,,:!':] pl',lW I:>
logues cinema's expressive technical devices, He sees through corrid ors and floats along co2ilil1£;8, :'l'III,' film-
the story as a pretext for the images. rUe conce'i Vt2S of makers bega n movlng
' toward the title-less filill'. i 1) ~i 11:11
rhythm as a structural factor and Suggests analogies be- S' et Demi-Onze (1927)
hour of Epstein's ~ tlwr~
~ :1 r,; only
tween musical and cinematic rhythm., The bool, Cl~nc ludes
seven titles, and Kirsanov's Menilmontant', ( 19::6) l:!,'KS t
Vii th a survey of American, Swedish, German, and Fr':>11\.:h entirely. E'ps t eln
' began makin~
D ex t,('1)S i VI:.' use 0 t'
films, citing the by-now canonized filnls praised in tile motion to express su b'Jectivity (t~.g., the ~'o.illt.iI1S
journals and regularly' screened in the cin6-clubs ulld spe- of La Chute de la Maison ~ and tlw del iriou::\ loJ'llllhit'd
cialized theatres, In sum, Naissance du Cinema demonstrat.es boy in ~ Terrae) and in La Glace _il ~~
m ' F:h'.'2 (jC);'(\)
that by 1925, the aesthetic position or the movement had he carried the principle of SUbJectivity into till' fOJ'1lI llf
been codified, a conclusion whicl1 vindicut,es tllose his\.,)\'- the film by structuring the
narrative around three women'::;
ians who dub Impressionism "the avant-go.rdo2 of l'):"~." 1\,
distinct attitudes toward a young man, as revealed in an
is also significant that no new concepts were added to
series of flashbacks. Again, none of these di-
Impressionist film theory per ~ after 1925·
was pursued by others. Clair turned to a satiric
The Impressionist film style continued after 192q
rendering of Labiche's Italian Straw Hat and then to a independently weal thy Jean Renoir' began financ:i Ilf; l1i,' ,)\1n

semi-abstract documentary, La Tour (1928). Most 1I11'I'l'Ilr'i~ll first film. In 1926, Dulac broke with ct1ll\merci:lI rUms

were the changes in Dulac, who' from a se t'ipt by AI'taud 1l1:1,k to make films on her own, Epstein founded his ()WII ,',l\Up:1I1y

a quasi-Surr'ealist 'film La Coquille cto h' Cl(,'rgymilll (l9:::'(), (Les Films de Jean Epstein), and KirsGl\lw P!'t~ll\i"I'e'd hi,~

which in i t.s dream-structure lacked t.lle typj '~:ll [mpl'"s- film Menilmontant, made entirely 1'r'ce or st.ud i e) l'l'l)n,)llli ,'';.

sionist concern with narrative. Later, Dulal"~' wor'!, Although working for the commercial syst,em had f;iVl)t1 till'

intersected with that of another avant-garde, tile abst.rQcl- Impressionists enough maneuvering room 1'0\' t.lwil' ,':-;p"l·illl"ll\.'"

film movement. Her later films, such as Disque ~127, TI10lTl~'s to coalesce into a unified style, freedom fl'l)lll t!lat sy::,t,>;:;

et Variations, Germination ~ un Haricot (all 1928) and encouraged each to pursue idiosyncratic lin",s M' st.ylis\ i,'

Etude Cinegraphique ~ ~ ArabeSque (1929), bea!' tile' il\- interest. The stylistic diffusion of the llllW<;'nlc'llt ill \il<'

. fluence of Leger, Eggeling, and other makers of abst,l':.tl't· years' after 1925 is thu.s partly attributable to tl1~ gre~:ll ~'1'

films. How can one explain such stylistic diffusion il\ degree of production freedom gained by the Impressionist

the movement? film-makers.

Apart from idiosyncrasies ·01' temperament of tl1t~ Related to this factor is the growth of speciali~ed

film-makers, the causes of the stylistic diffusion in thl~ theatres in the years 192!l-1929, a phenomenon Wlli<:h pl'ovidt'd

films of the 1926-1929 period may be found in several an alternative financial base for experimental pr'odttl't.iLH\.

external factors. First, until 192~-1925, virtu~lly ~ll An independent film could get at least a f,'W SC1'e't~l1iI1Gs

. the Impressionists were' either directly employed by l~ll't;e at Tedesco's Vieux ColombieI' or Tallier's Studio dc'S Urs~­
I

fir~s (e.g., Gance, L'Herbier, Dulac) or worked 1'01' smull lines. The effect was twofold. li'irst, tile fi 1m wa,; likt'ly

indepen<knt. t'i rmfl that offered a degree of' l,lti t.ud,' in to he a short one, chiefly beeause of thE' smallt'l' ;1lTlOllllt.

experimentation (e.g., Delluc's work for Nalpas, Epstt'in'" of money invested in the production. 'L'hll'; Lill' ,~e>tHli t.inll';

for Kamenka's "Albatros"). But in 1924, Gance and L'lkrbic'1' of the market for screening caused most Impressionists

formed th.eir own production companies (Films Abel Ganceand (like their counterparts in other avant-garde movements)

"Cinegraphic" respectively). In the same year, the to make much shorter films than they had previously.
 :' Ij ';

Epstein's La ~ ~ Trois Faces (1927), La Chut~' dc' 2.0-

Maison ~ (1928), and ~ 'I'errae (J 'F"), Fkll"i I"~; at Ie Clergyman was denounced by its sc('nari~,L At 'L:\ \ld :1:;;

Charleston (1927) and La Petite Marchande d'l\llullIl'l'.L,',; a travesty of Surrealism. 43 Th e abstract-film rnovc'IIH::'llt,

(1928), Dulae's La COJl!:!.ill e et 1.5:. gJ.,'r't\yrll~~ (!I);"(), l~l0..(1.0~ however, was not only influenced by Impressionist I'j 1m

' et Variations (1<..):.:t1), Gel'l11irlat.ioll 0...:.~ style and film theory but i t ·
n 'Ul'n lnfluenct,d .lmpl'essionistn.
927 (192),
8 Themes
(1928), and ~ Cinegraplliq\l<" CillJ' un,' AI'alw~;q\l" Specifically, the ab s t,rac t - [ '11 m movement. OWt~S IIl\lell or its
Haricot
( 9 "6) , ~"11J Clair's La stylistic impet~E to the Impressionl·st.",' debnt.c' over' "pure
(1929), Kirsanov's ~enilmontant 1,
, 1 th from ten minut,~s tL) an hL)Ul'-- film," Twot s ran d s of Impressionist film tl1eoJ'y--tht'
Tour (1928) range ln eng
short enough to be financed privately and ~;h()wn :)~; assumption of cinematic specificity an d t'
',10 all:11,'t~i,'~, dl':n~n

Mo re significantly, if til<' with musical rhythm--were pursued to their

. ultimate conclu-
film at specialized theatres.
film-maker were certain that a specialized audiencewel'e 1,)
sion by the theory of the abstract or "pure" 01' "integral"
see the film, he or she could push stylistic innovathm film. Like the abstract-film theorists, Impress ionist'

further than under the mass-market distribution syst~m. theorists raised the POSS1'b"111ty of "pure rhythm," which

It is thus no accident that the late Impressionist rilm~ Canudo found present in La _Roue and Whl'ch Moussinac propile-

are much more esoteric in style than the earlier ,)Ih'~: sied in Naissance du Cinema. 44 Of all the Impressionist

the assurance of an elite audience encouraged film-nmkel's theorists

. , Germaine Du 1 ac gave the strongest SUppOl't for
. an d Dulac to make much more compressed, ellip-
like Epsteln the abstract-film movement ~ s position, for s.l1e ut. i l j ZL'd

tical fi Ims than they had earlier'. musical analogy more insistently tl
' lun most, c'rh' "poke
A third factor in the stylistic diffusiOI1 ,11' tile longingly of "la symphonie v~suelle
~ que je r6ve J'~crire
' )\\
f as \ llC 'I'll'~ mi,il1k jour, lointain helas!
movement operated in a more roundabou,t , Mettra en scene moins de person-
-garde film movemellts emerg,,: , ira plus loin dans les J'eux de 1 umHn'e
.,
and late 1920's saw new av.ant P,\I n' , , . S ' 0va-
'lm (after 1924) and then the Surreal toute logique litteraire pour ne jouer e0tnme .In
first the abstract f1
film (after 1926). Surrealism seems to have had little musicale avec les sensatl'ons.rr45 She found similar .
influence on the Impressionists; even Dulac's Coquille literary qualities in La Roue, wherein:
 la psychologie devenait dependante d'une cadence.
Les personnages n'etaient plus les seulfact.eurs
importants de l' oeuvre, mais la longueur d,~s images,
leur opposition, leur ~ccord tenaient un role primor-
dial A cate d'eux. Rails, locomotives, chaudiere,
roues, manometre, fumee, tunnels~ un dralllc nouveau,
brutal, compose d 'une juxtaposi tion de mouvem(~nts
bruts, de deroulements de lignes se transJ\ll'mant,
se developpant en une courbe logique et sensiblE'
surgissait. La conception de l' ar't du mouv('m...:nt
rationnellement compris reprenait ses droits, nOllS
conduisant magnifiquement vel'S la symphonie visuelle
placee hoI'S des formules connues. 4b
In 1925, Dulac began calling her conception l)f
cinema "le film integral," arguing that it would share
music's capacity to arouse feeling through juxtaposition
of abs"Eract units. 47 Eventually, she' identified the in\.t'-
gral film with pure evocation, as when she maintained
that in this integral film "l'expression est compos~e
de rythmes visuels materialises en des formes epurees
de tout sens trap precis."48
Following the lead of Dulac and others, the artists
and theorists of abstract· cinema readily pushed the
ce~t of purism toward nonrepresentational mise-en-sc0ne
and non- t\~\ r'l'~l t i ve form. Ci nema is not 1 i mi ted te)
tation, wrote Henri Chomette, for rhythm can engl'lld,·r a
"pure" cincma. 49 'Pierre Porte noted that many cinensl.cs
sought not to record an action but to capture "L'ideal
meme de taus les arts, l'ideal d'elever l'esprit hoI'S la
matiere," thus attaining "les memes transcendantes emotions
que nous dispensent la poesie ou la musique. "50 ,]'Ilt' Im-
pressionists' search for cinematic specificity W3S t~xtelhl-
ed to an elimination of all materials ClHlImon to 1 itt'r~ltUJ'" ell'
theatre and film. Cinema should not use languilr;c;. thus
ensued the long debate over the propriety of dialogu{' ti-
tles. 51 Cinema, it was urged, should not tell sturies. "As
long as the film is based on fiction or the theatre,"
~'Ul'" claimed Leger, "It will be nothing.,,52 Though Impression-
ists frequently called this or that film a "visual symphony,"
the term was used either for emotional effect or as a sug-
gestion that its formal organization was akin (ill some
unspecified way) to that of music, Of the Impressionists,
only Dulac used the term to suggest an abstract cinema.
In effect, the theory of the abstract cinema extendt?d 311d
deepened the musical analogy. Cinema C3n juxtapose ab-
stract images in a .rhythm purged of reference; it thus b~'-
l~()ll- comes, for the abstract-film movement, a visual music, a puri-
fied system that does not represent reality. The painter
l"'p \',)5 (' 1\- Marcel Gr~maire claimed that "La musique visuel]e, fait
de couleurs et de formes, etant infiniment riche ell combin-
aisons, les sentiments A traduire devront se pr~senter
sous forme de symboles qualitativement tr~s vari~s.~~
As was shown in Chapter I, the distinction between
the Impressionist avant-garde and the abstract film avant-
garde was recognized at the time. 54 Relations were not
 :' II ()
247

always cordial, as lengthy polemics alld d,.'bat('~ ('V,'I' Although Impressionist films of the latl' 1920'5 s!1"w lit.\1<."

Ilpure filmll'and Ilvisual music ll testify.

