DAHONG DENGLONG GAOGAO Lee, Joann, "Zhang Yimous Raise the Red Lantern: Contextual GUA Analysis of Film through a Confucian/Feminist Matrix, in Asian nema(Drexel Hill), Spring 1996 Kong, Haili, "Symbolism through Zhang Yimous Subversive Lens Raise the red lantern in His Early Films, ' in Asian Cinema(Drexel Hill), Winter 1996-1997 Hong Kong-China, 1991 Wei,Y,""Music and Femininity in Zhang Yimou's Family Melo Director: Zhang yimou drama, in CineAction(Toronto), no 42, 1997. Production: Era International, Hong Kong, in association with China Film Co-production Corporation; colour, 35mm; running time: 125 Raise the red lantern was one of the rare chinese films success- fully marketed in America and its success has been ascribed to its play:Ni Zhen, based on a short story by Su Tong: photography: sao tic formula of a man with five wives and the radiant beauty of the Producers: Chiu Fu-Sheng, Hou Xiaoxian, Zhang Wenze; screen- Gong Li. The film has certainly capped the international reputa- Zhao Fei; editor: Du Yuan; assistant directors: Zhang Hanie, Gao tion of its director Zhang Yimou and made him the most successful Jingwen; art directors: Cao Jiuping, Dong Huamiao; music: Zhao director among the"Fifth Generation"filmmakers(including Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wu Ziniu) who first made their mark in costumes: Huang Lihua. Chinese cinema in the mid-1980s Cast: Gong Li (songliao Jingwu( Chen Zuogian): He Caifei Superficially at least, Raise the Red Lantern has all the hallmarks Meishan); Cao Cuifeng(Zhuoyun); Jin Shuyuan(Yur); Kong Lin of a sizzling soap-opera melodrama featuring the beautiful Gong li as (Yan'er); Ding Weimin(Mother Song); Cui Zhigang(Doctor Gao); the fourth wife of Master Chen, a wealthy, traditionalist husband of Zhou Qi(head servant the Chinese gentry class Master Chens mansion is divided into four quarters or courtyards--each occupied by one of his wives, who an all enjoined to live harmoniously under one roof. It is a manor Publications dominated by the observance of arcane rituals, family rules and regulations-a central ritual being the hanging of red lanterns in the quarters of the master's choice of sleeping partner for the night. The plot ingredients of a melodrama come into play as three of the Chute,David.""Golden Hours"in Film Comment(Denville, New wives--Zhuoyun( the second wife), Meishan( the third wife, an opera Jersey), March/April 1991 singer), and Songlian(the fourth and most recent wife, played by Reynaud, Berenice, ""China-On the Set with Zhang Yimou"in Gong Li), -become rivals for the master's affections(the first wife Sight and Sound (London), July 1991. being too old to be a serious rival) Variety(New York), 7 October 1991 Zhuoyun is deceptively friendly, showing her true colours in the Reynaud, Berenice, Ghosts of the Future, in Sight and Sound, course of the film. as the most treacherous of the master's wives London ), November 1991 Meishan hides her tragic vulnerability beneath a bitchy, cunning Niogret,H,""Rouge, noir et blanc"in Positif( Paris), January 1992. veneer, while Songlian is equally vulnerable but much less equipped Bassan, R, Revue du Cinema(Paris), January 1992. to handle the politics of rivalry and jealousy. The object is not only to Glaessner, V, Sight and Sound (London), February 1992. Garcia, M, Films in Review(London), May-June 1992 win the masters affections but to exert authority over the wider Fortin, P, Sequences(Montreal), September 1992 household of other concubines and servants. As a servant says Younis, R, Cinema Papers(Victoria), October 1992 authority is where the lantern is hung. To complicate matters Sutton, D.S.,""Ritual, History and the Films of Zhang Yimou, Songlian's servant, Yan, has ambitions of her own to become one of East-West(Honolulu), July 1994 the masters mistresses. Y an taunts Songlian by being mildly rebel- Klawans, S, "Zhang Yimou, in Film Comment(New York), voL. lious and insolent(going against regulations, she hangs up torn and 31, September-October 1995 patched red lanterns in her own room), and informs on her mistress Young-Sau Fong, Suzie, ""The Voice of Feminine Madness in Zhang activities in Zhuoyun Yimou's Dahong Denglong Gaogao Gua. "in Asian Cinema The story works as a kind of gothic melodrama when Songlian (Drexel Hill), Spring 1995 discovers a locked room on the roof of the mansion and is told that it
