A Musical Neorealism - Jean Luc Godard's Une Femme est Une Femme

7/23/2019 A Musical Neorealism - Jean Luc Godard's Une Femme est Une Femme

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A Musical Neorealism : Jean-LucGodards Une femme est une femmeFelicity Chaplin

If I analyse myself today, I see that I always wanted, primarily, to make a film of research under the form of

spectacle. (Jean-Luc Godard)

I like to say that there are two kinds of cinema, there is Flaherty and there is isenstein. !hat is to say, there is

documentary realism and there is theatre, "ut ultimately, at the hi#hest le$el, they are one and the same. %hat I

mean is that throu#h documentary realism one arri$es at the structure of theatre, and throu#h theatrical ima#ination

and fiction one arri$es at the reality of life. (Jean-Luc Godard)

%earin# a "rilliant "lue dress trimmed with white fur and matchin# "ow atop her coiffed hair, a youn# woman

dances #aily in the streets of &aris. 'ut this is noAn American in Paris(*). Gone are the spectacular

production-desi#ned sets. Instead we are on location in a &arisian "ack alleyway, a dreary streetscape littered with

trashcans, rusted-out "arred doors and piles of ru""le. +tras"our# +aint-enis in winter, as cinemato#rapher aoul


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Coutard remarked, is not really #ay and colourful/ ('er#ala01123 4). 5either, despite her e6tra$a#ant costume

and #estures, is this comedienne a Leslie Caron or a Cyd Charisse. In this shot of 7n#8la (7nna 9arina), the

settin# :ars dramatically with the fi#ure in the fore#round, capturin# the contradiction upon which the whole film is

predicated3 musical neorealism.

In a 20 inter$iew Godard remarked3 I thou#ht of the su":ect ;of Une femme est une femme, emphasis is implicitly shifted to the noun, Amusical>, while the descriptor Aneo-realist> is lar#ely i#nored,

e6cept where su"stituted for words to the effect of Anot Buite>, as in Une femme est une femmeis Anot Buite> a

musical.;0s conceptualisation

of neorealism in 21 is needed. 5eorealism is #enerally understood within the familiar, compactly circumscri"ed

definition as the film culture of the esistance and the Li"eration/ (+teimatsky 6ii-6iii). !his can "e narrowly

periodised from =* with o"erto ossellini>s Roma citt apertato the end of that decade when production
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resumed in the CinecittD studios (+teimatsky 6ii-6iii). 'ordwell and !hompson rele#ate Italian neorealism to the

period =0-* (=4*), and similarly, +imona Eonticelli claims neorealism pertains to a cluster of films made

"etween the mid-=1s and the mid-*1s/ (=**). owe$er, in her "ook Italian Locations: Reinhabiting the Past in

Postwar Cinema, 5oa +teimatsky proposes to e6pand our understandin# of neorealism and offer a preliminary

openin# of the principle prospects, and of some o"scure corners, in $iew of and sometimes a#ainst esta"lished

limits/ (6ii). !his "roadenin# of the term neorealism pro$es useful for an understandin# of Godard>s relationship to,

and use of, neorealism in Une femme est une femme.

$en Roma citt aperta, a foundin# film of neorealism, contains elements hetero#enous to the style. +idney

Gottlie" ar#ues that ossellini>s film does not wholly conform to some of the particulars and #eneralities ascri"ed to

neorealism "y comparin# the film a#ainst a set of rules #o$ernin# neorealist practice/ set down "y Eillicent

Earcus. !hese rules include3

Location shootin#, len#thy takes, uno"trusi$e editin#, natural li#htin#, a predominance of medium and lon# shots,

respect for the continuity of time and space, use of contemporary true-to-life su":ects, an uncontri$ed, open-ended

plot, workin#-class prota#onists, a non-professional cast, dialo#ue in the $ernacular, acti$e $iewer in$ol$ement, andimplied social criticism (Gottlie" ).

For Gottlie", Roma citt aperta is interestin# not in the way it conforms to these central tenets "ut in the way it

works a#ainst them3 it was shot partially on location "ut also used carefully desi#ned sets? it uses "oth natural and

artificial or e6pressionistic li#htin#? close-ups punctuate the medium and lon# shots typical of neorealism? and lon#

and continuous takes are interrupted with swipes. Gottlie" ar#ues that the neorealism of Roma citt apertais

dynamic, a process rather than a prescription, a comple6 ne#otiation amon# often contradictory or centrifu#al

forces and occasionally une6pected elements rather than a precise "lueprint/ (=1). !his hi#hli#hts the difficulty

definin# neorealism and pro$ides an o$er$iew of ossellini>s neorealism, important for an understandin# of

Godard>s conceptualisation of the mode. +imona Eonticelli claims the term>s uncertain ori#in further complicates itsdefinition3

the word cannot "e traced "ack to the consciously thou#ht out and pu"licly circulated manifesto of a mo$ement.