1)1)
Soviet influence, some of th
; e cr~. tical l'nCl'gy tl1:1 t 11:1d
, wor'k wa'" affec ted by \,hL' :1 be \.1':1 <' \, \'[ 1111" so strongly sustained the movenwnt shirL,'d
Impressionists -
the years 1924-1929. Bursts of rapidly edHed :111Stl':l(~\· L§on Moussinac, a close friend of Da.1J,u"'s all rl :1 ma,j (I)'
, ¥ -

imagery within a ,
narrat~ve
t t
con'ex· md'y .l1'L j'Olllld jll I.' 11<'1'- :'>UPPOI't,0r' of the Impressionist movell\c'nt, becam,~ r~1sl'inatt~d

bier's L'Inhumaine and Gance's NapolC'c)l1. J,':ln El's\,c'.in':' by the Soviet style and went to Russia to st.udy (.l1l' cinema. ')8

Photogfinies (1925), now unfortunately]ost., W3S by n\] The result was Le Cinfima Sovietique, a bool{ which did for

accounts a plotless, purely abstract fi 11ll; l:ltt:'l' Ep:;\,c'i 11 the Soviets what Naissance du Cinfima had done t'cw the

a sionists. I t '~s .
Poss~ble
L Glace
films ( e.g., -2: Trois
_ F_aces and Finis '1\')"1':1") that once the lmpressi,)llist st.yl
' F'inally, as 1I1L'11\ i,'Il('ci had coalesced by 1925> the following year's revc' laLi c'll l'r'
contain moments of total abstrac t ~on. ,
. Dulac, whose theoretic'al pl>onouIlCc'Ill('llIS :1:1d the Soviet style im.pelled Impress'onl'~t
~ film-makel'S tc'
above, Germa~ne ..L

shown an affinity for the abstract-film movemellt., ev,'n\ U:1 Lly explore in more diversified directions.
'1 h ·11' To ','.n extent, th,'Il, The stylistic diffusion of tbe late 1920's films,
made several abstract f~ ms erse. u

20' owes something however, cannot Wholly account l' or··th e cessation e)f Impl'es-
the stylistic diffusion of the l a t 19
e'S

to the emergence of a new avant-garlie movement. sionism as a stylistically and ideoloe;ically co!1c'l'el1t move-

A final factor--indirect and difficult to g3u~~-- ment. Again, external commercial forces seem tIle most perti-

in the stylistic diffusion of ttle 11llpr'essionit;\' IIIc'velilC"nt nent causes. In th e years 1927-1929,. the independence which

, t 1"1 on Frencl1 SCl't:'ens :lft,'r the Impressionists prized became more and more difficult to
is the appearance of Sov~e ~ ros
~
'fhanks to Leon MOUss';Y1aC'"~ ilLes Amis du ~;P:ll't.ClCUS" sustain. With the cost of a feature f';lln
avera£;l- nt.; ol1e-
1926. ..L ..L

cinfi-club, Potcmkin's Paris premier,' was :1 hllGc~ cT'it.ic:l1 half million francs by the late 1920's and 11t:.'l'l'i"t'~o

success, and French film journals praised tIll' 1'.i 1.111 ('>:\,,-'11- government driven to instituting·a control commission to

sively.56 There followed screenings of Pudovki 11' 5 ~ shore up the French Cl' nema 'sf '~nances, ~9
- the Impl'esl>ionists
critically popular, and vere hard pressed to retain their freedom. Furthermore,
and The End of St. Petersburg, also
an essay by Pudovkin was translated and pUblished.?7 the industry was bec'oming far less tolerant of Impressionist
 rna volont§. ,,61 The industrial and technc)logi\':l 1 1'\'(.1'\'11<'\1-
stylistic aberrations. French firms were still tr'Y Lng tc'
ment attending the arrival of sound film in the 1:1\."1' !\l;'l)'S
woo audiences away from American and Gel'man films, :llld thc'
further contributed to stifling the Impressionist movemellt.
Impressionist movement had failed to do GU. L00ll ~l\)II~~~,in:h'
The 1930's thus witness Impressionists e;elJ(:~ral1y suecumldnf,:
saw the post-1926 prospects as bleak: ltll'ge £'it'1118 We'I'" ~qUC>I'­
to commercial projects. All were employed making films,
zing out independent prOduction, L'Herbiel"s and Du1nc's
but from the least fortunate, Dulac (who supel'vised news-
production companies were absorbed by Natan' s "Cin~-rl)mans"
reels for Gaumont), to the most fortlll13tl', L'lJc'l'bi.\'l'
firm, and Gance' s company was dissolved ar1d· Napoleon
(who directed no fewer than twenty-one films ill the lq~O's),
turned over to producers fo~ cutting. In 1927, Andre
all believed that their best creative work was past. As
Obey asked plaintively:
L'Herbier put it, "For ten years--1918-19,'S--1 lIlade the'
Que rest-t-il de tous nos r§ve~ de l'apr~s-guerre,
dites, les ArnoUx, les Moussinacs, et les Epsteins, films I chose in the way I intended. The' next t.en yea!'s
les Farnoux-Reynaud et les Galtier-Boissiere"? Que
reste-t-il de notre foi, une foi qui avait cent were years of misfortunes and commercial ~onstraints.,,6~
visages--le sport, 1e th§ltre, la musique et ce
cinema justement--tant de visages mais un seul Although unavailability of key films makes conclusions about
corps et tress§ de muscles si jeunes? II faut
le dire: nous sommes tous ruines~ On a tous cru the 1930's careers of the Impressionists tentative at. best,
a je ne sais quel age de pierre, quel age d'or. it is evident that the Impressionist style fell out of
La speculation intellectuelle ne no us a pas mieux
reussi que l'autre--aux autres. Quant au rnjeunisse-
ment des cadres, crest un reve de sous-lieutenant. fashion in the early sound films of vie;o, Clair, :1110. RCllC'i1'.
Les cadres, en France, sont des cellules. II a
fallu qu'on sly ,case tous corome on a pu. Et main- As a stylistically and ideologically unified movt'lIlc'nt, t\1en,
tenant que l'ordre regne a Paris, 00 gagne penible-
ment sa croate sous Ie signe du 3%.60 French Impressionism may be said to have eeasect by 1030. As

By the end of the 1920's, the major Impt'essionists I shall suggest below, however, the st.y10 i tSl'] t' c'\'11Villue'ct

were in difficult financial positions. Epstein's firm, fot' to operate in a more general fashion 131".l'l' ill ri llil 11ist.\11',Y.

example, went out of business in 1928, while L'llt~l'l)j",l' Iw1d

Assessment
a press conference in 1929 to denounce "Cine-Rnmans" for'
screening his L' Arge·nt in "une version coupee, remaniee, We are left, then, with a movement whose films

transformee en dehors de moi sans mon autorisation et contre exhibit stylistic changes in three phases: pictorialism
(beginning around 1~18), montage (beginning in 1923), and
 ,'50
stylistic diffusion (beginning in 1926). 'rlw tlleoret. ico 1
work of' the movement does not become distim:t. 1111t.iJ tht' .l"\~'­
1924 period and is codified as, a position in lC);''); HSt'It'
a product of Symbolist assumptions, Tmp!'l~G:o~ic"l1i:;t U1\'()r'y
comes by 1924 to influence the theory of the sbatract-
film movement. The cultural activities of Uw Il\OVtOlllc:l1t,
begin to gather force in the 1918-1922 pepiod, and t".l1t' Ct'll'-
tral institutions- -journals, cine-clubs, and spel~ L11i:',(;'d
theatres-- are entrenched by 1925 and cl"l1til1ll" thl'l'\lGlwtll
the decade. Significant causes for these changes may be
found in external production conditions, other avant-gard~
movements, and innovations by individual film-mal<ers. B\I t
as these external causes affected the growth of the move-
ment, so too did they operate in bringing it to an end
around 1928.
Cinema history is still to uncharted a pealm
for large-scale surveying to be anything but tentative.
Nevertheless, it seems clear that Impressionism n~y be
consider~d the first avant-garde movemont in Frencll film
and, possibly, the world. ,It is noteworthy that. the mov,'-
ment defined itself by opposition to most established film
practice and sought to change the mediurnradiDally. Like
most avant-garde movements, Impressionism insisted on sty-
listic and theoretical renovation, as is apparent in
21)1
Germaine Dulac's definition of an avant-gonit' ri 1m: "t'Hlt.
fi 1m dont 1<1 tt)chnique, uti list'e t'll VIll' d' 1111,' "\f'I'l";'~ i ,'11
renouvelee de l'irnage et du son, I'ompt.,.' aVt~C 1,,:; l'l':hli-
tiorw 6tab1ies pour' rechercher dans II:.' d()1I1:1illl' ,\II'i"t'l'-
ment visuel et auditif .,,63 The movement pLlced :1 l~Ol'l't~"-
ponding faith in the future of l.lle mediulIl. 111 0l'l1c'IllQS,
Dulac offered the volume as sketches for a fut,ul'''' cinem~,
admitting that the avant-garde's position was not completely
realized in current film practice. 6lJ 'l'he lic'm:lIld t\H' Cl"n:;:t ant
stylistic renewal and advance was also cllaruct.t'ri:;:t.i,' or
Jean Epstein, who called in 1924 for "a new avant-ga!'de"
and who a year later wrote that with the Cl'yst:lliZ:l!,j,"n
Impressionist style, "Le style 'pompier' apparait J~s
que l'invention cesse.,,65 The entire movement gives off
an eXhilarating hope of further exploration that justifies
Rene Clair's claim that "We like the cinema Ill"t so much
for what it is as for what it will be.,,66~
Such zeal did not prevent the movement. [l't1m U(~qu
ing shortcomings which were' as apparent to SOlllt' ('()nt"lllpor:l-,
ries as to us today. In the first. pla0e, lit:finingitsclf
by negation set the movement against film-makt'"rs ,)1' undenia-
ble quality. In particular, Feuillade and Perrd, wept'
unfairly treated; ironically, today's taste finds the sober
mise-en-scene of Feuillade far more interesting than
the sUbjective camerawork and accelerated c'dit.ine: \11' t.1\c'
for example, argued that all advanced art must distinguish

Impressionists. The point was made by a cTit.ic in tl1,,' itself from the tastes of the crowd. 70 In their eagerness

1920's, who admitted th n tleCessl'ty

. t"or (1n av'ln t;-(';(1]',j ,"
~
to create an audience for avant-garde works, the Impres-

but criticized the avant-garde's dismissal of exce]],'I1t. sionists often appealed to elitism. "Le Cin€ma n'a pas

commercial film-makers. 67 Furthermore, by set.ting t.ht'llI- encore ses snobs," wrote Delluc. "II profite de quelques

selves so strongly in opposition to a "theatrical" st.y10, groupes mondains amenes par des cinephiles affilies aces

the Impressionists found it hard to adapt when th~lt. st.yle gracieuses coteries, c'est tout. Dans des pays comme la
. France, l'Allemagne, l'Angleterre un snobisme de la photo-
bec~ more flexible'--and, indeed, somewhat clost'1' to tllt'
Impressionist ideal. Given their mission of st.ylisth- genie eut certainement favorise Ie succ~s et l'influence

and theoretical renovation, the Impressionists' exdusivity d1une minorite intelligente. u71 The Impressionists may

is understandable as polemic but difficult. to justify fr"111 have recognized the contradiction in seeing cinema as a
mass art whose renovation is comprehensible only to an elite,
a more comprehensive critical perspective.
Equally understandable--and equally shortsighted-- but they never resolved it. The cineaste was put in the

is the contradictory view which Impressionists took of t.he, curious position of convincing the public that its desires

audience. On one hand, Delluc, Clair, and others salut.ed are contrary to the advancing spirit of the cinema. Canudo

the cinema as a new popular art. DelluG wrote: "L' ~li t.e-- saw the problem as that of enriching visual style at the

qu'elle dit--a bien tort de ne pas s'apercevoir de l'impor- same time as one educated mass tastes. 72 The Impressionist
movement created its own elite audience, but in its early
tanc~ d'un tel €ven€ment. II nous surgit un art popul'lire
veritabl o ."68 phase such a specialized audience could not totally support
c ,C'j' alI' pOlnted
• out that young people were dr:lwl1
the movement. and tile approval of a gct1eral public was nti 11
to the cinema because it was the'only art that "s"":'l11ed
necessary. Further more, the contradictory attitude toward
destined for" :11] men, whatever
, thel'r sO'l'al
• , .. < ,],"S8, '1 aI1GlWt~l',
C,

various segments of the audience often appeared as a split

or natl'on."69 () Il th e 0 t her hand, Impressionist wr'iters
of form and content in the films themselves. In Feu
stressed the need of a dedication to stylistic experiment
Mathias Pascal, Kean, and some other films, Impressionist
which in turn demanded an educated ,audience. Paul Ramain,
 255

style is at odds with a conventional narrative. 'l'lw I rnpl'l':;-

in a devastating three-part essay by Henri Fe"Ce'U1't Gnd J.