285 DAHONG DENGLONG GAOGAO D GUA (Raise the Red Lantern) Hong Kong-China, 1991 Director: Zhang Yimou Production: Era International, Hong Kong, in association with China Film Co-production Corporation; colour, 35mm; running time: 125 minutes. Producers: Chiu Fu-Sheng, Hou Xiaoxian, Zhang Wenze; screenplay: Ni Zhen, based on a short story by Su Tong; photography: Zhao Fei; editor: Du Yuan; assistant directors: Zhang Haniie, Gao Jingwen; art directors: Cao Jiuping, Dong Huamiao; music: Zhao Jiping, Naoki Tachikawa; sound: Li Lanhua; make-up: Sun Wei; costumes: Huang Lihua. Cast: Gong Li (Songlian); Ma Jingwu (Chen Zuoqian); He Caifei (Meishan); Cao Cuifeng (Zhuoyun); Jin Shuyuan (Yuru); Kong Lin (Yan’er); Ding Weimin (Mother Song); Cui Zhigang (Doctor Gao); Zhou Qi (head servant). Publications Articles: Chute, David, ‘‘Golden Hours’’ in Film Comment (Denville, New Jersey), March/April 1991. Reynaud, Berenice, ‘‘China—On the Set with Zhang Yimou’’ in Sight and Sound (London), July 1991. Variety (New York), 7 October 1991. Reynaud, Berenice, ‘‘Ghosts of the Future,’’ in Sight and Sound, (London), November 1991. Niogret, H., ‘‘Rouge, noir et blanc’’ in Positif (Paris), January 1992. Bassan, R., Revue du Cinéma (Paris), January 1992. Glaessner, V., Sight and Sound (London), February 1992. Garcia, M., Films in Review (London), May-June 1992. Fortin, P., Séquences (Montreal), September 1992. Younis, R., Cinema Papers (Victoria), October 1992. Sutton, D.S., ‘‘Ritual, History and the Films of Zhang Yimou,’’ in East-West (Honolulu), July 1994. Klawans, S., ‘‘Zhang Yimou,’’ in Film Comment (New York), vol. 31, September-October 1995. Young-Sau Fong, Suzie, ‘‘The Voice of Feminine Madness in Zhang Yimou’s Dahong Denglong Gaogao Gua,” in Asian Cinema (Drexel Hill), Spring 1995. Lee, Joann, ‘‘Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern: Contextual Analysis of Film through a Confucian/Feminist Matrix,’’ in Asian Cinema (Drexel Hill), Spring 1996. Kong, Haili, ‘‘Symbolism through Zhang Yimou’s Subversive Lens in His Early Films,’’ in Asian Cinema (Drexel Hill), Winter 1996–1997. Wei, Y., ‘‘Music and Femininity in Zhang Yimou’s Family Melodrama,’’ in CineAction (Toronto), no. 42, 1997. *** Raise the Red Lantern was one of the rare Chinese films successfully marketed in America and its success has been ascribed to its exotic formula of a man with five wives and the radiant beauty of the star Gong Li. The film has certainly capped the international reputation of its director Zhang Yimou and made him the most successful director among the ‘‘Fifth Generation’’ filmmakers (including Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wu Ziniu) who first made their mark in Chinese cinema in the mid-1980s. Superficially at least, Raise the Red Lantern has all the hallmarks of a sizzling soap-opera melodrama featuring the beautiful Gong Li as the fourth wife of Master Chen, a wealthy, traditionalist husband of the Chinese gentry class. Master Chen’s mansion is divided into four quarters or courtyards—each occupied by one of his wives, who are all enjoined to live harmoniously under one roof. It is a manor dominated by the observance of arcane rituals, family rules and regulations—a central ritual being the hanging of red lanterns in the quarters of the master’s choice of sleeping partner for the night. The plot ingredients of a melodrama come into play as three of the wives—Zhuoyun (the second wife), Meishan (the third wife, an opera singer), and Songlian (the fourth and most recent wife, played by Gong Li),—become rivals for the master’s affections (the first wife being too old to be a serious rival). Zhuoyun is deceptively friendly, showing her true colours in the course of the film, as the most treacherous of the master’s wives. Meishan hides her tragic vulnerability beneath a bitchy, cunning veneer, while Songlian is equally vulnerable but much less equipped to handle the politics of rivalry and jealousy. The object is not only to win the master’s affections but to exert authority over the wider household of other concubines and servants. As a servant says, ‘‘authority is where the lantern is hung.’’ To complicate matters, Songlian’s servant, Yan, has ambitions of her own to become one of the master’s mistresses. Yan taunts Songlian by being mildly rebellious and insolent (going against regulations, she hangs up torn and patched red lanterns in her own room), and informs on her mistress’ activities in Zhuoyun. The story works as a kind of gothic melodrama when Songlian discovers a locked room on the roof of the mansion and is told that it