Hn the contrary, the term A5eo-ealism> is a descripti$e cate#ory which has e$ol$ed throu#h critical discourse

(=*2).

It was not until the late =1s that the term really "e#an to acBuire wide critical currency (Eonticelli =*). 7ccordin#

to Eonticelli, 7ndr8 'a@in>s $iews on neorealism in particular were hi#hly influential in de$elopin# a definition of

neorealism (=*). 7s a critic workin# under 'a@in at Cahiers du cinmawe can assume that Godard was aware of

these de"ates around neorealism.

Eonticelli also cites Cesare a$attini, screenwriter for de +ica>s Ladri di biciclette(=4) and Sciusci(=2), as

an important theorist of neorealism (=*4). Interestin#ly, Godard remarked that from the outset producer Carlo &onti

saw Une femme est une femmeas a film in the mode of a$attini ('er#ala 01123 41). Eoreo$er, in the early 1s

a$attini A"aptised> Godard as a neorealist/ (+teimatsky 4).

In the *0 manifesto-styled A+ome Ideas on the Cinema>, a$attini writes3


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5ow it has "een percei$ed that reality is hu#ely rich, that to "e a"le to look directly at it is enou#h? and that the

artist>s task is not to make people mo$ed or indi#nant at metaphorical situations, "ut to make them reflect (and, if

you like, to "e mo$ed and indi#nant too) on what they and others are doin#, on the real thin#s, e6actly as they are

(0).

a$attini emphasises too the contrast "etween neorealism and ollywood cinema3 the 7merican position is the

antithesis of our own3 while we are interested in the reality around us and want to know it directly, reality in

7merican films is unnaturally filtered, Apurified>, and comes out at one or two remo$es/ (04). %e see an e6ample

of this unnaturally filtered/ reality in Une femme est une femmewhen Godard uses colour filters to saturate 7n#8la

in red, #reen, "lue and purple durin# her son#-and-dance routine at the odiac Clu". In this scene the "rilliant

colours contrast sharply with the #rey tones of the a$aila"le li#htin# of the location scenes. owe$er, any inclination

to associate a$aila"le li#htin# with neorealism, and colour filters with ollywood and the musical #enre, is made

pro"lematic when we recall that e$en Roma citt aperta uses artificial and e6pressionist li#htin#. Eoreo$er, Godard

is hi#hly refle6i$e in his use of this colour filter techniBue3 the saturation of colours is not seamlessly wo$en into the

fa"ric of the film, as thou#h it had ma#ically appeared. ather, Godard shows us the $ery mechanism that creates

this effect3 he films the colour filter apparatus :ust as he films aoul Coutard filmin# Francesca Kanini (Gior#ia Eoll)in the openin# of Le mpris.

7n#8la>s musical num"er is often cited as the scene "y which the musical #enre lays claim to the film? howe$er the

scene is in fact a piece of meticulously crafted realism. It is the perfect e6ample of the kind of dialectical re$ersal

that Godard freBuently employs in his films? that is, what appears to "e themusical num"er in the film, that which

#i$es the musical #enre a claim on the film for many critics, is actually, at the le$el of mise en scne, the most neo-

realistic.

a$attini claimed the neorealist filmmaker could find enou#h material contained within a sin#le situation for an

entire film3

In most films, the ad$entures of two people lookin# for somewhere to li$e, for a house, would "e shown e6ternally

in a few moments of action, "ut for us it could pro$ide the scenario for a whole film, and we would e6plore all its

echoes, all its implications (0).

!he plot of Une femme est une femme, which, it was once said, can "e neatly summed up in one line A7 youn#

woman wants a "a"y> has often "een criticised for "ein# too thin and simplistic. Jonathan osen"aum #oes as

far as callin# it dopey/ (). Met Godard>s plot follows a$attini>s prescription la lettre3 usin# one situation to


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e6plore all its echoes and implications. Indeed, Godard praised the French neorealist film Une simple

histoire(Earcel anoun *) which makes no pretence of its simplicity of storyline ('er#ala 43 1-). In

7pril *, Godard wrote a re$iew of anoun>s film which tells the story of the increasin#ly desperate attempt of a

pro$incial woman (Eicheline 'e@anNon) to find work and eke out a li$in# for herself and her youn# dau#hter in