sionists who made films for the mast, ;llld'it'nee' w"rl' ce'I1:;(~\''\I'' L. Bouquet, L'Idee ~ L'Ecr-an (Paris, 1~)~)C». Illl,llie;

of the contradiction but usually l'e1Hllved it, by app,,;ll t e' ironic series of dialogues, the authors ;ltt:llci\ Ilh' ;JV:lnt,-
garde's excessively narrow definition of pure cin~ma, its
the stereotype of the imprisoned arti~t. Hel'l' i,,, Dulac:
() lJ 1 ivj I) LI :: II <: lJ "-' I,U C .L1lUIIICl I lJ "
ul'lgl.lIt: UIIL! the" VII Ill,' ,) I' Il:Il'l'~l-
"Sans doute demanderez-vous dans leqilld d" cu::; ['j.llll:: .i ':, i
tive, and its preoccupation with techniqu~'. Fescl'ur-t and
applique les principes que je vous ai exposes tout a
l'heure. C'est que je ne suis pas libre; je depends du Bouquet point out that from the perspective or lTeative

public, un pUblic auquel on a raconte 6es histot'iettes, qui practice the assumption of an autonomous art possesses no

ne veut pas revenir de ses erreurs pour exercer utilement great advantage: "Quelle necessite e a-t-il pour' les arts

son sens visuel."13 One way or another, <2ach Impr't,::;siold"t d'§tre separes les uns des autres par des cloisons ~tan-

reached his or her own practical compromise with the p1'0bl~m
of elitism, but the fissure in their avant-garde ideology
remained.
Aside from the errors of excluding certain
ches? Quelle benefice retirent-ils de cette soi disant
independence?,,74 The authors anticipate-Jean Mitry's
criticism of the movement in their analysis of Impressionism'l
fuzzy conception of pure rhythm and especially in their

directors from consideration and of marking off a cinematic insistence on cinema as a "second-degree" art: "Lt? cinema

elite, we could follow critics like Jean Mitry and Jacques n'est nullement un art par essence, ce qui Ie differencie

Brunius and itemize other defects in the Impressionist de la musique, de la poesie, et encore de la peinture.,,15

movement. In striving for experiment, Impressio~st style Deipite theoretical difficulties with their own position,

sometimes collapses into either pomposity (e.g., some of Fescourt and Bouquet deserve credit for analyzing the

Gance's and L'Herbier's works) or ineonsisteney (~'.!:5., theoretical and stylistic premises of the Impl't'Sedonist

the frequent failure to unify an entire film stylistically movement with more critical verve and precision than any

and thematically). As Chapter III has suggested, moreover. other writers of the time. Such polemic was essential if

Impressionist theory is sketchily developed and frequently the movement was to renovate itself as it hoped.

obscure. All of th~se problems were isolated at the time Any estimate of the historical significance of
 Impressionist movement must consider both its short-range
and long-term influenc~. It is apparent from this study
that Impressionist writing, cultural activities, and film
style had a strong immediate impact. The polemical
journalism of Delluc and others attracted attention to
film; the work of Tedesco, Tallier, and others created
permanent showcases for films of artistic quality; the cine-
club movement gathered a new audience for cinematic experi-
mentation. Impressionist film theory dominated French
thinking about the cinema throughout the 1920's. NDt
only was Impressionist film style imitated by the conuner-
cial cinema but it was paid the backhanded compliment of
being reacted against by other avant-garde movements.
Major film-makers were decisively influenced by Impressionism:
when Jean Renoir saw Le Brasier Ardent, he decided to aban-
don ceramics and ta}ce up film-making;76 Marcel Carne's
first film, Nogent, Eldorado du Dimanche is stylistically
indebted to Impressionism; the pillow fight in Vigo's
Z6ro de C,>nd\\ i Lt' was undoubted influenced by [l similar'
scene in Gance's NapDleon and the plot and style of Vigo's
L'Atalante seems a direct offshoot of Epstein's La Belle
Nivernaise. As Chapter II has suggested, Impressionism's
short-range effects were felt in other art media as well:
poets like Soupault, Desnos, Aragon, and Cocteau, composers
like Honegger and Milhaud, and graphic artists like Mall~t­
Stevens and Leger reveal the impact of the movcml~nt j n
their 1920' s works. Outside France, Uw influt'nc:,~ ,,1'
Impres s ionism was fe 1 t strongly in the burgeon in£; s l'l100 1
of Soviet cinema. Before 1925, Jay Leyda has recorded,
·
Gance was the most respected French d lrec t or. 77 I mpres-
sionist theory was also available to the Soviets, with Del-
luc's Photogenie being published in Moscow in 1924 and Mous-
sinac's.Naissance du Cinema being published in Leningrad
in 1926.78 Around 1926, Ilya Ehrenburg brought to Moscow
several extracts from avant-garde films by Gance, Clair,
Epstein, Renoir, and Kirsanov; there is a strong possibility
that these extracts had an effect on such films as Eisen-
stein's October and Pudovkin's End of St. Petersburg (hoth
1927), which exhibit an accelerated· rhythmic editing not
prominent in previous Soviet wQrk. 79 Moreover, Gance has
reported that Eisenstein told him that La Roue was assid\l-
ously studied by all novice Soviet directors. 80 In short,
lrnpresslonisrn' 8 influence wal3 considcNJ.bl1j not CJnly ill
France but also, probably, in Soviet Russia.
Impressionism has exercised long-range effects
as well. The journals, cine-clubs, and specialized thea-
tres which it engendered long outlasted the movement itself.
Impressionist theory played a decisive role in establishing
what Victor Perkins in Film as Film (London:Penguin, 1972)
has called the "orthodox" theory of the silent Cil\I~l1Ia,
theory, a film culture of l'lvely longevity, :\nd :'Onl" film,1
and Impressionism's influence may be detected tod:"yil1 till'
ot' considerable artistry, th e F' rench Tmprcs,;il)l1isL 1I1\)V0-
work of Jean Mitry, although Mitry's theory is Cal' subtle]'
ment has bequeathed us a per1Tl3nCI\t el,·, ••·..,]· I'C'. Ll) t'Xp ll)!'l'
than his predecessors'. Moreover, Impn:ss.iollisL 1''[ lrn~;
certain artistic possibj Ii ties of th:.\1·,
~ L~ n i r: tll:-1 __ ~ ~'E~~.lJ..:: .
have been studied by students and aspiring ri 111l-m;\I(~'I'S
as exempla of cinematic technique, and some of Llh: lIIen;\'

aesthetically interesting films in cinema history--La

Roue, Napoleon, La £rlace ! Trois Faces, and others--
have been produced by the movement. Finally, there are
grounds for suggesting that French Impressionism created
a model for a certain set of stylistic devices wh1ch has
reappeared in films made in other countries and other
times. That is, just as we may distinguish between the
German Expressionist movement and a broader stylistic
trend we call "expressionism," perhaps we may distinguish
between the French Impressionist movement and a broad
stylistic trend of "impressionism." The "dream-sequence"
of Hollywood cinema of the 19lJO's, as in Farewell My Lovely
or' Spellbound; the trance-films of the New American Cinema
of the 19lJO's and ~950's; and contemporary films such as
Widerberg's Elvira Madigan, Bergman's Persona, and A:l\.m"n's
Images--all draw on a repertoire of stylistic devices which
was first articulated in the films of the French Impres-
sionists. Besides, then, an incomplete but provocative
 Notes
1Germaine Dulac, "LeCinema 'Avallt.-G~)hjc',"
in Henri Fescourt, ed., Le Cinema (f':1I'h1:
Ed. dtt CY1~,II".
1932), pp. 357-36~. Henri Langlois, "L' I\vant.-l1~ll'dL" 1"1':111-
c;aise," Cahiers du Cinema no. 202 (Julw-July !'H,8), ~i-HL
2It is possible that Andr0 Antoine's carly films
(pow almost all lost) anticipated some devices of Impres-
sionist style. For information on Antoine's C3l'f'er, see
Philippe Esnault's interviews and biofilmography in Revue
du Cinema: Image et Son no. 271 (April 1973), lj-6~. - - -
3Dulac, p. 359.
4S ee Charles Pathe, De Pat he Freres a Path0 Cine-
ma (Paris: Premier Plan, 1970), passim.
5S ee Le Tout Cinema 1923 (Paris: "Filma," 19.~4),
pp. 538-5~0.
6Pierre Leprohon, Jean Epstein (Paris: Sc'gllt'l'S,
196~), pp. 33-3'1. .
7Juan Arroy, "Abel Ganl'e: Sa Vie, Son 00UV1'~',"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 3 (15 December 1923), 5-10.
8 0n Delluc's love of Wagner, see Eve Francis,
Temps Heroiques (Paris: Denoel, 19~9), pp. 22, 248-249.
On Wagner's status in Paris, see Evelyn Hurard, "Apl"r<;u
sur Ie gout musical i Paris en 1913," in L. Brion-Guerry,
ed., L'Annee 1913 (Paris: Klincksieck, 1971), pp. 513-526.
Other essays in this remarkable volume offt'r many insight.s
intq prewar Frpnch art and aesthetics.
'9Francis, Temps Heroiques, pp. 79, 1')·~.
lOJean Epstein, Bonjour CinemD (l':n'is: ":d. du
Sirene, 1921), pp. 31-38.
l l Lou is Dellul', Cinema et Cie (Pal'is: Gl':lSSl't.,
1919), pp. 231-232.
12Germaine Dulac, "Chez D. W. Griffith," Q~nea
no. 7 (11 October 1919), 15.
13S ee La Courrier Cinematographique IX, 41 (I I
October 1919), 15.
1 1.jSee Cinea no. 11 (1'5 July 19;11), ri.
15Louis Delluc, "Les CinC:ll1\.":"," MOltlkJ'J~~':::":lU.
(15 August-1 September 1922), 43.
16Rayrnond Williams, '1'l1e Long Revo]ut.it)11 (L,'lldt'll:
Penguin, 1961), 67.
17 Louis Lumiere' s contribut iun tt' th0 t'ilh'l:U
was well-known in the 1915-1925 period; Ill" becJ.m,' :1 t:lt'ml'<'l'
of l'Acadernie des Sciences in 1919 and W3S !lont1l'e,(j l'y :1
gala banquet in 1920. The work of his contempor'J.l'y t~e"l'G""
Melies however was almost totally neglected before
1925, ~hen Meli~s 1 contributions to the history tlf film
style was finally recognized. See Pierre Henry, "Le's
Moyens d'Expression Crees pour Ie Recit Visuel," ~ill;;~)­
Cine pour Tous no. 30 (1 February 1925), 1b-19; Hem';,:,
IILe Film Franc;ais," Cahiers du Mois no. Hi- ~ 7 ~ (itL'S) ,
195-201; and the ~lelies lssue of Revue du Clllt:'nW no. !I
(15 October 1925), ~-41.
18Delluc, Cinema et Cie, p. 119·
19Henri Diamant-Berger, "Du Sang Nouveau," !:.:: Fi 1l1!
no. 56 (9 April 1917), 5.
20Quotecl in Georges Sadoul, Ilistoire Gt>n01'3.h' du
Cinema vol. III, part 2 (La Premiere Guerre MOlldiale:),
(Paris: Denael, 1952), p.~2~
21Rene Clair,Cinema Yesterday and TOda~, tr:-lJls. l'y
Stanley Applebaum (New York: Dover, 1973), p. 12l.
22Riccioto Canudo, Usine des Images (Genevn:
Office Centrale d'~dition, 1927), p. 128.
23Quoted in Jean Mitt'y, Ilisl-olrl; du Cln0ma vul. JI
(Paris: Editions Universitaires, 1969), pp. 436-4~7.
24 lb id.
25S ee , for instance
' , Edmond Epardaud,"La
. . "C Roue,"
Cinea no. 83 (12 January 1923), 6, and Luclen Wahl, ar-
net du Cinegraphie," Gazette des Sept Arts no. 2 [n.d.]
13.
 263

26Canudo, 128; See also Cinea-Cine pour' 'I'uus Ill). 40 Cl .