DAHONG DENGLONG GAOGAO GUA FILMS. 4 EDITIoN Dahong denglong gaogao gua was the place where two women had died tragically by hanging device accentuates the distance of the one significant male character, hemselves. It is this room that rounds off the films climax(as third both from the perspectives of the audience as well as those of the key mistress Meishan, discovered for her infidelity, is dragged and locked female characters up there)and precipitates Songlian's tragedy. The chronology of the The long shot is a trait shared by Zhangs Fifth Generation arrative takes place over the seasons of the year; the events are colleagues( Chen Kaige, in particular, for whom Zhang served as confined to the settings of a single household, done in the elaborate director of photography on his first two films )and is a manifestation style of a Chinese manor-house complete with multiple courtyards, of the objective eye. In Fifth Generation work, the objective eye rooms, antechambers, and servants quarters, separated by walls and functions primarily as a visual endowment of film narratives. It points lanes. This architectural marvel is as much a part of the story as are the ip the stunning visual qualities of the directors compositions, and haracters, who often seem minuscule against the grand setting of the fills in" the narrative space that is not covered by dialogue On the building(alone in a courtyard, or standing behind a towering facade) other hand. the long shot tends to reinforce the structural look of a film Indeed, the film is distinguished by Zhang Yimous penchant for and gains a semiotic, symbolic function as well. long shots which take full advantage of his marvellous location and In Raise the Red Lantern, the structural compositions and thei interior sets. There are almost no close-ups in the film-the camera symbolic derivatives shore up the sense of distance in time and spac getting no closer to the characters than the medium shot. When closer and the psychology of the female characters as they engage in what shots are employed, Zhang almost always favours his female modern feminists would consider absurd rivalry and power-play. The characters-the one overtly conscious sign of the directors story- strength of the Fifth Generation directors lies in the ability to exploit telling sensibility motivating his series of films, beginning with Red historical objectivity and a highly personal approach to narrative Sorghum, that are all centred around women(all played by Gong Li). filmmaking, thus breaking with the tradition of didacticism and The master of the household is, in fact, always in long shots, with the literary approaches in Chinese cinema. That Zhangs success in the camera deliberately avoiding showing this character in full face. The West is attributed to exoticism is a price he must pay as his films
DAHONG DENGLONG GAOGAO GUA FILMS, 4th EDITION 286 Dahong denglong gaogao gua was the place where two women had died tragically by hanging themselves. It is this room that rounds off the film’s climax (as third mistress Meishan, discovered for her infidelity, is dragged and locked up there) and precipitates Songlian’s tragedy. The chronology of the narrative takes place over the seasons of the year; the events are confined to the settings of a single household, done in the elaborate style of a Chinese manor-house complete with multiple courtyards, rooms, antechambers, and servants’ quarters, separated by walls and lanes. This architectural marvel is as much a part of the story as are the characters, who often seem minuscule against the grand setting of the building (alone in a courtyard, or standing behind a towering facade). Indeed, the film is distinguished by Zhang Yimou’s penchant for long shots which take full advantage of his marvellous location and interior sets. There are almost no close-ups in the film—the camera getting no closer to the characters than the medium shot. When closer shots are employed, Zhang almost always favours his female characters—the one overtly conscious sign of the director’s storytelling sensibility motivating his series of films, beginning with Red Sorghum, that are all centred around women (all played by Gong Li). The master of the household is, in fact, always in long shots, with the camera deliberately avoiding showing this character in full face. The device accentuates the distance of the one significant male character, both from the perspectives of the audience as well as those of the key female characters. The long shot is a trait shared by Zhang’s Fifth Generation colleagues (Chen Kaige, in particular, for whom Zhang served as director of photography on his first two films) and is a manifestation of the objective eye. In Fifth Generation work, the objective eye functions primarily as a visual endowment of film narratives. It points up the stunning visual qualities of the director’s compositions, and ‘‘fills in’’ the narrative space that is not covered by dialogue. On the other hand, the long shot tends to reinforce the structural look of a film and gains a semiotic, symbolic function as well. In Raise the Red Lantern, the structural compositions and their symbolic derivatives shore up the sense of distance in time and space and the psychology of the female characters as they engage in what modern feminists would consider absurd rivalry and power-play. The strength of the Fifth Generation directors lies in the ability to exploit historical objectivity and a highly personal approach to narrative filmmaking, thus breaking with the tradition of didacticism and literary approaches in Chinese cinema. That Zhang’s success in the West is attributed to exoticism is a price he must pay as his films