&aris. %hile reco#nisin# that anoun is $isi"ly influenced "y o"ert 'resson, Godard associates Une simple

histoirewith the theories of 'a@in and a$attini. For Godard, anoun>s film resem"les Storia di Caterina ;Stor! of

Catherines $iew on the use of actors instead of non-professionals, which is in contrast toa$attini>s $iew e6pounded in A+ome Ideas on Cinema>3

It is e$ident that, with neorealism, the actor-as a person fictitiously lendin# his own flesh to another-has no more

ri#ht to e6ist than the Astory>. In neorealism, as I intend it, e$eryone must "e his own actor. !o want one person to

play another implies the calculated plot, the fa"le, and not Athin#s happenin#> (00).

Godard predominately used professional actors in the early 21s.Jean-&aul 'elmondo, Jean-Claude 'rialy and

7nna 9arina were all esta"lished actors to $aryin# de#rees "efore they starred in Une femme est une femme. It

was only after 9arina had achie$ed moderate fame in Eichel el$ille>s Ce soir ou #amais(2) that Godard asked

her to star in Une femme est une femme('er#ala 01123 4*). 'er#ala claims Godard only offered 9arina the role atthe last moment ori#inally en$isa#in# the more Aesta"lished> 'ri#itte 'ardot for the role ('er#ala 01123 4=).

7n emphasis on daily life was eBually important for a$attini, who "elie$ed only cinema had the innate capacity for

showin# thin#s as they happen day "y day-in what we mi#ht call their Adailiness>, their lon#est and truest

duration/ (001). Une femme est une femme follows twenty-four hours in the life of three &arisians. %e not only see

them at their place of work, we also see them at wor$3 mile ('rialy) in the newsstand ser$in# customers, 7lfred

('elmondo) handin# out parkin# fines and 7n#8la performin# at the odiac Clu". !here are also scenes in the

couple>s apartment displayin# the whole #amut of domestic life3 we see 7n#8la and Omile eat, talk, ar#ue, play,

read (l%&umanit,'arie Claireand l%()uipe), listen to the radio, "rush their teeth, and perform their ni#htly rituals

(includin# the minute detail of dustin# off their feet "efore clim"in# into "ed). %e also see 7n#8la cookin# and

cleanin# (al"eit rather clumsily) and takin# a shower (which in$ol$es a little home handiwork), actions which would

likely "e a"sent in more plot-dri$en films.!here is an entire scene in which 7n#8la, ha$in# arri$ed home from work,

potters a"out her apartment (she looks in the mirror, fi6es her hair, does some li#ht housework, checks on the roast

for dinner) "efore takin# a home fertility test, the only action in this seBuence which is directly rele$ant to the plot.

7ll other action in this seBuence seems superfluous, yet it allows 7n#8la to "e shown in her Adailiness>. Hf particular

note here is A&oint *> of a$attini>s manifesto3


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7 woman is #oin# to "uy a pair of shoes. Ppon this elementary situation it is possi"le to "uild a film. 7ll we ha$e to

do is to disco$er and then show all the elements that #o to create this ad$enture, in all their "anal Adailiness>, and it

will "ecome worthy of attention, it will e$en "ecome Aspectacular>. 'ut it will "ecome spectacular not throu#h its

e6ceptional, "ut throu#h its normal Bualities? it will astonish us "y showin# so many thin#s that happen e$ery day

under our eyes, thin#s we ha$e ne$er noticed "efore. !he result would not "e easy to achie$e. It would reBuire an

intensity of human $ision "oth from the creator of the film and from the audience. !he Buestion is3 how to #i$e

human life its historical importance at e$ery minute (00).

Eoreo$er, accordin# to a$attini, showin# ordinary people undertakin# Buotidian tasks allows the audience to

reco#nise themsel$es in the people on the screen (000). a$attini is a#ainst Ae6ceptional> characters3

!he time has come to tell the audience that they are the true prota#onists of life. !he result will "e a constant

appeal to the responsi"ility and di#nity of e$ery human "ein#. Htherwise the freBuent ha"it of identifyin# oneself

with fictional characters will "ecome $ery dan#erous. %e must identify oursel$es with what we are (000).

In an inter$iew with Jean Collet in 2= Godard remarked3 Une femme est une femme almost had as a title *nest comme on est;you are what you are or one is what one is


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%hen Godard films Charlotte dashin# a"out &aris shoppin# in the new department stores he is en#a#in# directly

with the position of women in consumer society. !his en#a#ement is already e$ident in Une femme est une femme3

when 7n#8la compliments a collea#ue on her necklace the latter remarks she "ou#ht it at the Galeries Lafayette/.