26 (1 December 1924), 5. alI', pp. 35, 85.

27Jean Epstein, Esprit du Cinema (Paris: Jelwbl'l', .

Clnea C' 41
~ R. T., "Le Nouveau Film de Mme. Germa i nt..' D 1 "
1955), pp. 79-102; Germaine Dulac, "Le Cinema d'Av:1I1t- - lne pour Tous no. 28 (1 January 1925), 25. u ac,
Garde," 357-36 1j . 1j2Clair, p. 29.
28 The standard biographies of Gance aI''' Sl1pl1i l'
43S ee Bettina L K .
Daria, Abel Gance Hier et Demain (Paris: La PaL·! Vim', Vision (New York: Avon 196 n9 a)pp, Antonln Artaud: Man of
1959), Rene Jeanne and Charles Forq, Abel Gance (Pm'is: , , p. 92.
Seghers~ 1963), and Kevin Brownlow, The Parade'~; Gem" 13y
(New York: Ballantine, 1968), pp. "J9b-:()51.---------- 44Canudo p. 129 s' ~ .
sance du Cinema ;epri t d . ee~also Leon Mousslnac, Nais-
Ingrat du C' > ' ( • n e ln Leon Moussinac, L~
29Louis Delluc, Photogenie (Paris: Grasset, 1Q20), p. 63. lnema ParlS: Editeurs Fran9ais Reunls, ~967),
p. 72.
3 0 L. Landry, "Le Simultaneisme," Journal dll l'in;'>- 45Quoted in Anonymous "Notre Avant-Garde aux
Club no. 6 (20 February 1920), 12. ----.-.-- Ar t s Decoratifs" C· , ,
1925), 11.' ' Inea-Cine pour Tous no. 46 (1 October
31Quoted in Jean Mitry, "Abel Gance NullS Parle
du Cinema," Cinea-Cine pour Tou$ no. 3 (15 December 1923), 46Quoted in Jeanne and Ford, p. 242.
8. . 47Germaine Dulac "L'Essence du Cinema: L'Idee
3 2 Canudo, 34. Vlsuelle," Cahiers d~Moi~ no. 16-17 (1925), 64-65.
48 G .
33Leon Moussinac, "Le Rhythme Cin§graphique," ermalne DUlac, "Le Sentiment a la Ligne,"
p. 27.
Le Crapouillot (March 1923), 20-22.
49 . .
34Germaine Dulac, "Du Sentiment a la Lignt'," in M. 6Henrl Chomette, "Seconde Etape," Cahl'ers du
Germaine Dulac, ed., Schemas (Paris: Impr.imateur Guten- ~ no. 1 -17 (1925), 86-88.
berg, 1927), p. 30. 5 0 p'lerre Porte, "Le Cinema
35S ee Jean Tedesco, "Le Brasier Ardent," Cinea ~ no. 52 (1 January 1926), 12. Pur," Cinea-Cine pour
no. 94 (15 June 1923), 6-9; Anonymous, "Cinea Illtel'l'o[';t' 51
Ivan Mosjoukine," Cinea no. 94 (1'5 June 192:3), 'iL)-I'); of titles, ~~:'f~~ro~f~~l:St?flSUCh~xchanges on the role
Canudo, 159-160. ---- SUjet des Sous-Titres ~ C.r,lC es: Llonel Landry, "Au
12; Leon Moussinac "T't lnea no. 63-64 (21 July 1922)
36 See "Coeur Fidcle at ] 'opinion dl' la l'l'l'S~;l'," II, 7 (1~ FebruarY'192~)res et Sous-Titres," Cinemagazlne
Cin&a-Cine~ 'fous no. :n (15 lJecl,1111wrI Q ;)!I), ?7<>R. Nous Parle du Cinema " C? ~05-?07; Jean Mitry, "Abt?l Gance
December 1923) 8. A' lnea-Cijnf--P.2!:!£. Tous no. 5 (J'5
~ 37Rene Jeanne and Charles Ford, Hi stoir.:.'_~!.!cy(;l"- Cinea-Cine P~u;T~u non y m0 us(, Fllm sans Sous-Ti tres,"
pedique du Cinema vol. I (Paris: Laffont, 19~7), p. 20 . Juan Arro ~ s no . .7 15 February 1924), 20-22;
3 8 Jean Epstein, "Pour une Avant-Garde Nouvelle,"
eine POU/TOu~0~~~t6B(~d;~~Z Nous Parle du C~nema,"~inea­
Textes et Images" 'Ci ~c:u~ry 1924), 8; Pl.erre Porte,
Cinea-Cine~ Tous no. 29 (15 January 1925), 27-30. 1927), 14-15.' nea- lne pour Tous no. 79 (15 Febru-
39S ee Marcel Tariol, Louis D~lluc (Paris: Seghers,
1965), p. 83. 52 Quoted in Clair, 20.
 53Marcel Gromaire, "Idees d'un Peintre sur le
Cinema," Le Crapouillot (1919), reprinted in Marcel L'Her
bier, ed., Intelligence ~u Cin~matographe (Paris: Correa,
1926), pp. 243-244.
54 Th is distinction is neglected by even as exem-
plary a historian as Jean Mitry, who collapses the "pure
film" posi tLons of Delluc and Epstein into those of Rich-
ter, Eggeling, and Leger. See Mitry, EsthetiquB Bt Psycho-
logie du Cinema (Paris: Editions Universltaires, 1963), pp.
329-346.
55For a series of exchanges in the "pure film"
polemic see the following: Pierre Porte, "Le Cinema Pur,"
Cinea-Cine pour TOus no. 52 (1 January 1926), 13; Pierre
Porte, "Une Setisation Nouvelle," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no.
64 (1 July 1926), 27-28; Henri Fescourt and J. L. Bouquet,
"Sensations ou Sentiments?" Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 66
. (31 July 1926), 14; Pierre Porte, "Muslque Plastique,"
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 68 (1 September 1926), 22-23; Henri
Chomette, "Cinema, Art Multiple ... ," Cinea-Cine pour Tous
no. 69 (15 September 1926), 9-10; Henri Fescourt and J. L.
Bouquet, "Sensation ou Sentiments?" Cinea-Cine pour Tous
no. 69 (15 September 1926), 15-16; Henri Chomette "cinema
Pur, Art Naissant," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 71 (15 October
1926, 13, Pierre Porte, "Replique," cinea-Cine pour Tous no.
71 (15 October 1926), 14-15; Paul Ramain, "A la Recherche
de l'Emotion Vraie," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 71 (15
October 1926), 15.
5 6s ee , for instance, Jean Oberle, "Les Films
Russes Censures," Le Crapouillot (July 1928), 37-38; Ida
Bantiger, "Quelques Mots sur Potemkine," Cinea-Cine pour Tous
no. 71 (15 October 1926),31-32; Michel Goreloff, "Comment
Fut Tourne Potemkine," Cines-Cine pour Tous no. 76 (1 Jan-
uary 1927), 10-11.
57V. I. Pudovkin, "Construction d'un Sci'nario,"
Revue du Cinema no. 3 (May 1929), n.p.
5 8Leon Moussinac, "Mise au Point," Cinea-Cine
pour Tous no. 97 (15 January 1928), 13-14.
59S ee Georges Sadoul~Le ~inema Fran9ais (Paris;
Flammarion, 1962), p. 141, and Paul Leglise, Histoire de
la Politique du Cinema Frangais (Paris: Librarie Generale
de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1970), p. 69.
60Andre Obey, "Musique et Cinema," Le Crapouillot
(March 192'7), 9·
61Jaque Catelain, Marcel L'Herbier (Paris: Vautril1,
1950), p. 105.
62Quoted in Georges Sadoul, Dictionary of Film
Makers, trans .by Peter Morris (Berkeley : University of
California Press, 1972), p. 154.
63Dulac, "Le Cinema d'Avant-Garde," p. 357.
64Dulac, "Du Sentiment i la Ligne," pp. 5-7.
65Jean Epstein, "Le Regard du Verre," Cahiers du
Mois no. 16-17 (1925), 12.
66 Cla ir, 104.
67 pau l de la Borie, "Propos d'Avant-Garde," La
Critique Cinematographigue II, 43 (17 September 1927),
3-4.
68Delluc, Photogenie, p. 118.
69Clair,·pp. 25-26.
70paul Ramin, "Pour une Esthetique Intellectuelle
du Film," Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 58 (1 April 1926),
13-14.
7 1Lou is Delluc, "Les Cineastes," Monde Nouveau
(15 August-l September 1922), 34.
7 2Canudo, p. 4!1.
73Marcel Zahar and Daniel Burret, "Une Heure
chez Mme. Germaine Dulac," Cinea-Cine~ Tous no. 63
(15 June 1926), 14.
74Henri Fescourt and J. L. Bouquet, L'Id~e et
l'Ecran (Paris: G. G; Haberschill and A. Sergent, 1925)
fascicule I, p. 23.
75Ibid., fascicule II, p. 7.
76 See Jean Renoir, "Souvenirs," in Andre Bazin,
Jean Renoir (Paris: Editions Champ-Libre, 1971), pp.
143-145.
 266

77Jay Leyda, Kino (London: Allen and Unwin, 1960),

p. 201.
78 Jean Narboni, "Introduction a 'Poetika Kino,'"
Cahiers du Cinema no. 220-221 (May-June 1970), 54.
79Ilya Ehrenburg, Truce: 1921-1933 (London: Mac-
gibbon and Kee, 1963), p. 124.
80 See Brownlow, p. 625.

APPENDIX A
FILMS EXAMINED FOR THE STYLISTIC
PARADIGM OF IMPRESSIONISM
 Non-Impressionist Narrative Films (8).
Note: Dates are those of initial showings.
L'Enfant de Paris (Perret, 1913).
Judex (Feuillade, 1916).
Impressionist Films (35). Le Coupable (Antoine, 1917).
LTAtlantide (Feyder, 1921).
La Dixieme Symphonie (Gance, 1918). Cralnqueblile (Feyder, 1923).
J'Accuse (Gance, 1919). Poil de Carotte (Duvivier, 1925).
Rose-France (L'Herbier, 1919). Nana TRenoir, 1926).
La Fete Esr-agnole (Delluc/Dulac, 1920). Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie (Clair, 1928).
L'Homme du Large (L'Herbier 1920).
Le Carnival des Verites (L'Herbier 1920)
Frevre (Delluc, 1921). ,. Non-Impressionist Abstract Films (7).
El Dorado (L'Herbier, 1922).
La Roue (Gance, 1922). Ballet M§canique (L§ger, 1924).
La Femm~ de Nulle Part (Delluc, 1922). Symphonie Diagonale (Eggeling, 1924).
La Sourlante Madame Beudet (Dulac, 1922). Clnema Anemic (Duchamp, 1925)·
Don Juan et Faust (L'Herbier, 1923)· Cinq Minutes de Cin§ma Pur (Chomette, 1926).
L'Auberr~e Rou~e (Epstein, 1923). DISQue 927 (Dulac, 1927;:-
Coeur Fldele Epstein, 1923). La Tour-rGlair, 1928).
,La ~ Nivernaise (Epstein, 1923)· Theme et Variations (Dulac, 1930).
Fait Dlvers (Autant-Lara, 1923).
Le Brasier Ardent (Mosjoukin, 1923).
L'Inhumaine (L'Herbier, 1924),
Paris Qui Dort (Clair, 1924).
Kean (Volkov, 1924).
L'Inondation (Dellu~, 1924).
~ Diable dans la Ville (Dulac, 1925).
Vlsages d'Enfants (Feyder, 1925).
Les Aventures de Robert Macaire (Epstein 1925).
Voyage Imaginaire (Clair, 1925). '
Feu Mathias Pascal (L'Herbier, 1926).
M~nilmontalft (Kirsanov, 1926).
SlX et Deml-Onze (Epstein, 1927).
Mauprat (Epsteln, 1927).
Charleston (Renoir, 1927).
La ~ de la Maison'Usher (Epstein, 1928).
La Petlte Marchande d'AITUmettes (Renoir, 1928).
La Glace a Trois Faces (EpstelD, 1928).
Frms Terrae-t"EPsteln, 1929).
LTArgent (L'Herbier, 1929).
 271
270