FILMS. 4th EDItION LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE assume more formalized and realist, down-to-earth properties(as Sloan, Jane, Robert Bresson: A Film Guide, New York, 1983 may be seen in The Story of Qiu Ju and his latest, To Live) Hanlon, Lindley, Fragments: Bresson's Film Style, Cranbury, 1986 Quandt, James, editor, Robert Bresson, Toronto, 1998 Stephen Teo Reader, Keith, Robert Bresson, Manchester, 2000 Articles. LES DAMES DU BOIS DE Sadoul in Lettres Francaises(Paris), 29 September 194 BOULOGNE Becker, Hommage a robert Bresson, in Ecran francais aris), 17 October 1946. Lambert, Gavin, * Notes on Robert Bresson, in Sight and Sound (Ladies of the Bois de boulogne) (London), Summer 1953. Truffaut, Francois, in Arts(Paris), 22 September 1954. france. 1945 (London), December 1957. Director: robert bresson Baxter, Brian, Robert Bresson, in Film(London), September October 1958 Production: Films Raoul Ploquin; black and white, 35mm; running Roud, Richard, "The Early Work of Robert Bresson, "in Film ime: originally 96 minutes, but edited down to 84 minutes for initial Culture(New York ), no 20, 1959. release, current versions are usually 90 minutes. Released 21 Septem- Roud. Richard, French Outsider with an Insider Look, 'in Filr ber 1945. Filmed summer 1944 in france and Filming(London), April 1960. lew York Times, 4 April 1964 Producer: Robert Lavellee: screenplay: Robert Bresson; dialogue Sarris. Andrew. *Robert Bresson 'in Interviews with Film Direc- Jean Cocteau, from a passage in"Jacques le fataliste et son maitre tors. New York. 1967 by Denis Diderot; photography: Philippe Agostini; editor: Jean Sontag, Susan, ""Spiritual Style in the Films of Robert bresson, i Feyte; sound: Rene Louge, Robert Ivonnet, and Lucien Legrand Against Interpretation, New York, 1969 production designer: Max Douy; music: Jean-Jacques Grunenwald. Skoller, Donald S, ""Praxis as a Cinematic Principle in the Films of Robert bresson, in Cinema Journal (Evanston, Illinois). Fall 1969 Cast: Paul Bernard (ean): Maria Casares(Helene ) Elina Labourdette Robert bresson, in Current Biography Yearbook, New York, 1971 (Agnes ]); Lucienne Bogaert(Madame D): Jean Marchat (Jacques) Samuels, Charles Thomas, Robert Bresson, in Encountering Direc- Yvette Etievant(Chamber maid); with Bernard Lajarrige, Nicole ors. New York. 1972. Regnault, Marcel Rouze, Emma Lyonnel, Lucy Lancy, Marguerite de Polhemusin, H. M, ""Matter and Spirit in the Films of Robert Morlaye, and the dog Katsou Bresson, in Film Heritage(Dayton, Ohio), Spring 1974 Les dames du bois de boulogne issue of Avant-Scene du cinema Awards: Louis Delluc Award. france. 19 Paris), 15 November 1977 'Robert Bresson Issue"of Camera/Stylo( Paris), January 1985 Signorelli, A, "Les dames du bois de boulogne di robert bresson Cineforum, vol. 27, no 9, 1987. Publications Predal, R, in Avant Scene du Cinema(Paris), January-February 1992 Michalczyk, J.J., and Paul Guth, in French review, no. 4, 1992. Botermans, Jan, in Film en Televisie Video(Brussels), Octo Bresson, Robert, and Jean Cocteau, Les Dames du bois de boulogne. Books. Les dames du bois du boulogne, robert Bresson's second film premiered just at the moment of the Liberation of France. Considered he Films of robert Bresson, New York, 1969 difficult and client of Armes, Roy, French Cinema Since 1946. Volume 1: The Great Louis Delluc Award for the years most important French film. what Tradition, New York, 1970. was it that made this film so difficult. and how could Bresson's severe Cameron, lan, The Films of Robert Bresson, London, 1970 style have attracted the attention it did? Schrader, Paul, Transcendental Style on Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer First of all, the stifling studio look, by which Bresson was able to Los Angeles. 1972 shadow, was perfectly suited to the hermetic era of the resson, Robert, Notes sur le cinematographe, Paris, 1975; as Notes Occupation in which the f on the Cinema. New york. 1977. of the films literary source. The story was culled from Diderot's de Pontes Leca, C, Robert Bresson o cinematografo e o sinal, 18th-century classic Jacques le fataliste. Seemingly updated to in- Lisbon. 1978. clude automobiles, electric lights, etc, Bazin once claimed that 287