Communicatin# throu#h ad$ertisin# and commodities reaches its ape6 in the party scene in Pierrot le fou(2*)when entire con$ersations are composed of endless ad$ertisin# slo#ans. Godard also shows us len#thy

e6chan#es "etween Juliette (Earina Klady) and shop assistants in ,eu- ou trois choses )ue #e sais d%elle.

+peakin# of this film in 2, Godard said it allowed him to e6plore his theory that

to li$e in &arisian society today , one is forced, to whate$er le$el it may "e, to whate$er echelon it may "e, to

prostitute oneself in one way or another, or e$en to li$e accordin# to the laws which recall those of prostitution

('er#ala 43 02).

For Godard prostitution is a crucial metaphor for e6plainin# contemporary society, and one he already employs

in Une femme est une femme3 as a stripper, 7n#8la sells her "ody on the market. Hne could ima#ine her easilyslippin# into prostitution should her situation suddenly chan#e, not unlike the way her friend +u@anne (Earie

u"ois) turns to strippin# after losin# her :o" at the +imca factory. Eoreo$er, 7n#8la>s nei#h"our, who works as a

prostitute from her apartment, functions as an e$er-present reminder of where 7n#8la may "e headed. Just as

James Eonaco su##ests a narrati$e continuation from Keronica (7nna 9arina) of Le petit soldatto 7n#8la (2), it

is possi"le to read +i"re sa "ieas a narrati$e continuation of Une femme est une femme.+i"re sa "ie, made

immediately after Une femme est une femmeand also starrin# 9arina, follows the story of 5ana, a &arisian shop

#irl who turns to prostitution after she is una"le to find work as an actress.


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In Une femme est une femme, there is an e6chan#e "etween 7n#8la and +u@anne which has marked sociolo#ical

dimensions. 7part from the initial shots esta"lishin# the e6chan#e, there are thirty-two apparently random shots of

people on the streets. !he camera mo$es independently of the con$ersation (the audio track for the seBuence)composin# a sociolo#ical portrait of +tras"our# +aint-enis in 21.


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!hese ima#es are reminiscent of 7#nQs Karda>s short film L%opra mouffe(*4), a portrait of the residents of the

&arisian slum area and market around ue Eouffetard in the.e arrondissement.


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In fact, Godard directly references Karda>s film when he inserts two shots from L%opra mouffeinto his own mise en

scnein Une femme est une femme.

7lthou#h Une femme est une femmewas Godard>s first studio film, it was ori#inally intended to "e shot on location.

Godard insisted that the reconstructed apartment would ha$e, unlike normal studio sets, ceilin#s throu#hout and

immo$a"le and non-detacha"le doors and partitions. !hus the crew encountered all of the constraints of location

shootin# compounded "y the fra#ile materials of the studio set ('er#ala 01123 44). 7n#8la and Omile>s apartment is

in direct contrast to the architecturally intan#i"le/ set of on Lockwood>s ollywood $illa in Singin% in the

Rain (*0), the archetypical e6ample of the musical comedy set, which 7lain Easson descri"es as follows3 It is a

theatrical set, a dance set. In a musical comedy, howe$er, we would not e6pect anythin# else. Eore interestin#ly, it

is altera"le and e6tensi"le/ ().

Une femme est une femme e6hi"its many features which ali#n it with neorealism. !hese include3 location shootin#

and realistically constructed sets? workin#-class settin#? refle6i$e use of cinematic techniBue? simple plot e6plored

in all its implications? emphasis on daily life and attention to Buotidian detail? no Ae6ceptional persona#es>?

fore#roundin# of social conditions (prostitution, consumer society, work)? and documentary-styled seBuences.

!aken to#ether, these features push the film away from the standard readin# of it as a musical comedy and tips the

scale "ack to Godard>s intention of the film as Aa musical neorealism>. Further, these elements form the "asis of

Godard>s particular use of neorealism which he would de$elop in his own way.