The followin::; is an outline of the find ings of

Chapter IV, supplemented by further evidence from the
films examined.
I. Characteristics of the Image.
fl. Camerawork

1. Camera distance: use of close-ups.

a. As synecdoches and symbols.
Many Impressionist films utilize close-ups
APPENDIX B
as synecdoches and symbolic images. In
AN OUTLINE PARADIGM OF IMPRESSIONIST
Fievre, the fraternization of sailors and
FILM STYLE, WITH SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
prostitutes in a bar is indicated by close-
ups of feet, watching monkeys, opened knap-
sacks, and exotic trinkets held up for
examination. Close-ups of musical instru-
ments during dance scenes are also frequent
(cf. L'Inhumaine, L'Inondation, Six et Demi-
Onze).The opening of Menilmontant com-
presses an axe-murder into a series of bru-
tal close-ups of the weapon and the faces
of victim and murderer. The extreme appli-
cation of such synecdochic close-ups comes
in Autant-Lara's Fait Divers, in which
many episodes of a love triangle are ren-
dered entirely in
close-ups of smiling or frowning lips, pursuing
feet, gesturing or pounding hands, pointing
pistols, and so on. Furthermore, in La Roue,
close-ups present the train wheels and the circu-
lar railway signals as symbols of the wheel
of fate to which the film's characters are
lashed. In La Belle Nivernaise, after a boy
has ~een adopted by a barge captain, ten years
pass; a close-up of a pair of young hands and
a pair of old ones tugging on the same rope
symbolize the two men's intimacy and cooperation.
In Coeur Fidele, the close-up of the scrawled
slogan "Toujours Fidele" on a wall passes
obvious comment on the lovers' affair. The
close-up of the Napoleon bust on Saccard's
desk in L'Argent suggests his domineering ambi-
tion. In L'Inhumaine, the young inventor's
attempt to bring the singer back to life by
machine is given significance by the many c108e-
ups of his apparatus, suggesting the forco
of modern technology as a whole. In Rose-
France, the repeated close-ups of the hero's
hand clasping a rose reinforce the title's
allegorical significance.
b. As sUbjective images.
Some aforementioned examples fall under this
category: the circular signal in La Roue
and the axe-murder in Menilmontant are present-
ed as perceived by a participant. In L'Auberge
Rouge, a fortuneteller's card predicting death
is seen from the victim'spoint-of-view in huge
close-up. The close-ups of the detective's
book of memoirs in Le Brasier Ardent emphasize
the significance they have for the frustrated
wife.
2. Camera angle: use of high-, low-, and medium-
angles to indicate optical sUbjectivity.
For example, a somewhat tilted low-angle is used
to suggest an old woman's askew perspective on
St. Antony in Le$ Aventures de Robert Macaire.
In Six et Demi-Onze, a low-angle shot of tall
trees is justified as the point-of-view of a young
man looking up. A hospital nurse is seen in a
low-angle shot, as if through the eyes of the
patient in bed in La Belle Nivernaise. Conversely,
in Don Juan et Faust, Dona Anna's view down a well
is naturally shown in a high-angle. High-angle
close-ups of boots and pistols in L'Auberge Rouge
 274
depict the glancing viewpoint of the Sheriff.
3. Camera movement.
a. Movement independent of the sUbject.
In L'HomID~ Q.1l. ~, for instance, our know-
ledge is delayed by a shot of a woman looking
off to the right which pans right to the clock
upon which her attention is fixed. In Le
Brasier Ardent, camera movement underlines
the climax of the scene of the detective's
farewell: the camera tracks in to the wife
who loves him and the shot goes out of focus.
L'Auberge Rouge contains a remarkable circu-
lar tracking shot around a dinner table, bring-
ing the diners one by one into prominence;
the continuous movement reveals a spatial uni-
ty that editing would have frA.gmented.
b. Movement for purely graphic effects.
One crucial example of this technique occurs
in the final sequence of Paris Qui Dort,
where camera movement independent of subject
becomes the source of comic visions of speed.
After the scientist's niece starts the world
going again, the following sequence of moving
camera shots follows:
275
1. (Is) Tracking shot down Paris street,
panning right.
2. (Is) Tracking shot down another street,
panning left.
3. (Is) Tracking shot down narrow street
quickly panning left. '
4. (ls) Tracking shot past building, panning.
left.
5. (Is) Tracking shot down street, panning righ
6. (ls) Tracking shot through park, panning
right.
7. (Is) Tracking shot down street.
8. (Is) Tracking shot through intersection.
The sense of vertiginous speed in this sequence
is due not only to the speeded-up action within
each shot and the brevity of the shots (the
longest is less than three seconds and the
shortest is less than a second) but also to
the camera movements,esp.ecially within the fir:
six shots. Each of the first six shots is both
a tracking shot (the camera as a whole ismovinl
and a panning shot (the lens is swiveled right
or left). The stylistic result is a dizzying
combination of right, left, and forward move~
ments that blur the filmed material to increase
the impression of speed,
c. Movement representing a character's point-of-
view.
Aside from the examples cited in the text of
Chapter IV, these examples are illuminating.
 In L'Argent, the pacing Baron Saccard's viewpoint
is indicated by a sUbjective tracking shot that
moves into a close-up of the Napoleon bust on
his desk. In La Chute de la Maison Usher,
several forward-tracking shots represent Usher's
point-of-view as he walks, and one--a rhythmic
backward-and-forward tracking shot--present
his viewpoint as he goes to and from Madeleine's
portrait. In Voyage Imaginaire, after a shot of
the clerk looking around a circle of witches
there comes a panning shot which stands for his
rotating view.
B. Mise-en scene.
1. Lighting.
a. Single light-source.
b. Shadows indicating offscreen actions.
Examples of this technique are plentiful.
In La Femme de Nulle Part, the meeting of
it Illl:lbl.llH.J and wife it\ ul1UWI\ in it
shot of the wife on the ground and the hus-
band's shadow, which slowly enters the frame
as he approaches. In J'Accuse, the capture
of a woman by Germans is rendered in a
shot showing her dominated by the clutching
shadow of a soldie~. In L~ Br~sier
the husband's anxiety is suggested by his
pacing shadow as it crosses and recrosses
a ticking clock. In L'Argent, as the count
leaves the conference room, his shadow looms
ominously over the giant map of the world.
In L'Inhumaine, the Arab following Claire is
frequently seen in the foreground pursuing
her silhouette moving behind a screen or
window. In L'Arg~nt, light flashes through
the colossal windows in the rear of Saccard's
office, supplying a reminder that while he
negotiates in the foreground, airplanes are
being built in his adjoining factory. In
L'Inhumaine, a mysterious gentleman tries to
call on Claire at her dressing room, but
she will see no one; the man comes to the
left foreground and in silhouetted close-up
waits as another man comes to the dressing-
1\\(.t1 i \\IT\-
room door; during the entlce acerl'", ehIJ.(]uwr;
of passersby move across the right middle-
ground of the shot.
c. Variety of lighting situations.
In La Chute delaMaison ~, for instance,
the rays of a table lamp emphasize sparkling
Ardent, crystal and cutlery against the very dark
 278 279

background of stone walls and black drapes.

5. As conveyors of abstract meanings.
In L'Argent, bright reflections of .J lov0rs'
A "conceptual" use of optical devices is fre-
embrace and of a plane flying overhead are
quent in Impressionist style. In La Dixi~me
cast on the windows and glass doors ,;urround-
Symphonie, the composer's image is superimposed
ing the characters. In La Glace ~ Trois Faces,
on a Beethoven death-mask, while his wife's
the reflection of a boat in the water is
image is superimposed on the statue "Winged
broken by the sudden intrusion of its own
Victory." In Le Diable dans la Ville, the hero
oar into the frame. In L'Auberge Rou~,
Marc is superimposed on the Tarot card of the
as the candles die in the course of the film,
Knight; later in the film, following the title,
the flickering light they cast on the table-
"La Peur planait sur la petite ville hallucinee,"
ware steadily alters the shapes and textures
huge superimposed claws clasp at the village
of the plates and crystal; the effect is
streets. In Carnival des Verites, Madame Gentia
analogous to Monet's paintings of water
is characterized by a superimposition of curling
lilies and haystacks under different light.
snakes; later in the film, the seductive mystery
2. Decor: variety of styles, usually undistorted and
of the villa is symbolized in a shot of the
naturalistic; some abstraction of pattern.
guests dancing and a superimposed close-up of
3. Arrangement and movement of figures in space:
a woman in a black domino mask. In L'Homme du
various, some interplay of foreground and back-
Large, a nun is framed in an iris shaped like
ground.
a cathedral's rose window. In L'Argent, a
C. Optical devices.
shot of the chairman of the board dissolves to
1. As transitions.
a similar shot of the man "behind" the board.
2. As magical effects.
In La Belle Nivernaise, when Victor and Clara
3. As emphasizing significant details.
reunite in the hospital, there is a fade-out
4. As pictorial decoration.
to the symbolic picture of them playing as
children. Finally, at the close of J'Accuse,
 a horizontal split-screen metaphorically
compares the ghostly soldiers to troops march-
ing off to war.
6. As indications of objectivity.
a. Purely mental images (memory, fantasy).
Examples abound of this characteristic tech-
nique. In Six et Demi-Onze, the youth's
memory of a day with his beloved woman is
indicated by superimposed images of the camera
which he used that day. In one scene in La
Roue, Elie can't escape the memory of
Norma, whose image appears everywhere in
superimposition. L'Inhumaine and L'Homme du
Large both utilize gauze-focus to indicate
a character's memory image. In El Dorado,
the millionaire's memory of his love affair
is given optically distorted shots whereas
in Feu Mathias Pascal fade-ins and -outs are
used for the same purpose. In Les Aventures
de Robert ~acaire, an old woman's memory of
brigands is indicated by a white iris around
her flashback. Superimpositions used to
illustrate a character's "seeing" an absent
person are likewise common in L'Inondation,
L'Auberge Rouge., and La Glace! Trois Faces.
Optical devices indicating fantasy are even
more plentiful than those indicating memory.
In Six et Demi-Onze, the hero imagines his
lover's face, enlarged, superimposed on his
own face. In L'Inhumaine, Claire says that
only "quelque chose" can keep her in France,
and both she and her suiter "see" the word
"quelque chose" superimposed upon the sur-
rounding decor. In L'Auberge Rouge, the
fortuneteller's head fades to a skull's
head, emphasizing her hearer's response to
her grim prediction. In Coeur Fidele, the
dissolves to closer views of the boy musing
by the water are linked to the girl musing
in the bar; later, when the boy imagines her
coming, the next images of her are distorted
and elongated. In Kean, when the hero
imagines himself spurned, there are disso]vps
to variOlAS women refucijnc; Clower:, :~lnd super-
impositions of out-of-focus laughing faces.
In Fait Divers, M. One's s trangl i ng of r~. TIoIO
is indicated as being imaginary by slow-
motion technique. In Feu Mathias Pascal,
the protagonist's recurring daydreams are
 282 283

