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Immigration, Space & Identity Transformation In Contemporary French War Film by Carlos Josué Amado Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in French December 12, 2020 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Lynn Ramey, Ph.D. Paul B. Miller, Ph.D. Andrea Mirabile, Ph.D. Daryl Lee, Ph.D. Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the assistance of different members of the faculty of the French Department at Vanderbilt. I am grateful to the members of my committee, whose guidance and contribution began years before the development of this project. I am thankful to Paul Miller and Andrea Mirabile for discussions and recommendations regarding the dissertation as the project evolved. Their contributions on the topics of colonialism and film theory and history were particularly helpful. I want to recognize Daryl Lee for his significant contribution to my French film knowledge and interest, from several courses on this topic at Brigham Young University to his detailed feedback on the dissertation. Finally, I am especially grateful to Lynn Ramey, whose work, support, and fortitude made this work possible. I cannot overstate the importance of her guidance, professionalism and friendship as I struggled to complete this project. I could have not worked with a greater mentor. The trips to the Cannes Film Festival, our talks on the different aspects of film and the treatment of minorities in France, and many other discussions will remain as some of the most important, rewarding, and enjoyable experiences of my academic and personal life. On a personal level, the completion of this work is a direct result of the emotional and financial support of Carlos and Mayavel Amado, my parents. Their unwavering backing allowed me a safe place to finish my research and writing when life took some unexpected turns. This dissertation is a testament to their unconditional love and patience. I am deeply recognizant of their unflinching encouragement that permits me to continue chasing my dreams. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….ii Chapter Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1 – La trahison: The Harki loyalty conundrum: fighting for country unity or collaborating with the oppressor? Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………36 Film Synopsis……………………………………………………………………………………43 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….45 Relationship Analysis……………………………………………………………………………62 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….74 Chapter 2 – Indigènes: A revision of the historical contribution of African French Army WWII veterans Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………77 Film Synopsis……………………………………………………………………………………81 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….85 Relationship Analysis……………………………………………………………………………96 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...108 Chapter 3 – Mon colonel: French Military Mea Culpa viewed through a contemporary murder mystery investigation Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..113 Film Synopsis…………………………………………………………………………………..123 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………………………………...126 Relationship Analysis…………………………………………………………………………..143 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...168 iii Chapter 4 – L’ennemi intime: A portrayal of the destructive consequences of enforcing the French civilizing mission Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..171 Film Synopsis…………………………………………………………………………………..176 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………………………………...177 Relationship Analysis…………………………………………………………………………..185 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...204 Chapter 5 – L’armée du crime: Smaller groups of immigrants join the conversation of contribution to the French Republic through war film Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..211 Film Synopsis…………………………………………………………………………………..216 Relationship Analysis...………………………………………………………………………...222 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………………………………...245 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...257 Chapter 6 – Les hommes libres: Unlikely allies cooperate to face a common enemy Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..260 Film Synopsis…………………………………………………………………………………..265 Relationship Analysis…………………………………………………………………………..267 Spatial Analysis………………………………………………………………………………...282 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...293 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...295 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………….305 iv Introduction At the turn of the 21st century a significant change occurred in the French film industry: a culture that typically shied away from producing a notable amount of war film began suddenly to premier a higher quantity of bold pictures treating wars in which France had a central role. These new films addressed war film in two novel ways regarding French war films. First, the wars proper were depicted in a much more direct and open fashion, showing subjects that had been largely avoided, such as the brutal tactics employed by the French army during their colonial wars of independence. Second, these works began to portray, and even center the narratives around, protagonists of minority origins. This dissertation proposes that the new interest in war film is the result of changes in the political landscape of France and in the social makeup of the Hexagon, where minorities of colonial origin are beginning to claim their place with more authority than in the past century and demanding that their history be incorporated to modify a historical narrative that has been whitewashed through government control and censorship. The films constitute a new form of dialogue in which these minorities and the French majority of European origin discuss themes of recognition, acceptance, guilt, responsibility, immigration and integration. They also form a vital part of the redefinition of the identity of these groups. Already in 1995, Faye Ginsburg noted this form of communication on her work on indigenous and ethnographic media1: Over the last ten years, indigenous and minority people have been using a variety of media, including film and video, as new vehicles for internal and external 1 Ginsburg’s study is primarily concerned by media produced by peoples who have been colonized by Western Cultures and marginalized in their own lands. Examples constitute those who identify themselves as belonging to the “First Nations” and Aboriginal Australians (Ginsburg 257-258). 1 communication, for self-determination, and for resistance to outside cultural domination (Ginsburg 256). A few decades earlier these types of film were virtually unheard of in the Hexagon. In an article that commented on this phenomenon, Journalist Pierre Jeancolas remarked: Timidity, censorship, or pressure put upon producers by those in power have had remarkably consistent results – no films were made about World War I during World War I, no films were made about World War II during World War II, no films were made about the Indochina War during the Indochina War and, obviously, no films about the Algerian War were made until long after the war was over (Jeancolas 44). Political and cultural reasons limited an industry that would have been well positioned to portray and comment on significant events by using a medium that could readily and easily reach large segments of the population, but reasons ranging from the shame of occupation and collaboration in WWII, to the failure of recognition that a conflict even existed such as the Algerian independence war, caused members of the government to censor any material that could cause further embarrassment to a fragile republic mired in the process of losing its colonial empire after the debacle of WWII. Governmental censorship became the heaviest weapon wielded against the open portrayal of war in a century in which France found itself at the wrong end of most of its armed conflicts, while attempting to maintain a functioning government and rebuild its fledgling economy. A study on the French New Wave film school noted some of the difficulties these filmmakers experienced while attempting to address the topic of French war on film during the Algerian War: 2 Given the climate of censorship which reigned at this time, it is not, perhaps, surprising that those who financed and produced feature films should have been weary of representing the Algerian conflict on screen. If any further incentive was needed, the banning of the one film which did tackle the war directly (albeit in a highly implausible and morally ambivalent fashion), Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Petit Soldat (1960) ensured that self-censorship would exclude the war from mainstream features until 1962-63 (Dine 59- 60). In the decades that immediately followed WWII this censorship, internal or external, became too hard to overcome for any type of media, from literature to film to the news, but it was not the only obstacle to vanquish. Another type of suppression was that of the information available with regards to the wars. Obtaining data on the extent of the of governmental collaboration with the Nazis during the occupation was understandably a large source of national embarrassment and such information was not always readily available. Later, accurate reports with relation to the war of Algerian independence were also highly sanitized by the government, making it difficult for reporters or filmmakers to obtain relevant intelligence with regards to the topic. Kuby explains: few scholars have focused