FILMS, 4 LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE th EDITION 287 assume more formalized and realist, down-to-earth properties (as may be seen in The Story of Qiu Ju and his latest, To Live). —Stephen Teo LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE (Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne) France, 1945 Director: Robert Bresson Production: Films Raoul Ploquin; black and white, 35mm; running time: originally 96 minutes, but edited down to 84 minutes for initial release, current versions are usually 90 minutes. Released 21 September 1945. Filmed summer 1944 in France. Producer: Robert Lavellée; screenplay: Robert Bresson; dialogue: Jean Cocteau, from a passage in ‘‘Jacques le fataliste et son maître’’ by Denis Diderot; photography: Philippe Agostini; editor: Jean Feyte; sound: René Louge, Robert Ivonnet, and Lucien Legrand; production designer: Max Douy; music: Jean-Jacques Grunenwald. Cast: Paul Bernard (Jean); Maria Casares (Hélène); Elina Labourdette (Agnès J); Lucienne Bogaert (Madame D); Jean Marchat (Jacques); Yvette Etievant (Chamber maid); with Bernard Lajarrige, Nicole Regnault, Marcel Rouzé, Emma Lyonnel, Lucy Lancy, Marguerite de Morlaye, and the dog Katsou. Awards: Louis Delluc Award, France, 1945. Publications Script: Bresson, Robert, and Jean Cocteau, Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, in Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), 15 November 1977. Books: The Films of Robert Bresson, New York, 1969. Armes, Roy, French Cinema Since 1946, Volume 1: The Great Tradition, New York, 1970. Cameron, Ian, The Films of Robert Bresson, London, 1970. Schrader, Paul, Transcendental Style on Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, Los Angeles, 1972. Bresson, Robert, Notes sur le cinématographe, Paris, 1975; as Notes on the Cinema, New York, 1977. de Pontes Leca, C., Robert Bresson o cinematografo e o sinal, Lisbon, 1978. Sloan, Jane, Robert Bresson: A Film Guide, New York, 1983. Hanlon, Lindley, Fragments: Bresson’s Film Style, Cranbury, 1986. Quandt, James, editor, Robert Bresson, Toronto, 1998. Reader, Keith, Robert Bresson, Manchester, 2000. Articles: Sadoul, Georges, in Lettres Françaises (Paris), 29 September 1945. Becker, Jacques, ‘‘Hommage à Robert Bresson,’’ in Ecran Français (Paris), 17 October 1946. Lambert, Gavin, ‘‘Notes on Robert Bresson,’’ in Sight and Sound (London), Summer 1953. Truffaut, François, in Arts (Paris), 22 September 1954. Gow, Gordon, ‘‘The Quest for Realism,’’ in Films and Filming (London), December 1957. Baxter, Brian, ‘‘Robert Bresson,’’ in Film (London), SeptemberOctober 1958. Roud, Richard, ‘‘The Early Work of Robert Bresson,’’ in Film Culture (New York), no. 20, 1959. Roud, Richard, ‘‘French Outsider with an Insider Look,’’ in Films and Filming (London), April 1960. New York Times, 4 April 1964. Sarris, Andrew, ‘‘Robert Bresson,’’ in Interviews with Film Directors, New York, 1967. Sontag, Susan, ‘‘Spiritual Style in the Films of Robert Bresson,’’ in Against Interpretation, New York, 1969. Skoller, Donald S., ‘‘Praxis as a Cinematic Principle in the Films of Robert Bresson,’’ in Cinema Journal (Evanston, Illinois), Fall 1969. ‘‘Robert Bresson,’’ in Current Biography Yearbook, New York, 1971. Samuels, Charles Thomas, ‘‘Robert Bresson,’’ in Encountering Directors, New York, 1972. Polhemusin, H. M., ‘‘Matter and Spirit in the Films of Robert Bresson,’’ in Film Heritage (Dayton, Ohio), Spring 1974. ‘‘Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne Issue’’ of Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), 15 November 1977. ‘‘Robert Bresson Issue’’ of Caméra/Stylo (Paris), January 1985. Signorelli, A., ‘‘Les dames du Bois de Boulogne di Robert Bresson,’’ in Cineforum, vol. 27, no. 9, 1987. Predal, R., in Avant Scène du Cinéma (Paris), January-February 1992. Michalczyk, J.J., and Paul Guth, in French Review, no. 4, 1992. Botermans, Jan, in Film en Televisie + Video (Brussels), October 1996. *** Les Dames du Bois du Boulogne, Robert Bresson’s second film, premiered just at the moment of the Liberation of France. Considered a difficult and extraordinary work, it was the first recipient of the Louis Delluc Award for the year’s most important French film. What was it that made this film so difficult, and how could Bresson’s severe style have attracted the attention it did? First of all, the stifling studio look, by which Bresson was able to control every shadow, was perfectly suited to the hermetic era of the Occupation in which the film was made and to the strict moral drama of the film’s literary source. The story was culled from Diderot’s 18th-century classic Jacques le fataliste. Seemingly updated to include automobiles, electric lights, etc., Bazin once claimed that
LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE FILMS. 4 EDITIoN F Les dames du bois de boulogne Bresson's adaptation is in fact back-dated, that it is the aesthetic oralized. a good example of this process is found when Jean enters equivalent of Racine. Bresson has indeed essentialized a picaresque, Agnes's room. He takes in this closed space and then transforms it in ironic drama into a tragic struggle of absolutes. More accurately, he words: This is her lamp, her flowers, her frame, her cushion. This is has pitted the absolute and tragic world view of Helene, the injured, where she sits to read, this, her piano. And yet throughout this icy heroine played elegantly by Maria Casares, against the more recitation we see only his face. The dialogue sums up and closes off modern and temperate world views held by the lover who has left her, sentiments, cooling passions, abstracting emotions. We observe Helene and by the two women she vengefully introduces him to in the bois du lying wrathful on her bed for some time before she leans forward to Boulogne peak her incredibly cold, Je me vengerai Here is the crux of the film's difficulty, for 20th-century spectators Although this style insists on the overpowering strength of Helene are required to identify with the hardened Helene as she spins the web response to life (in which a single errant word warrants death and of her trap, using modern, attractive characters as bait. Yet the film damnation). the plot supports the more ordinary characters whom she succeeds because Bresson has supported her with his style, if not his has manipulated to the end. For after her plans have run their course, moral sympathy. We experience her anguish and determination after she has announced to Jean at the church that he has married within the decisive clarity of each shot and within the fatal mechanism a loose woman, her power is spent. The grace of love, of the love born made up by the precise concatenation of shots. No accident or between these two humble and minor mortals, points to a life or spontaneous gesture is permitted to enter either Helene's world a purpose beyond Helene. Bresson's Jansenism mixes severity(style) Jean Cocteau's dialogue pressed like some dense radioactive Only the dead-time of the Occupation could have permitted such element, continually points up the absolute stakes at play; further a refined and distant love story. Its timeless values, though, reflect on more,the lines he has written play antiphonally with the images to that period, particularly its concern with weakness, forgiveness, and produce a reflective space in which every perception has already been the future in a world controlled by absolute political powers. More
LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE FILMS, 4th EDITION 288 Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne Bresson’s adaptation is in fact back-dated, that it is the aesthetic equivalent of Racine. Bresson has indeed essentialized a picaresque, ironic drama into a tragic struggle of absolutes. More accurately, he has pitted the absolute and tragic world view of Hélène, the injured, icy heroine played elegantly by Maria Casares, against the more modern and temperate world views held by the lover who has left her, and by the two women she vengefully introduces him to in the Bois du Boulogne. Here is the crux of the film’s difficulty, for 20th-century spectators are required to identify with the hardened Hélène as she spins the web of her trap, using modern, attractive characters as bait. Yet the film succeeds because Bresson has supported her with his style, if not his moral sympathy. We experience her anguish and determination within the decisive clarity of each shot and within the fatal mechanism made up by the precise concatenation of shots. No accident or spontaneous gesture is permitted to enter either Hélène’s world or Bresson’s mise-en-scène. Jean Cocteau’s dialogue, compressed like some dense radioactive element, continually points up the absolute stakes at play; furthermore, the lines he has written play antiphonally with the images to produce a reflective space in which every perception has already been oralized. A good example of this process is found when Jean enters Agnès’s room. He takes in this closed space and then transforms it in words: ‘‘This is her lamp, her flowers, her frame, her cushion. This is where she sits to read, this, her piano.’’ And yet throughout this recitation we see only his face. The dialogue sums up and closes off sentiments, cooling passions, abstracting emotions. We observe Hélène lying wrathful on her bed for some time before she leans forward to speak her incredibly cold, ‘‘Je me vengerai.’’ Although this style insists on the overpowering strength of Hélène’s response to life (in which a single errant word warrants death and damnation), the plot supports the more ordinary characters whom she has manipulated to the end. For after her plans have run their course, after she has announced to Jean at the church that he has married a loose woman, her power is spent. The grace of love, of the love born between these two humble and minor mortals, points to a life or a purpose beyond Hélène. Bresson’s Jansenism mixes severity (style) and the disclosure of grace (plot). Only the dead-time of the Occupation could have permitted such a refined and distant love story. Its timeless values, though, reflect on that period, particularly its concern with weakness, forgiveness, and the future in a world controlled by absolute political powers. More