invariably signaled by optical devices: E~ Dorado, the heroine's fantasy of the fu-
he imagines his mother-in-law reading a tele-
ture is suggested in a dissolve from her
gram, and the image of her is distorted, as in
looking out at the city landscape to her
a funhouse mirror; he imagines attacking a looking out at rolling hills. In Don Juan
double of himself (in superimposition); he
et Faust, when Dona Ana looks into a well,
imagines his ideal woman (revealed in upward
she imagines Juan superimposed on the water.
and downward wipes); and he imagines himself
The girl's fantasy in La Petite Marchande
strangling Terence, in slow-motion inserts
d'Allumettes is similarly dependent on opti-
abruptly juxtaposed with normal-speed ima-
cal devices: her match becomes a bright star-
ges. In Le Diable dans la ~' the villag-
shape, which in turn dissolves to a Christmas
ers' suspicion of Marc is illustrated in a
tree; when she dances, a superimposed double
shot of him writing which dissolves to a
of her begins to dance in symmetrical coordin-
shot depicting him as a wizard. The hero of
ation. In Visages d'Enfants, Jean repeatedly
Rose-France imagines the highway overrun by
imagines the yes in his mother's portrait to
a tide (shown in superimposition). In
be moving toward him, and he "sees" his
L'Inondation, various optical devices empha-
~other's face superimposed on the well water.
size the heroine's fantasy-life: she imagines
When the composer of La Dixijme Symphonie
herself pretty, and her mirror-reflection
looks at the piano keys, he imagines his
gauzes over; she imagines herself a model in
daughter (in miniature superimposition)
a fashion picture by an irised superimposi-
scattering flowers across them; when the
tion. In J'Accuse, the war's impact on the
financier in L'Argent gazes off illto space,
characters' minds causes fantasy-images such
superimposed telegraph wires indicate his
as that of a skeleton superimposed on the
visions of power; when the gentleman in La
. t·lng super-
landscape or of the battle paln Glace a Trois .~ hears a tolling bell, the
imposed on Jean's commission-notice. In
 superimposed figure of a lounging woman
suggests his amorous daydream.
b. Semi-subjective images (emotional or psycho-
logical state indicated while character is
present in the frame.
In El Dorado, for example, the struggle be-
tween Sibella and a would-be seducer is
rendered in wildly distorted elongated
images, stressing the horror she is exper-
iencing. Similarly, inL'Argent, when
Jacques is stricken ill, his image goes
progressively out-of-focus. Madeleine's
fainting in La Chute de la Maison Usher
is rendered in four overlapping slow-motion
superimpositions, suggesting her wooziness.
The lyrical mood of lovers in La -
Belle Niver-
-- - --
naise, Coeur Fidele, and Six et Demi-Onze is
imp1ied in superimpositions of irn"geri
the sea upon their embraces. In L'Auberge
Rou~, after contemplating murder, tilt" thief
dl'OpS a knife and stares at the CI1I11f?I'a;
the sudden wavering and loss of focus of
the image expresses his fear. In Rose-
France, when the young man is gazing medi-
tatively at a woman, she remains in focus
and his image is gauzed-over. After the
miraculous appearance of the Christmas tree
i.n La Petite Marchande d'Allumettes, the
little girl starts to faint, and her feeling
is conveyed by the sudden soft-focus on her
face. In La Chute de la Maison Usher,
slow-motion is used to convey USher's morbid
fear, especially in the preparation of
Madeleine for burial, when the hammer blows
on the coffin and Usher's struggle are given
a ponderous quality by slow-motion. In the
same film, the procession and burial are
presented in gauzy shots with superimposed
sandles over them, again suggesting Usher's
mood. Finally in Mauprat, a character's
hesitant attitude is conveyed by super-
impositions of him backing away in overlap-
or ping images.
c. Optical sUbjectivity.
Optical devices often cooperate with subjec-
tive angles to indicate physiological condi-
tions like illness, drunkenness, or tears.
In: La Belle Nivernaise, when Victor recovers
from his illness, there is a SUbjective shot
 286
of a nun looking down at the camera before
going out-of-focus. In Kean, when the pro-
tagonist collapses on the stage, his blurred
vision of the angry audience is shown in
distorted, out-of-focus rotating shots- In
~ FidiHe, the drunken bully sees tlle
woman's face as distorted and elongated, as
the drunken flirtatious woman sees the man
whom she watches. In L'Inhumaine, Einar's
feel{ng faint makes him see the jazz band
out of focus, as Usher's distraught state
makes him see his sister's coffin as gauzily
blurred. The wounded boy in ~ Terrae
deliriously sees his arm out-of-focus.
II. Characteristic Editing Patterns.
A. Temporal relations between shots.
1. Flashbacks.
In L'Auberge Rouge, when the thief discovers the
dead man's body, a shot of the thief'S shocked
reaction is followed by a shot of the fortune-
teller's card that had, the night before, warned
of crime. In La ~, Sisif's telling Hersan of
his love for Norma cuts back to an earlier shot
of Norma's legs in the swing. In La Dixieme
Symphonie, as the daughter begins to tell her
parents of her lover, the next shot shows her
with him in a carriage earlier in the day. In
L'Inhumaine and .:;..;;;.:;,:....;::..~=e~m"'l'--..:::::!.n~z~e,
Six et D - 0 a past car crash
is presented by 1- n t er-cutt1ng
- the recollections
of the witness with the witness telling the story.
In L'Inondation, a character confesses to murder ,
and the scene shifts to and fro between flash-
backs of the crime and the murder trial. When
the barge captain in La Belle Nivernaise explains
to his wife how he found the orphan boy, the edit-
ing briefly replays scenes previously shown.
2. Fantasy.
In L'Inondation, the heroine wonders if her lover'
will spurn her and a shot follows which pictoria-
lizes the situation; later when she considers
leaving the village, another "hypothetical" shot
shows her. leaving .. In. J' Accuse, a woman sees war
as a. danse 'macabre: a shot of her is followed by a
shot ·of skeletons dancing in a circle. Later in the-
same film, Jean and Fran90is in the trenches dis-
cuss the possibilities of what FranQois' wife might
be doing, and there follow interpolated shots
visually indicating the various possibilities. In
 Six et Demi~Onze, as Jean repairs a flat tire he 3. Crosscutting.

imagines another man courting his wife, and the In La Dixieme Sympho'nie, shots of the composer

imaginary courtship and the real repair work are and his wife at the window are alternated with

intercut. In L'Inhumaine, two men try to persuade shots of the couple outside. At the beginning of

Claire to join them in their lives, and there Fievre, the life at the dingy bar is crosscut

follow fantasy-inserts of her as a political with the ships and the return of the sailors. In

activist or as a Turkish princess. La Chute de la Maison Usher, the departure of the

B. Spatial relations between shots.

cart driver is crosscut with Usher's receiving of

1. Occasionally synthetic, building up space from

his guest. One scene in El Dorado alternates shots

specific details. of Sibella reading a letter backstage with large

2. Glance/object editing (optically subjective). close-ups of stamping feet and clapping hands as

In addition to the examples cited in Chapter IV, the crowd demands that she begin her act. In La

four further instances are interesting; In Le Petite Marchande d'Allumettes, the circularly

Diable dans la Ville, a shot of Marc looking is marching soldiers are compared, by crosscutting,

followed by a close-up of the statue's hands from to the simultaneously spinning carousel. In Feu

his viewpoint and then by a shot of him turning Mathias Pascal, while Mino and his fiancee's

away. In La Glace! Trois Faces, the editing gives mother are whirling on a carousel, Pascal and the

us the point-of-view of a man going up in an fiancee are sitting on a bench in the forest.

elevator by alternating shots of his race am.! UllOL~1

In La Femme de Nulle purposes is used in La Belle Nivernaise, when

from his optical viewpoint.
Part, a departing man looks out to the harbor and Victor and Clara each prepare for their date:

thel'e follOWS a shot of the ship he is about to head-on shots of Victor before a mirror tying his

take. after Victor leaves in La Belle Nivernaise, tie alternate with head-on views of Clara before a

Clara's glance falls to one side and there follows mirror putting on her hat.

a close-up of Victor's crumpled striped shirt.

 290
291

4. Rhythmic relations between shots: conveyance of

convey the shock and confusion it causes in the
psychological and physiological states by rhythmic
mind of the witness, 8isif. In Coeur Fid~le,
editing.
the astonishment of being struck by a truck is
For example, in La Glace! Trois ~' an accel-
shown as a sUbjective shot of the truck from the
erated auto sequence combines images of the driver's
victim's optical vl'ewpol'nt f o 11 owed by a three-
point-of-view of the road, whizzing trees, road
frame flash of an upside-down negative image.
signs, a swooping bird, the driver's face, and
More clearly, the accelerating cutting pace of
shots of the tumbling wrecked car into a dizzying
two scenes in L'Auberge Rouge indicates the build
impression of the crash from the driver's affective
of psychological excitement in a character. At'
viewpoint. L'Inhumaine contains another quick
one point, a man is about to have his fortune tol
rhythmic sequence, that of Einar's "resurrection"
by an old woman. After a close-up of the prota-
of Clair by means of his machines. Progressively
gonist's anxious expression, this sequence follow
sho~ter shots of flashing lights, swinging pendu-
1- (ms) Old woman shuffling cards 107 fr
lums, scuttling workers,thudding pistons, rotat- 2. (ls) Old man on stool starts to play 93 fr
accordion.
ing dials and needles, and bursting sparks build up 3. (ms) Accordion playing. 52 fr
4. (cu) Hands shuffling cards. 52 fr
to intense close-ups (her face, his intent eyes) 5. (ms) Accordion playing. 27 fr
6. (cu) Cards being shuffled., 27 fr
that are only two frames long. Somewhat less 7. (ms) Accordion playing. 13 fr
8. (cu) Cards being shuffled. 13 fr
extravagant in its editing is the return of time-
The exactly matched rhythm of the accordion and
frozen Paris to quickly accelerated action in
the card-shuffling, combined with the progression
Paris Qui Dort: the quick tracking and panning
toward shorter shots: shots 3 and 4 are almost ha
shots of busy streets are cut down to as few as
as long as 1 and 2; 5 and 6 are half as long as 3
eleven frames to convey the sense of supernormal
and 4; 7 and 8 are half as long as 5 and 6.
speed. The opening scene of La Roue--a montage of
This rhythm indicates the tension in the man abou
a train wreck--is rendered in abrupt shots that
to hear his future told. In L'Argent, when
Sac card seduces the countess, there is rhythmic BIBLIOGRAPHY
editing of close-ups of his groping hands, her
I. Primary Sources for Material on the Impressionist
struggling face, and her silver gown writ.hing and Movement
flashing under his advance. In La Belle Nivornaise, A. Books
Victor's fight with the first mate is rendered Array, Jean. En 1' ournant "Napoleon" avec Abel Gance.
Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1927.
in progressively briefer glimpses of their strug-
Array, Jean, and Reynaud, Jean-Charles. Attention!
gle, the bar~e drifting toward the sluice gates, On Tourne! Paris: Editions Jules Tallandier,
1929.
and the swinging rudder--some of these shots being
L'Art Cinematogra~hique. Vols. I-VIII. Paris:
only five frames long. Similarly, the axe-murder Librairie Felix Alcan, 1926-1931.
at the outset of Menilmontant is presented in a Canudo, Riccioto. Hel§ne, Faust, et Nous. Paris:
Chiberre, 1920.
series of brief fragments, suggesting the partici-
La Roue d'Abel Gance. Paris: Ferenczi,
pants' experience of it. 1923.
L'Usine des Images. Geneva: Of rice Cen-
tral d'Edition, 1927.
Catelain, Jaque. Jaque Catelain Presente Marcel L'Her-
bier. Paris: Editions Jacques Vautrain, 1950.
Clair, Rene. Cinema Yesterday and Today. Trans-
lated by Stanley Applebaum. New York: Dover,
1972.
Star Turn. Translated by John ~larh:s.
!,nnr]nn: Chrl.tto and vlint]ur~, n.d.

Delluc, Louis. Charlie Chaplin. TranslateLi by Hallli:oll

Miles. London: John Lane, 1922.
Cinema et Cie. Paris: Grasset, 1919.
Drames du Cinema. Paris: Editions du
Monde Nouveau, 1923.
La Jungle du Cinema. Paris: La Sir§ne, 1921.
Photogenie. Paris: De Brunhoff, 1920.
 "Statuts du "Cine-Club' (Approves par l'As-
semblee du 3 Janvier 1920)." Journal du Cin~­ "Le Cabinet du Docteur Caligari." Cinea
Club no. 1 (1920), n.p. no. 44 (10 March 1922), 5.

