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History, Memory and Nostalgia

History, Memory and Nostalgia. Patricia L. Pecoy MLL 235. History. Common subject in the films of the 1970s – 1990s It was the expression of a nostalgia for the past It was also the expression of an increasing disaffection for Gaullism, and then for the socialism which succeeded it

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History, Memory and Nostalgia

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  1. History, Memory and Nostalgia Patricia L. Pecoy MLL 235

  2. History • Common subject in the films of the 1970s – 1990s • It was the expression of a nostalgia for the past • It was also the expression of an increasing disaffection for Gaullism, and then for the socialism which succeeded it • It was also the nostalgia for the golden age of cinema and for a rural France

  3. A Return to the Cinematographic Past • Return to a film style that predated the 1960s and the avante-garde • Return to a more classical, more conventional style • The return to this form was almost inevitable due to the competition from television

  4. Theater tickets sold • The number of tickets sold declined by more than 50% in 35 years • What was needed: a product that was more accessible, situated in a known and familiar time frame

  5. Return to different periods • The modern monarchy (La Reine Margot) • The fall of the Old Regime (Ridicule et Le Pacte des loups) • The pangs of modernity (Germinal, Le Hussard sur le toit) • The Third Republic with its adaptations or remakes by Pagnol (Manon des sources, Jean de Florette) • The First World War (La Grande Illusion, Capitaine Conan) • Decolonization (Indochine, L’Amant)

  6. World War II • Le Silence de la mer (Melville, 1949) • La Traversée de Paris (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) • Jeux interdits (René Clément, 1952) • Hiroshima mon amour (Alain Resnais, 1959) • Paris, brûle-t-il? (René Clément, 1966)

  7. Rewriting History • After 1968, there was a reexamination of the Gaullic myth (resistance) • As a result, a number of filmmakers emphasize the active role of France in the deportation of the Jews • There are a series of collaborationist scandals (Touvier, Barbie, Papon)

  8. Paul Touvier • Paul Touvier was the first Frenchman condemned for crimes against humanity in 1994. • Was the former chief of police in Lyons during World War II

  9. Klaus Barbie • Nicknames the “butcher of Lyon” • Was chief of the gestapo in Lyon • Was condemned for crimes against humanity in 1987

  10. Maurice Papon • Condemned in 1998 for being an accomplice to crimes against humanity • It was the longest trial since World War II (17 years)

  11. Another Look at the Past • In 1945, De Gaulle pardoned many collaborators • However, after De Gaulle, historians, philosophers, filmmakers took another look at the Gaullic myth of a resisting France • Instead, they began to look at the role of France in the collaboration with the Germans from 1940 to 1944

  12. Le Chagrin et la pitié(The Sorrow and the Pity)(Marcel Ophuls, 1971) • A documentary which exposed collaborationist activities in the town of Clerment-Ferrand • Under the influence of the Annals School and the historian Emmanuel Ladurie, this film gave voice to individual stories • The historians of the “Annals School,” proposed a study of ordinary lives of ordinary people during extraordinary times

  13. Annals Tendanciesin films during the 1970s • Moi Pierre Rivière (René Allio, 1976) • I, Pierre Rivière • Le Juge et l’assassin (Bernard Tavernier, 1976) • The Judge and the Assassin • Lacombe Lucien (Louis Malle, 1973) • Lucien Lacombe • Souvenirs d’en France (André Téchiné, 1975) • French Provincial

  14. Annals Tendanciesin films of the 1980s • Le Dernier métro (François Truffaut, 1980) • The Last métro • La Vie et rien d’autre (Tavernier, 1989) • Life and Nothing But • Au Revoir les enfants (Louis Malle, 1987) • Good-bye, children • Un Héros très discret (Audiard, 1996) • A Self-Made Hero

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