FILMS. 4th EDItION DANCE, GIRL, DANCE important is the full expression of a style that demands to be taken Johnston, Claire, editor, The Work of Dorothy Arzner: Towards morally. Even if Bresson has since rejected this effort as too theatrical (with its music, acting and studio lighting), the fact is that Les Dames Kay, Karyn, and Gerald Peary, editors, Women and the Cinema: du bois du boulogne showed the world the value of his search A Critical Anthology, New York, 1977 a search that is at once stylistic and metaphysical, and one his later Slide, Anthony, Early Women Directors, South Brunswick, New work has justified. It is a tribute to the French film community that Jersey, 1977 they recognized the presence and importance of something truly Heck -Rabi, Louise, Women Filmmakers: A Critical Reception, different Metuchen, New Jersey, 1984 Penley, Constance, editor, Feminism and Film Theory, London, 1988 -Dudley Andrew Mayne, Judith, Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Bloomington, 1995 THE DAMNED Crowther, Bosley, in New York Times, 11 September 1940. See LA Caduta dEgLi del Kine Weekly(London), 12 September 1940 Monthly Film Bulletin(London ) vol 7, no 81, 1940 Feldman. J. and H. Feldman. *Women Directors. in Films in Review(New York). November 1950. DANCE GIRL DANCE Pyros, J,"Notes on Women Directors, in Take One(Montreal) November-December 1970 USA.1940 Henshaw, Richard. Women Directors. ' in Film Comment(New York), November 1972 Director: Dorothy Arzner Parker, F, "Approaching the Art of Arzner, in Action (Los Ange les), July-August 1973 Velvet Light Trap(Madison, Wisconsin), Fall 1973 Production: RKO-Radio Pictures: black and white: running time: 90 Castle, W," Tribute to Dorothy Arzner, in Action(Los Angeles), minutes. Released September 1940 March-April 1975. Kaplan, E. Ann, Aspects of British Feminist Film Theory, 'in Jump Producers: Erich Pommer and Harry Edington; screenplay: Tess Cut(Berkeley ), nos. 12-13, 1976 lesinger, Frank Davis, from the novel by Vicki Baum; assistant Glaessner, Verina, in Focus on Film(London), Summer-Autumn 1976 director: James H. Anderson; photography: Russell Metty, editor: Laemmle, Ann, in Cinema Texas Program Notes, 28 February 1978 Robert Wise; sound: Hugh McDowell, Jr; art director: Van Nest Bergstrom, J, ""Rereading the Work of Claire Johnston, " in camera Polglase: associate art director: Al Herman; gowns: Edward Ste Obscura(Berkeley), Summer 1979. venson: music director: Edward Ward; dances: Ernst Matray Forster, A, in Skrien(Amsterdam), September-October 1984 Chell, S L, Dorothy Arzner's Dance, Girl, Dance, in CineAction Cast: Maureen O'Hara (udy): Louis Hayward (Jimmy Harris) oronto), Summer-Fall 1991 Lucille Ball(Bubbles): Ralph Bellamy(Steve Adams): Virginia Field (Elinor Harris): Maria Ouspenskaya (Madame Basilova): Mary Carlisle(Sally): Katherine Alexander(Miss Olmstead); Edward Brophie (Dwarfie): Walter Abel (udge ) Harold Huber(Hoboken Gent); Ernest Truex (Bailey 1): Chester Clute (Bailey 2): Vivian Fay Dance, Girl, Dance is one of the few films directed by a woman i (Ballerina); Lorraine Krueger( Dolly); Lola Jensen(Daisy): Emma what is known as the"classical Hollywood era, when, it has been Dunn(Ms. Simpson); Sidney Blackmer(Puss in Boots); Ludwi gued, the conventional narrative codes of cinema were fixed. This Stossel (Caesar); Erno Verebes( Fitch) unique position has inevitably informed the ways in which the film has been studied. Although Dorothy Arzner herself nist. it is due to feminism that she has been reassessed. In the mid- 970s feminist critics argued that while Dance, Girl, Dance may Publications appear to be just one example of the popular musical comedies and ens pictures produced by rKoin the 1930s and 1940s, Arzne Books ironic point of view questions the very conventions she uses. The film was made in the relative flexibility of RKO's production Johnston, Claire, Notes on Women's Cinema. London 1973 system, whereby independent directors were contracted to work Rosen, Marjorie, Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies and the American under minimal supervision. It was in this context that Arzner was reputedly able to rework a confusing and scrappy script to focus on Haskell, Molly, From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women the ambivalent relationship between the two strong, but very differ- in the Movies, New York, 1974. ent, main female characters, Judy, an aspiring ballerina, and bubbles, Smith. Sharon. Women Who Make Movies. New York. 1975 a gold-digging showgirl. Bubbles, after finding work in burlesque