Arroy, Juan. "Abel Gance: Sa Vie Son Oeuvre." . "L~s Cineastes." Le Monde Nouveau (15
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. ) (15 December 19;'j), ------~A-ugust/15 September 1922), 3~-~~.
5-10.
. "Les Cineastes: Marcel L'Herbicr." Cin0~
_______ "Marcel L'Herbier." Cinea-Cin0 pour 'I'eus·. -------n-os. 73-74 (6 October 1922), 4-5.
no. 72 (1 November 1926), 9-12.
"Cinema." L.'Esprit Nouveau no. 5 (Decem-
"Quelques Minutes avec Abel Gance." ber 1920), 349-351.
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 43 (15 August 1925),
7-.8. "La Finance et Ie Cinema." Cinpa no. 27
(11 November 1921), 11-13.
_____.",.,... "Quelques Minutes avec Napoleon Bonaparte."
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 34 (1 April 1925), 19. "Lettre Frangaise ~ Thomas H. Ince Composi-
------.,-t-eur de Films." Le Film no. 118 (17 June 1918),
Bencey, Andr&. "Germaihe Albert-Dulac." Cinemagazine 11-15.
II, 8 (24 February 1922)~ 231-235.
"'Illusion' et Illusions." Le Film no. 67
Canudo, Riccioto. "L'Art pour Ie Septieme Art." (25 June 1917), 5-6.
Cinea no. 2 (13 May 1921), 16.
"Notes pour Moi." Le Film no. 95 (7 Jan-
"Manifeste de l'Art Cerebriste." Montjoie! uary 1918), 17.
II, pp. 1-2 (January-February 1914), 9.--------
. "Pro-Cinema." L'Esprit Nouveau 110. 1)4
"Manifeste des Sept Arts." Gazette des ----~(~January 1922), 1666-1668.
Sept Arts no. 2 (1923), p. 2.
"A 'Rose-France' a 'El Dorado. '" Cinea
Catelain, Jaque. "Dialogue." Cinea no. 11 (15 July no. 1 (6 May 1921), 13-15.
1921),16-17.
Diamant-Berger, Henri. "Du Sang Nouveau." Le Film
"Paroles d'Acteur Muet." Cinea no. G no. 56 (9 April 1917), 5.
(10 June 1921), 10.
. "Pourquoi Je Fais un Film sans Titres."
Cl1~\V~'ll\"", l.'luis. "Symphonic ViloU,'L],~ (~t l:]I1<;III;\ 1'111'."
------=C~ ~ .
Inemag~
II
.. , 7 (17 vehruary
r lC.l 22), 207-208.
Cill,:a-Cine pour 'rous no. (J9 (I') ,July I');''!), I I"
Dulac, Germaine. "Le Cinema, Art de:,; Iluane;'.::: :;piril,'j-
Clair, Henes. "Reflexions sur Ie Cinema." Le CI'a£.':2~i~­ alles." Cinea-Cine pour 'rous no. 28 (1 January
] u ( ( J\p rill 928 ), 39 -11 1 . 1925) .
Defosse, Marcel. "Une Cert3ine Photogeni e." Cin03- . "Le Cin':;rna d' Avant-Gal'de." l::-~'. l;inpma.
:Li.!-l.0'.. j)our 'r,)US no. 9 1) (1 October 19:)7), 1')-1 2,": ---- Edited by Henri Fescourt. P;il'1S: Editions d\l
Cy~ne, 1932, pp. ')57-')64.
Ill'lllll', 1."lIiL;. "/\nt.oine'l'!';Jvaille." Ltc' Film 110. '/'..'
(;'0 Au[';ust 1917), 5-7. "Mise-en-scene." Le Fi 1m no. 07 (12
November 1917), 7-9.
 298
"O~ Sont les Interpr~tes?" Le Film no.
133-134 (14 October 1918), 69-70.
Epardaud, Edmond. "La Roue." Cinia no. 83 (12 Jan-
uary 1923), 6.
Epstein, Jean. "Cinema." L'Esprit Nouveau no. 14
(January 1922), 1669-1670.
"Le Cinema Mystique." Cinea no. 6 (10
June 1921), 12.
· "Les Images de Ciel." Cinea-Cint'- pour Taus
------n-o. 107 (15 April 1928), 11-12.
· "Mon Ami Gance." Calliers du Cinema no. 50
-----~(~August- September 1955), 59-61.
"L'Objectif Lui-M§me." Cinea-Cine pour
Tous no. 53 (15 January 1926), 7-8.
· "Opinion sur Ie Cinematographe." Le Rouge
------e~t Ie Noir (July 1928), 18-30.
· "Pour une Avant-Garde Nouvelle." Cinea-
-----~C~ine pour Tous no. 29 (15 January 1925), 8-10.
"Realisation de Details." Cinea no. 45
(17 March 1922), 12.
· "Le Sens 1 Bis." Cinea no. 12-13 (22 July
----~1~921), 13-14.
Fescourt, Henri, and Bouquet, J. L. "Sensations ou
Sentiments?" Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 66
(31 July 1926), 14.
Francoz, Paul. "Une Theorie sur l'Emotion Cinegra-
phique." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 111 (15
June 1928), 9-10.
Gance, Abel. "Blaise Cendrars et Ie Cinema." Mer-
cure de France no. 1185 (May 1962), pp. 170-171.
"Le Cinema, C'est la Musique de 1a Lu-
mi~re." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 3 (15 Decem-
ber 1923), 11.
299
___ . "Hommage a Jean Epstein." C:Ih i "I'S elu
--crni.hna no. :24 (June 1953), lj,
_ _ _.,..-. "J'Accuse!" Le Film no. 108-108 (15
April 1918), 10-23.
______... "Moil Ami Epstein." Cahi"'I':; -ill l'ill,;1II:1
no. 50 (August-September T9')')J"-;-sr:.::','r.·--·-·
Gilbert, Morris. "Paris Screen Chatter: Little
Theatre in Old Latin Quarter Attracts Mixed
Throngs." New York Times (5 January 1930),
VIII, p. 5.
Goreloff, Michel. "Suggerer ... " Cinea-Cine pour Tous
no. 91 (15 August 1927), 23-24.
Henry, Pierre. "Les Moyens d'Expression Crees pour
Ie Recit Visuel." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 30
(1 February 1925), 19.
L'Herbier, Marcel. "Bouclette." Le Film no. 106-
107 (2 April 1928), 78-94.
"Le Droit de Metamorphose." Cin8a-Cine
pour Tous no. 109 (15 May 1928), 10-11.
"Resurrection." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no
(1 August 1927), 9-11.
"Sisyphes." Cinea no. 86 (23 February
1923), 4-6.
Hot, Pierre. "Le Ralenti." Le Courrier Cin,smato-
graphique XIX, 16 (21 April 1928), p. 16.
Jeanne, Rene. "La Controverse de la COllI ('\II'." Cinea-
Cine pour Taus no. 78 (1 February 1927), 27.
Kamenka, Alexandre. "Souvenirs sur Epstein." Cahi~rs
du Cinema no. 24 (June 1953),6-7.
Kirsanoff, Dmitri. "Les Myst~res de la pllOtogenie."
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 39 (15 June 1925), 9.
"Les Probl~mes de 1a Photogenie."
cine pour Tous no. 62 (1 June 1926), 9-
Landry, Lionel. "Au Suj et des Sous-Ti tres." Cinea
nos. 63-64 (21 July 1922), 12.
"Caligarisme ou la Revanche du Tllei'itr'e."
Cinea no. 51 (28 April 1922), 12.
_ _ _-,,-,... "Cependant que Passe Ie Film ?-i Episodes."
Clnea no. 38 (27 January 1922), 14-1~.
"Le Simultaneise." Journal elu Cjne-Club
no. b (20 February 1920),12.
"Le Snobisme Prouvera que Ie Cinl?lI1a Est
un Art.'! Journal du Cine-Club no. 1 (1920),
"La Standardisation des Symboles." Cinea
no. 86 (23 February 1923), 7.
Landry, Pierre. "La Beaute et le Cinema." Le Film
no. 170 (April 1920), n.p.
Mazeline, FranQois. "Opinions de Cineastes: Jean
Renoir." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 107 (15
April 1928~, 13. . .
Mitry, Jean. "Ab·el Gance Nous Parle de La Roue."
Cin6a-Cine pour Tous no. 3 (15 December-T923),
8.
Moussinac, Leon. "A Propos du Decor du Cinema."
Cinemagazine II, 11 (17 March 1922), 332-333.
"La Foire du Cinellia Est Ouverte." Le
Crapouillot (May 1928), 54-55.
_ _ _~. "0 Cinema." Le Crapouillot (January
1926), 38-39.
"Technique Commande." Gazette des Sept
Arts no. 2 (1923), pp. 12-13; no. 3 (n.d.
Pr. 11-12.
_ _ _-,.;-. "Titres et Sous-Titres." Cinemagazine II,
7 (17 February 1922), 205-207.
Porte, Pierre. "Avant-Garde." Cine8-Cine pour Tous
no. 35 (15 Apr,'il 1925), 12-13·
"Le Cinema, Art Objectif eu Subjectif?"
Cinea-Cine ~our Tous no. 6g (15 September
1926), 25-2 J.
"Cinema Intellectuel au Affectif?" Cinpa-
cine pour Tous no. 61 (15 May 1926), 9)10.
"Le Cinema Pur." Cinea-Cin8 pour 'fous
no. 52 (1 Januar'y 1926), 12-13.
"Faisons Ie Point." Cinea-Cine pour Tous
no. 49 (15 November 1925),9.
11.~'.
"Un Ideal." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 41
(15 July 1925), 9.
"Une Loi." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 9
(15 March 1924), 12.
"Une Loi du Cinema." C1nea-Oin6 pour Tous
no. 8 (1 March 1924), 8-9.
"Une Sensation Nouvelle." C1nea-Cine pour
Tous no. u4 (1 July 1926), 27-28.
_ _ _ _ . "Textes et Images." Cinea-Cin1>. pour Tous
no. 79 (15 February 1927), 14-15.
Ramain, Paul. "A It Recherche de l'Emotion Vraie."
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 71 (15 October 1926),
15.
_ _ _..",...-. "De la Construction Thematique des Films."
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 44 (1 September 1925),
9-11.
"Le Film Peut Traduire et Creer Ie Heve."
Cln6a-Cin6 pour Tous no. 67 (15 Au~vst 1925),
11-14.
_ _ _..",...-. "L'Influence du Reve p,ur 1e Cini"ma."
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 40 (1 July 1925),
8.
. "Pour une Esthetique Intellectuel du Film.
D
----cInea-Cine pour Tous no. 58 (1 April 1926), 14.
 303

Trevise, Robert. "Abel Gance Va Commencer 'Napoleon.'"