RRR

'y 21 neorealism was e$ol$in#, resultin# in the emer#ence of what can "e descri"ed as a second wa$e ofneorealism. From the =1s throu#h to the 21s, a$attini used neorealism to descri"e a ran#e of practices,

much wider than the ur#ent post-war thematic-historical scope of the neorealist core/ (+teimatsky 66$i). 7s early as

the =1s, neorealism was already mo$in# "eyond the ori#inal conception of the mode. For one thin#, neorealism

no lon#er re:ected psycholo#ical e6ploration/ (a$attini 00). !his psycholo#ical aspect is taken up more

particularly in the second wa$e of neorealism. 7ntonioni, like ossellini and Fellini "efore him, e6tended the

neorealist concern with the $isi"le world to include the su":ecti$e difficulties of mental alienation, althou#h the


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e6terior documentation of material conditions remained important (+hiel 4). In *4, 7ntonioni pointed to a

mutation occurrin# within the mode of neorealism when he remarked3 7m I a neorealist directorS I really couldn>t

say. 7nd is neorealism o$erS 5ot e6actly. It is more correct to say that neorealism is e$ol$in#/ ('runette 4).

7ntonioni>s work differed from the late =1s films of ossellini, Kisconti, e +ica, e +antis and others not in

"ein# not neorealist "ut in terms of its neorealism which 7ntonioni liked to descri"e as Ainterior neorealism>/ (+hiel

4). !he e$olution of the mode was thus characterised "y a shift from e6terior to more interior concerns. !his

second wa$e of neorealism continued to "e concerned with the interro#ation of post-war reconstruction in Italy.

owe$er, the emphasis shifted from more immediate material conditions to what 7ntonioni considered a

fundamental spiritual lack at the heart of capitalism which no a"undance of material #oods could e$er address/

(+hiel 1=). For +hiel, this is e$ident in 7ntonioni>s films L%a""entura(21), La notte(2) and L%eclisse (20)

which all hi#hli#ht the filmmaker>s concerns with $isual and thematic am"i#uity and metaphysical alienation/ (1-

1=).

Godard is as eBually concerned with Buestions of alienation as he is with those of social conditions. Indeed, as

Jean-7ndr8 Fieschi remarks Godard is the filmmaker par e6cellence on the difficulty of "ein#/ (Eussman 24).

owe$er, he employs different techniBues to 7ntonioni, primarily "ecause Godard>s is a different kind of alienation.In La nottethe mise en scnereflects the psycholo#ical state of Lidia (Jeanne Eoreau), culminatin# in the

cinematic eBui$alent of an an6iety attack. Contrary to the ima#es of Lidia, 7n#8la dancin# in the street and

declarin# she would like to "e in a musical depicts her en$ironment completely uncoloured "y her psycholo#ical

state. er inner world and outer world do not coincide? rather, they are deli"erately :u6taposed. Godard>s mise en

scnepresents an alienation in which there is an a"solute dis:uncture "etween su":ect and o":ect, "etween

character and world3 no amount of wishin# on 7n#8la>s part can alter the reality to which she must adapt.

+hiel also locates the e$olution of neorealism in ossellini>s +iaggio in Italia(*=) which, like 7ntonioni>s cinema,

comprises an e6pansion of neorealism in the direction of metaphysical or spiritual concerns/ (1=). ossellini>s

connection to the e$olution of neorealism is important as his filmmakin# was influential for Godard. urin# thesecond wa$e of neorealism 7ntonioni and ossellini prioritised female perspecti$es/ (+hiel 1=). Godard too,

in Une femme est une femme, pri$ile#es a female perspecti$e, althou#h 7n#8la in her theatrical style is perhaps

closer to Gelsomina (Giulietta Easina) of Fellini>s La strada (*=) descri"ed "y anciQre as an icon of neorealist

cinema/ (4).

In his ** article ALa strada>, 'a@in ar#ues that Fellini>s film does not depart at all from Italian neorealism/

(Cardullo =) e$en thou#h in Italy Ear6ist and Christian emocratic criticism threaten to e$ict Fellini from the

neorealist pantheon as each defines it, and to hurl him out into the darkness already inha"ited "y ossellini/

(Cardullo ). For 'a@in, Fellini e6pands neorealism3 La stradadoes not contradict/ other neorealist films such

as Pais, Roma citt apertaor e$en Ladri di /icciclette? rather Fellini has taken a different direction to a$attini

and, alon#side ossellini, opted for a neorealism of the person/ (Cardullo ). +hiel echoes 'a@in when he

remarks3 &erhaps more than any other filmmaker, Fellini pushed the "oundaries of neorealism to their "reakin#

point/ (). +hiel remarks that Fellini>s films of the *1s all employed realism as a window on to internal

character althou#h, like the films of 7ntonioni and ossellini, they ne$er strayed far from social concerns and

presented their personal tra#edies as narrati$es with real social implications/ ().


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For 'a@in, La stradaand ossellini>s (urope %.0(*0) remain neorealist on the le$el of their aesthetic. !his

aesthetic which 'a@in, followin# French ecclesiast and critic 7""8 7m8d8e 7yfre, calls Aphenomenolo#ical>, is one

of neorealism>s #enuine achie$ements/ (Cardullo ) and informs the action rather than merely representin# it.

