To desire differently : feminism and the French cinema

This Study Of Three French Women Filmmakers Uses Biographical, Historical, And Textual Analyses To Elaborate An Alternative Feminist Cinematic Tradition. The Author Begins By Asking How A Female Voice Int Eh Cinema Can Be Identified. After A Survey Of Feminist Film Theory, The Book Offers In-depth Analyses Of The Work Of Germaine Dulac, Representing The First Avant-garde Of The 1920s (the Smiling Mme. Beudet And The Seashell And The Clergyman); Marie Epstein, Redefining The Poetic Realism Of The 1930s (la Meternelle), And Agnés Varda, Initiating The New Wave Of The Early 1960s (cleo Form 5 To 7 And Vagabond). Introduction -- Germaine Dulac: First Feminist Of The Avant-garde -- Dulac In Context: French Film Production In The Twenties -- From Fantasy To Structure Of The Fantasm: The Smiling Mme Beudet And The Seashell And The Clergyman -- Marie Epstein: A Woman In The Shadows -- Epstein In Context: French Film Production In The Thirties -- Nursery/ryhmes: Primal Scenes In La Maternelle -- Agnes Varda And The Woman Seen -- Varda In Context: French Film Production In The Early Sixties-the New Wave -- From Deesse To Idee: Cleo From 5 To 7 -- The Impossible Portrait Of Femininity: Vagabond -- Conclusion. Sandy Flitterman-lewis. Originally Presented As The Author's Thesis (ph. D.--university Of California, Berkeley). Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [321]-332.

Using biographic, historical, and textual analyses to elaborate an alternative, feminist cinematic tradition, this groundbreaking study presents an exploration of the impact of three French women filmmakers: Germaine Dulac, Marie Epstein, and Agnes Varda.

Columbia University Press