"Du Reve a la Reali te." Cinea-Ci n(~~ Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 28 (1 January 1925),
---=T-ous no. 81 (15 March 1927), ::7-~)B. 28 .
. "Le Reve dans 'La Petitt' Marchandi' d'1I11u- _ _ _~. "Le Nouveau Film de Mme. Germaine' Dulac."
----m-ettes. ," Cinea-Cine pour 'rous no. 1HI (1 Jun\' Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 28 (1 January 19?5),
1928), 1 1;-16. 25.
"Sensibilite Intelligent" <J 'alJol'd, Ubjvc- 'l'oulout, Jean. "Abel Gance." Le \,'11111 IlL>. III (::6,
tif Ensuite." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 55 November 1918), 8-9.
(15 February 1926), 7-8.
de Vesme, C. "Ce Que Doivent Etre le Cin~-Club et
. "Sur la Musique Visuelle Engendree par. Son Journal." Journal tiu Cine-Club no._ 1
----=C-ertains Films." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 37 (1920), n.p.
(15 May 1925), 12-13.
Wahl, Lucien et al. "Le Cabinet du Docteur
Ryder, A. "Impressions et Surimpressions." Gazette Cinea no. 27 (11 November 1921), 8-9.
des Sept Arts no. 3 (n. d. ), p. 11.
Tedesco, Jean. "Canudo Ap6tre du Septi~me Art." C. Special Issues of Journals
Cinea-Cine pour T~US no. 2 (1 December 1923),
7. "Scenarios." Les Cahiers du Mois no. 12 (1925).
. "Le Cinema, Expression de l'Esprit Modern<'." "Cinema." Les Cahiers du Mois nos. 16/17 (1925).
----~Cinea-Cinepour Tous no. 84 (1 May 1927),
9-11. "Cahier speciaie." Le Rouge etle Noir (July 1
"Creation d'un Cinemaclub Internationale."
----~C~inea-Cine pour Tous no. 108 (1 May 1928), II. Contemporary Writings of the Impressionist Period
9-10.
A. Books
• "Le Decret de M. Herriot." Cinea-Cine
-----p-our Tous no. 104 (1 March 1928), 9-11. Apollinaire, Guillaume.
Apollinaire. Trans
"Napoleon Vu par Abel Gance." Cinea-Cine Shattuck. New York:
pour Tous no. 83 (15 April 1927), 9-10.
ArnaUd, Etienne and Boisyvon. Le Cinema pour Tous.
"Pour un Cineaste Inconnu." Cil102a-Cil1(> Paris: Librarie Garnier Freres, 1922.
pour Tous no. 54 (1 February 1926), 9-11.
Coissac, G. Michel. Histoire du Cinematographe.
"Pur Cinema." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no . .Sl1
. Paris: Editions du "Cineo~se," 1925.
----~(~1 March 1927), 9-11.
Coustet, Ernest. Le Cinema. Paris: Hachette, 1921
"Le Repertoire et l'Avant-Garde du Film."
Ci~ea-Cine pour Tous no. 31 (15 February 1925), Delpeuch, Andre. Le Cinema. Paris: Octave Doin,
5·
Jacob, Max. Cinematoma. Paris: Editions de la
"Sous-Titrages et Adaptations." Cinea- Nouvelle Revue Fran9aise, 1920.
Cine pour Tous no. 63 (15 June 1926), 9-10.
 Leger, Fernande. Functions of Painting. Translated
by Alexandra Anderson. New York: Viking, 1973. Cendrars, Blaise. "L'ABC du Cinema." Aujourd'Hui.
Paris: Grasset, 1931.
Mus0e Oat Liera. Ex osition de l'Art dans Ie Cinema
Frangais. Par~s: Musee Gaillera, 192 .
"Lectures." Cinea no. 56 (2 June 1922),
11.
Pathe, Charles. De Pathe Fr~res i Path§ Cinema.
Paris: Premier Plan, 1970. Chomette, Henri. "Cinema Pur, Art Naissant." Cinea-
Cine pour Tous no. 71 (15 October 1926), 13.
Soupault, Philippe. The American Influence in France.
Tl'anslated by Babette and Glenn Hughes. Seat- Courtry, Henri. "Cinema." Esprit Nouveau no. 18
tle: University of Washington Chapbooks no. ~8 (November 1923), n.p.
1930. - ,
Dahlin, Ture. "Le Scenario." Cinea no. 54 09 May
1922), 14-15.
B. Articles
Delons, Andre. "Cinema Pur et Cinema Russe." Cinea-
Alby, Marianne. "Quel Sera Ie Cinema de Demain'?" Cine pour Tous no. 105 (15 March 1928), 11-12.
Cinea no. 99 (1 September 1923), 18-19.
Desnos, Robert. "Musique et Sous-Titres." Cinema.
Anonymous. "Le Scenario." Le Fi 1m no. 168 (February Paris: Gallimard, 1966.
\920), n.p.
Dodge, Henry C. "The Movies of War-time Paris."
"Nos Metteurs en Scene." Le Film no. 166 Phot~ X, 1 (June 1916), pp. 70-74.
(Cecember 1919), n.p.
Doumic, Rene. "L'Age du Cinema." Nouvelle Revue des
Antoine, Andre. "Propos sur Ie Cinematographe." Deux Mondes (15 August 1913), pp. 920-930.
Le Film no. 166 (December 1919), n.p.
Goreloff, Michel. "Comment Fut Tourne Potemkine."
Aragon, Louis. "Le Decor." Le Film no. 131 (16 Sep- Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 85 (15 May 1927),
tember 1918), 10. 10-12.

Arroy, Juan. "Robert Boudrioz Nous Parle du Cinema." "Le Nouveau Cinema Russe." Cinea-Cine
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 691 (February 1924), 8. pour Tous no. 76 (1 January 1927), 10-11.

Audard, Pierre. "Emotion Visuelle." Cinea-Cine pour Guillemin, Henri. "L'Orchestre et l'Ecran." Cinea-
Tous no. 102 (1 February 1928), 13. Cine pour Tous no. 36 (1 May 1925), 9-11.

13antiger, Ida. "Quelques Mots sur Potemkine." Cinea- Honegger, Arthur. "Adaptations Musicales." Gazette
Cine pour Tous no. 71 (15 October 19;:'b), 31 '>2. des sept Arts no. 2 (1923), 4.

[\ l~ I' C II, I' it' I '1' e . "La See nee t t fEe r' an. " Le' 1" j 1111 ilL). Jacob, Max. "Printemps et Cinematographe M§les."
- ---- Les Soirees de Paris no. 23 (15 April 1914),
1'(\-139 (11 November 1918),5-6.
pp. 219-222.
Beucler, Andre. "De la Forme Cinematographique."
Le Crapouillot (March 1927), 31. Leblanc, Georgette. "Propos sur Ie Cinema." Mercure
de France (16 November), pp. 275-290.'
Brunius, Bernard. "Musique ou Cinema?" Cin~a~Cine
pour Tous no. 68 (1 September 1926), 15-16.
Migot, Georges. "Musique et Cin0ma." Gazette des
. Sept Arts no. 2 (1023), ~. C. Special Issues of Journals

Moussinac, Leon. "Mise au Point." Ciuea-ein" pDur "Le Crapouil1ot Parle du Cinema." L,'
(March 1920). :~--~-~~~~
Tous no. 101 (15 January 192B) ,·13-1~.
. "Potemkine." Cinea-Cin~ pour Tous no. 7U "Le Cinema." lb
------7(71 December 1926), 6.

III

"

picabia,Francis. "Cinema." Cinea no. 52 (5 May

1922), 9. Amengual, Barthelemy. Rene Clair. Paris:
1969.
Potamkin, Harry Alan. "Cinea-Cine." National Board
of ReviewMagazin~ 2 {October 1927), p. 4. Bardeche, Maurice and Brasillach, Robert. Hi~tl'il'e
du Cinema. Paris: Sept Cou leurs, [lJ61.
Roussel,· Henri. "Le Cinema .en Amerique et en France."
Cinea nos. 24-25 (12 August 1921), ~.,.S. Blumer, Ronald. "The Camera as Snowba 11. " ,: 1[1em:1
Journal IX, 2 (Spring 1970), 31-;9.
Sapene, J~an. "La Politique du Cinema Franc;:ais."
Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 34 (1 April 1925), Bost, Pierre. Le Cirque et leMusie-11311. [':\1'is:
7-9. Au Sans Pareil, 1931.

Soupault, Philippe. "photographie.s Ar\imees." SIC Brownlow, Kevin. The·Parade's Gone By. Nt"o'i Y,'l'k:
III, 3 (October 1918), p. 3, and IIl,~ (No- Ballantine, 1969.
vember 1918), n.p.
Brunius, Jacques B. En Marge du Cinema Fran9ais.
d'Udine, Jean. "N5tre EnquSte BurIn Musique ot Ie Paris: Arcanes, 1954.
Cinema." Cinea-Cine pour Tous no. 40 (1 July
1925), 5-7. Burch, N8el. Marcel L'Herbier. Paris: Se~hers, 1973.

Vuillermoz, Emile. "Devant l'Ecran." Le Film no. Theory of Film Practice. Nt'\'i 1',)]'1,: PraegeY'.
77 (3 September 1917), 5-8. 1973 .
Coissac, G. Michel. "L'Evolution ·ju Cirl,;II\:\1 \'t';l'aplw \~t
la Realisation de Quelques Grands Films." Lf'
Tout Cinema 1929. Paris: PUblications "Filma,"
1930,pp. 2-32.

Crespell, Jean-Paul. La FaIle Epoque. Paris: Hachettf

1968.
Daria, Sophie. Abel Gance Hier et Demain. P.1ri.s: La Lherminier, Pierre. Armand Tallier et le Studio des
Palatine, 1959. Urselines. Paris: Association Fran~aise des Cine-
mas d'Art et d'Essai, 1963.
Esnault., Phili.ppe. "Antoine l't le R0a1isDlc ]1'l':Hl,:li,;."
J..t!10~~ Sor~ n\1. 2'{ (Apl'il 1')'(:\), 11-f)II. Milne, Tom. "The Real Avant-Garde." Sight and Sound
XXXII (Summer 1963), 148-152.
Ford, Charles. Q..ermaine Dulat;. Anthologil' du Cint'lll:l,
Vol. IV. Paris: L'Avant-Sc~ne, 1968. Mitry, Jean. Delluc. Anthologie du Cinema, Vol. VII.
Paris: L'Avant-Scene, 1971.
Max Linder. Paris: Seghers, 19f)G.
Vols.
Harding, James. The Ox on the Roof. Ne\~ York: St. 1963-
Martin's Press, 1972.
"Jean Epstein." Cinemages 2 (1955)- Special issu~. . Histoire du Cinema. Vols. I-III. Paris:
------~E~ditions universltaires, 1967-1973.
Jeander. "Les Cine-Clubs." Le Cinema par CloU); Qui
l'Ont Fait. Edited by Denis Marlon. Paris: ______~. Max Linder. Anthologie du Cinema, Vol. II.
Librarie Arth~me Fayard, 1949, pp. ~7q-~l)7. Paris: L'Avant-Sc~ne, 1966.
Jeanne, R,,'n8, and Ford, Char'les. Abel Gancl'. 1':l1']S: "De la Premi~rVague (L'Herbier, Epstein~ Dulac, Delluc)
. Seghers, 1963. a laNouvelleGarde." Cahiers du Cinema no.
202 (June-July 1968). Special issue.
Le Cinema et la Presst' 18g r l-1 CjlllJ. P:ll'lS:
Arillalld colin, 1961. Sadoul, Georges. Le Cinema Fran9ais. Paris: Flammarion,
1962.
Lacass]n, lll'ancis. Feuillade. Antll010gie du l']n('llu
Vol. II. Paris: L'Avant-sCFne, 19bb-.--------- Histoire du Cinema Mondial. Paris: Flammal'ion,
1949.
Louis Feuillade. Paris: Seghers, l06~.
Histoire Generale du Cinema. Vol. III:
Lapi""l'l', fVlarcel, ed. Antholo~ie du Cinema. Paris: Le Cinema Devient un Art. Part 2: La Premiere
La Nouvelle Edition, 19 6. Guerre Mondiale. Paris: Denoel, 1952.
L8I~d('l', :~I:llHj ish Dyer. St.r'uctura 1i P,Dl clnd Movement. ill Shattuck, Roger. The Banquet Yearu. Now York: Vint~g8,
1,;:-, 'II' illll'I1Lal F.i 1111 i.t1;jM(i(j~'I;11 iil'I"I[\i)I~":IIJ,'II:' tlw 1968.
lslled Ph. D. lITssertatioll.--·'Ncw HavL'll: Y:1Il',
1 q () '7 ~ Steegmuller, Francis. Cocteau. Boston: Little, Brown,
and Company, 1970.
LCl':lil"', 1':11,1. Histoirl' ,1<) 13 Po]i\.i~(' citl Cin(>IlI:1
1"1':11 :1 i 1'. -P:rr' i,; :-I~~(~;',Ii~'I':IT;-;-~i\;'0r\1'1 Tariol, Marcel. Louis Delluc. Paris: Seghers, 1965.
(1(' 11I'isprudt:nce, 1970.
Le Tout Cinema, Annuaire Generale Illustre du Monde
Leproh,ltl, l'ierre. Histoire du Cinema. Vols. 1-11. Cinematographique. Paris: publications "Filma,"
Paris: Editions du Cerf, 19b1. 1922-1935.
Jean Epstein. Paris: Seghers, 1964. rrimbach, Pierre. Quand On Tournait la Manivelle.
Paris: Editions Cefag, 1970.