Cardullo remarks3

In descri"in# neorealism as phenomenolo#ical, 7yfre means what 'a@in says in the first sentence of the ne6t

para#raph3 that nothin# is e$er re$ealed to us from inside the characters/ in the Buintessential neorealist film. In

philosophical terms, neorealism limits itself to a description of characters> interactions with one another

(neorealism of the person,/ accordin# to 'a@in) or with their en$ironment (socialist neorealism,/ accordin# to

'a@in). %hat neorealism does not do is emphasi@e characters> particular psycholo#ical pro"lems or o"sessions

(01).

If we accept this readin# of 'a@in, it would appear Godard>s film has more in common with the earlier socialist

neorealism with its emphasis on the characters> interaction with their en$ironment. %hat this readin# omits,

howe$er, is that for 'a@in it is not all internal states as such, "ut one internal state in particular, that neorealism

does not #i$e us3 psycholo#y, or "etter still, patholo#y. %hat the Aneorealism of the person> does pro$ide is what'a@in calls the Asoul> of the character. It is possi"le to summarise 'a@in>s approach to the Buestion of the interior in

neorealism in two premises3 ) neorealism does not cast the destiny of its characters in patholo#ical terms? and 0)

that the internal state which 'a@in calls the soul in the Aneorealism of the person> is re$ealed sociall!, throu#h

interaction "etween characters. If for 'a@in neorealism does not #i$e us any internal state (as in patholo#y, wishes,

desires, psycholo#y), and if 'a@in defines La stradaas a Aneorealism of the person>, then the soul which he refers

to in Fellini>s film must not "e somethin# internal "ut somethin# e6ternal, the soul must "e produced or at least

re$ealed "y the interrelations "etween characters and "etween characters and their en$ironment. Commentin# on

the characters of Gelsomina, ampanT and !he Fool in La Strada, 'a@in remarks3

!he $ery "ein# of these characters is precisely in their not ha$in# any ;psycholo#ys desire is not e6plained in

terms of any psychoanalytic or patholo#ical moti$ation. Eoreo$er, in line with 'a@in>s prescription, 7n#8la>s wish is

re$ealed throu#h action and dialo#ue, throu#h her interactions with mile and 7lfred and with her en$ironment.

+i#nificantly, the more hostility 7n#8la>s wish confronts, the more it increases in stren#th.


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eturnin# to Fellini, +hiel comments that the Italian director was con$inced that filmmakin# in$ol$ed a creati$e

inter$ention into and shapin# of reality, not simply its reflection/ (). Like 'a@in, +hiel o"ser$es too that Fellini>s

neorealism was a countertendency to the mode proposed "y a$attini. For +hiel this is e$ident in Fellini>s

preference for non-naturalistic performance3

;Fellini< ne$er used non-professionals in leadin# roles . 7ll of his films mi6ed neorealism with elements of comedy

or farce which reBuired actors to make freBuent sudden chan#es in e6pression, mood or tone, contradictin# the

pure realism of performance other neorealists found in actors from the street (-=).

Like Fellini, Godard elicits a theatrical style of performance from his professional actors in Une femme est une

femmeand when +hiel descri"es the female prota#onist of the films of 7ntonioni, ossellini and Fellini as a

woman part naUf, part harlot, part saint, rather than #lamorous ur"an sophisticate/ (2) he could eBually "e

descri"in# 9arina>s 7n#8la. Hf the title character of 1ights of Cabiria(*), +hiel remarks3 Ca"iria is

characterised in terms of a fundamental emotional mallea"ility. +he shifts repeatedly "etween pathos and comedy

in the manner of a circus clown ./ (2). 7n#8la has this same emotional mallea"ility and this is e6emplified in the

scene in which, durin# an ar#ument with mile, she falls to her knees so""in# "efore suddenly lau#hin# anddeclarin# I no lon#er know if I should lau#h or cry/. Godard remarked of Une femme est une femme3

I meant it to "e contradictory, :u6taposin# thin#s which didn>t necessarily #o to#ether, a film which was #ay and sad

at the same time. Hne can>t do that, of course, one must "e either one or the other, "ut I wanted to "e "oth at once

(+territt 2).