FILMS, 4 DANCE, GIRL, DANCE th EDITION 289 important is the full expression of a style that demands to be taken morally. Even if Bresson has since rejected this effort as too theatrical (with its music, acting, and studio lighting), the fact is that Les Dames du Bois du Boulogne showed the world the value of his search, a search that is at once stylistic and metaphysical, and one his later work has justified. It is a tribute to the French film community that they recognized the presence and importance of something truly different. —Dudley Andrew THE DAMNED See LA CADUTA DEGLI DEI DANCE, GIRL, DANCE USA, 1940 Director: Dorothy Arzner Production: RKO-Radio Pictures; black and white; running time: 90 minutes. Released September 1940. Producers: Erich Pommer and Harry Edington; screenplay: Tess Slesinger, Frank Davis, from the novel by Vicki Baum; assistant director: James H. Anderson; photography: Russell Metty; editor: Robert Wise; sound: Hugh McDowell, Jr.; art director: Van Nest Polglase; associate art director: Al Herman; gowns: Edward Stevenson; music director: Edward Ward; dances: Ernst Matray. Cast: Maureen O’Hara (Judy); Louis Hayward (Jimmy Harris); Lucille Ball (Bubbles); Ralph Bellamy (Steve Adams); Virginia Field (Elinor Harris); Maria Ouspenskaya (Madame Basilova); Mary Carlisle (Sally); Katherine Alexander (Miss Olmstead); Edward Brophie (Dwarfie); Walter Abel (Judge); Harold Huber (Hoboken Gent); Ernest Truex (Bailey 1); Chester Clute (Bailey 2); Vivian Fay (Ballerina); Lorraine Krueger (Dolly); Lola Jensen (Daisy); Emma Dunn (Ms. Simpson); Sidney Blackmer (Puss in Boots); Ludwig Stossel (Caesar); Erno Verebes (Fitch). Publications Books: Johnston, Claire, Notes on Women’s Cinema, London 1973. Rosen, Marjorie, Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies and the American Dream, New York, 1973. Haskell, Molly, From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies, New York, 1974. Smith, Sharon, Women Who Make Movies, New York, 1975. Johnston, Claire, editor, The Work of Dorothy Arzner: Towards a Feminist Cinema, London, 1975. Kay, Karyn, and Gerald Peary, editors, Women and the Cinema: A Critical Anthology, New York, 1977. Slide, Anthony, Early Women Directors, South Brunswick, New Jersey, 1977. Heck-Rabi, Louise, Women Filmmakers: A Critical Reception, Metuchen, New Jersey, 1984. Penley, Constance, editor, Feminism and Film Theory, London, 1988. Mayne, Judith, Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Bloomington, 1995. Articles: Crowther, Bosley, in New York Times, 11 September 1940. Kine Weekly (London), 12 September 1940. Monthly Film Bulletin (London), vol. 7, no. 81, 1940. Feldman, J., and H. Feldman, ‘‘Women Directors,’’ in Films in Review (New York), November 1950. Pyros, J., ‘‘Notes on Women Directors,’’ in Take One (Montreal), November-December 1970. Henshaw, Richard, ‘‘Women Directors,’’ in Film Comment (New York), November 1972. Parker, F., ‘‘Approaching the Art of Arzner,’’ in Action (Los Angeles), July-August 1973. Velvet Light Trap (Madison, Wisconsin), Fall 1973. Castle, W., ‘‘Tribute to Dorothy Arzner,’’ in Action (Los Angeles), March-April 1975. Kaplan, E. Ann, ‘‘Aspects of British Feminist Film Theory,’’ in Jump Cut (Berkeley), nos. 12–13, 1976. Glaessner, Verina, in Focus on Film (London), Summer-Autumn 1976. Laemmle, Ann, in Cinema Texas Program Notes, 28 February 1978. Bergstrom, J., ‘‘Rereading the Work of Claire Johnston,’’ in Camera Obscura (Berkeley), Summer 1979. Forster, A., in Skrien (Amsterdam), September-October 1984. Chell, S. L., ‘‘Dorothy Arzner’s Dance, Girl, Dance,’’ in CineAction (Toronto), Summer-Fall 1991. *** Dance, Girl, Dance is one of the few films directed by a woman in what is known as the ‘‘classical Hollywood’’ era, when, it has been argued, the conventional narrative codes of cinema were fixed. This unique position has inevitably informed the ways in which the film has been studied. Although Dorothy Arzner herself was not a feminist, it is due to feminism that she has been reassessed. In the mid- 1970s feminist critics argued that while Dance, Girl, Dance may appear to be just one example of the popular musical comedies and women’s pictures produced by RKO in the 1930s and 1940s, Arzner’s ironic point of view questions the very conventions she uses. The film was made in the relative flexibility of RKO’s production system, whereby independent directors were contracted to work under minimal supervision. It was in this context that Arzner was reputedly able to rework a confusing and scrappy script to focus on the ambivalent relationship between the two strong, but very different, main female characters, Judy, an aspiring ballerina, and Bubbles, a gold-digging showgirl. Bubbles, after finding work in burlesque