7n#8la>s emotional mallea"ility contri"utes to the sudden chan#es in tone that characterise Une femme est une

femmeas a refle6i$e film. owe$er, Godard>s use of performance style has different conseBuences to Fellini>s.

d#ardo Co@arinsky remarks3

In Une femme est une femme, as in his more o"$iously serious films, it is this uprootedness of modern e6perience

that Godard e6plores and dramati@es. $en this close-knit te6ture of small "istros, striptease :oints, political

suspicion and con:u#al wa$erin# is constantly $iolated in its naturalistic surface, not :ust "y the comic turns of the

plot "ut "y Godard>s reminders not only that the film is a performance "ut that the pro:ected ima#es are themsel$es

illusory (02-0).

Godard uses interruption and dramatisation to show us this uprootedness/ of modern e6perience. !he narrati$e is

constantly interrupted "y $arious de$ices and the film is "ook-ended with 7n#8la directly addressin# the camera

with a knowin# wink, acknowled#in# the spectators and demonstratin# her awareness of "ein# an actor in a film.

!he use of a hi#hly theatrical actin# style in Une femme est une femmeoften associated with the musical interrupts

the drama to draw attention to its social "ack#round. 7lthou#h melodramatic elements were already e$ident in the

classic neorealism of ossellini and the second wa$e neorealism of Fellini, Godard takes thin#s further, and in this

the influence of 'recht is si#nificant. Commentin# on 'recht>s pic !heater %alter 'en:amin writes3

!he task of epic theatre, accordin# to 'recht, is not so much the de$elopment of actions as the representation of

conditions. !his disco$ery (alienation) of conditions takes place throu#h the interruption of happenin#s.!he art


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of the epic theatre consists in producin# astonishment rather than empathy. !o put it succinctly3 instead of

identifyin# with the characters, the audience should "e educated to "e astonished at the circumstances under

which they function (*1).

urin# an ar#ument in the couple>s apartment, 7n#8la says to Omile3 "efore actin# out our little farce, we "ow to

the audience/. Followin# this remark, they stand in the kitchen doorway, which frames them as thou#h they were

on sta#e, then "ow and smile at the camera.

!his #esture comes :ust "efore their ar#ument escalates further, interruptin# the drama and alienatin# the

conditions of life from the drama. +imilarly, Godard uses an e6treme lon# shot for another ar#ument "etween thecouple to interrupt the drama and draw attention to its social "ack#round3 mile and 7n#8la appear as tiny fi#ures

on the street pushin# and sho$in# one another. Filmed in this way, a#ainst the "ack#round of the social, the

domestic pro"lems of a youn# couple are reduced to insi#nificance.


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Godard>s e6perimental use of sound, often :u6taposin# loud :arrin# noise with silence, also creates unease in theaudience who, are ne$er allowed to fully rela6 into the drama. !his is "est e6emplified in the openin# seBuence in

which ruptures of sound are interspersed with near silence in a $ery short space of time. !he rapidity of these

chan#es functions as a sonic assault on the $iewer, especially for audiences unaccustomed to such radical

e6perimentation with film sound. In 20, followin# the first screenin#s of Une femme est une femme, !ruffaut

remarked that

audiences were taken "y surprise. Godard went too far for them in the sound-mi6in#. %hen the #irl comes out of

the caf8, there>s suddenly no sound, :ust complete silence. &eople immediately think the pro:ector has "roken

down (Graham and Kincendeau 01).

RRR

Une femme est une femmeis #enerally considered Jean-Luc Godard>s li#htest film. 7listair %hyte remarks3

7lthou#hA 2oman Is a 2omancontains the seeds of Godard>s later de$elopment, it is, undenia"ly, a li#htwei#ht

film./ (). Colin EacCa"e descri"es the film as the most :oyful of Godard>s films, indeed perhaps his only :oyful

film/ (=). For a director who deli#hts in contradiction, these remarks indicate it may "e amon# his

most seriousfilms. !hat the film "elon#s to the same period as Le petit soldat(21) and+i"re sa "iesu##ests it is

more than :ust a li#ht-hearted parody of a se6-comedy (5eupert 0113 004), or an homa#e to pretty women, to

fun, to ollywood when it was $i$acious/ (Gilliatt *). !he tendency in Godardian scholarship has "een to set

aside Une femme est une femmein relation to Godard>s other films of this period. %hen it isincluded, it is #enerally

alon# the more narrow lines of Godard>s e6perimental use of #enre, and e$en then it is often #lossed o$er. !his

may ha$e somethin# to do with its #eneric unclassifia"ility, which prompted !ruffaut to remark that it was a stran#e

film that didn>t fit into any cate#ory/ (Graham and Kincendeau 014). Godard himself claimed he came on the

su":ect of Une femme est une femmewhile thinkin# a"out Aa musical neorealism>, a con:unction he in$ented and

descri"ed as an a"solute contradiction/ ('er#ala 43 00=). !he o$erall look of the film too is decepti$e3 it is

Godard>s first studio film and his first shot in colour and Franscope. !hese features pushed critics into resol$in# the

#eneric parado6 of the film in fa$our of the musical, despite the fact Une femme est une femmealso includes many


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stylistic features of Godard>s other, #rittier films. ather than approachin# Une femme est une femmeas an

anomaly, #eneric or otherwise, I ha$e tried to re-situate the film in the wider conte6t of Godard>s work durin# this

period. !his shift in emphasis from the musical to neorealist aspects of the film is necessary if the more comple6

issues the film raises are to "e unco$ered. 7s James Eonaco as early as 2 remarked3 Une femme est une

femme deser$es more serious attention than it has so far recei$ed/ ().

%orks Cited

7ndr8 'a@in and 'ert Cardullo, /a3in at 2or$: 'a#or (ssa!s and Re"iews from the 4orties and 4ifties55ew Mork3

outled#e, 2.

%alter 'en:amin, Illuminations5 d. annah 7rendt. !rans. arry ohn. 5ew Mork3 +hocken 'ooks, 24.

7lain 'er#ala (ed.), 6ean7Luc 8odard par 6ean7Luc 8odard. 9ome 00.;70[tre de Jean-Luc Godard/. Cahiers du cinma55o.0 5o$em"er 203 =-0*.

&enelope Gilliatt, !he Pr#ent %hisper/. 6ean7Luc 8odard : Inter"iews. 2. d. a$id +territt. Jackson 3

Eississippi P&, 4. 2-4=.

+idney Gottlie", ossellini, *pen Cit!, and 5eorealism/. Roberto Rossellini%s ome Hpen City. d, Gottlie".

Cam"rid#e3 Cam"rid#e P&, 011=. -=0.


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&eter Graham and Ginette Kincendeau, ed. 9he 4rench 1ew 2a"e: Critical Landmar$s. London3 &al#ra$e

Eacmillan, 011.

Colin EacCa"e, 8odard: A Portrait of the Artist at ?;5 London3 'looms"ury, 011.

7lain Easson, 7n 7rchitectural &romenade/. Continuum*.0 0. 2=-2*.

James Eonaco, Godard %omen and the Hutsider/. 9he 1ew 2a"e5 d. Eonaco. 5ew Mork3 H6ford P&, 2.

4-0*.

+imona Eonticelli, Italian post-war cinema and 5eo-realism/. 9he *-ford 8uide to 4ilm Studies. d. John ill

and &amela Church Gi"son. H6ford3 H6ford P&, 4. =**-=21.

ichard 5eupert,A &istor! of the 4rench 1ew 2a"e Cinema. Eadison3 %isconsin P&, 011.

JacBues anciQre, 4ilm 4ables. !rans. miliano 'attista. H6ford3 'er#, 0112.

Jonathan osen"aum, %hen Is 7 Eusical 5ot 7 EusicalS/ Chica#o eader July 0*, 011.

Eark +hiel, Italian 1eorealism: Rebuilding the Cinematic Cit!. London3 %allflower &ress, 0112.

5oa +teimatsky, Italian Locations: Reinhabiting the Past in Postwar Cinema. Einneapolis3 Einnesota P&, 0114.

a$id +territt, 6ean7Luc 8odard: Inter"iews5Jackson3 Eississippi P&, 4.

7listair %hyte, Introduction. 8odard: 9hree 4ilm Scripts. 'y Jean-Luc Godard. !rans. Jan awson, +usan 'ennettand Earianne 7le6ander. London3 Lorrimer, *. -*.

Cesare a$attini, +ome Ideas on the Cinema/. 4ilm: a 'ontage of 9heories. d. ichard yer EacCann. 5ew

Mork3 utton, 22. 02-004.

;s *n the 9ownmay "e considered a precursor to musical neorealism, while JacBues

emy>s Les Parapluies des Cherbourg and Lars Kon !rier>s ,ancer in the ,ar$make later use of the #enre.

;0


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Felicity Chaplin is a &h candidate at Eonash Pni$ersity in French and Film and !ele$ision studies. er thesis is

entitled ALa Parisiennein cinema>. er research interests include3 classic ollywood and French cinema? star

studies? fashion in film? and the history, art, literature and culture of nineteenth century &aris. er translation of

5icole 'rene@ recently appeared in Lola.

\ +creenin# the &ast pu"lications

A Musical Neorealism - Jean Luc Godard's Une Femme est Une Femme

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