UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Reimagining the Family in French and Quebecois Cinema Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9s28w44q Author Vaughan, Hannah Christine Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Reimagining the Family in French and Quebecois Cinema A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Philosophy in French and Francophone Studies by Hannah Christine Vaughan 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Reimagining the Family in French and Quebecois Cinema By Hannah Christine Vaughan Doctor of Philosophy in French and Francophone Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Patrick Coleman, Chair In my dissertation, I investigate representations of the family as an institution undergoing reconstruction, re-imagination, and renovation in contemporary French and Quebecois cinemas. My project provides an historical overview of the abundant sociological changes beginning in both Quebec and France from the 1960s to the present, which reinforces the subsequent discussion of contemporary cinematic explorations of family organization. I argue that the changes borne out of the 1960s oblige filmmakers to rethink the style and techniques through which they represent members of these societies on screen. The selected filmmakers in my project experiment with alternative cinematic forms to explore new, and at times controversial, concepts of the family. Given my emphasis on films that underscore social behaviors among family members and the dynamics of contemporary coupling, the theoretical framework of my dissertation is based on French and Quebecois sociological paradigms, and in broader terms, ii gender studies, queer theory, and film theory. My work is driven by the conviction that transformations of the social construct of the family are crucial to our current understanding of creative cultural production. In my dissertation, I pose the following questions: To what degree do selected filmmakers explore narrative structure in order to portray changes to the way that family is defined, and how do they experiment with the medium of film to convey such definitions? How do structural changes in social composition modify family narratives? How does individual “fantasy” play out on screen within families with shifting gender roles? My preliminary findings support my hypothesis that both French and Quebecois filmmakers are rethinking cinematic technique in order to convey new and controversial family dynamics. Selected filmmakers are increasingly taking advantage of this ambiguity to explore the shifting boundaries between the intimate and social spaces of the family in new aesthetic ways. My work will have impact on both film and cultural studies within the academic domain of French and Francophone Studies, particularly in terms of exploring how the medium of film has the capacity to inspire cultural awareness and social change through both narrative and technical creativity. iii The dissertation of Hannah Christine Vaughan is approved. Allyson Field Andrea Loselle Patrick Coleman, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv DEDICATION This project is dedicated to my family, Linda Vaughan, Tim Vaughan, and Phoebe Vaughan, to my friend and colleague Alisa Belanger, and to my dissertation committee members, Patrick Coleman, Allyson Field, Andrea Loselle, and Dominic Thomas. I am immensely grateful for all of your unyielding support throughout the dissertation process. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………1-13 1. Remembering Tomorrow: Tradition and Modernity Reconciled in Jean Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y. ………………………………………………………………………………….14-42 A Cross too Heavy to Bear? Renegotiating the Power of the Holy Father(s) A Not-so-Quiet Revolution: Music as Divine Ecstasy A Sign of the Times: Nostalgia and Realist Aesthetics Navigating an Escape Route through Fantasy and Magical Realism 2. Reading the In-betweens in the “New” New Wave: Crisis and Discontinuity in Christophe Honoré’s Dans Paris…………………………………………………………43-110 From the New Wave to the New New Wave: Inspiration vs. Imitation Christophe Honoré: Beyond the Limitations of the New Wave The (Dis)continuity Editing System: Pierrot le fou and Dans Paris Filming Fracture: Cinematography in Godard’s À bout de souffle and Dans Paris Musical Dialogue and Aural Chaos in Demy’s Les parapluies de Cherbourg and Dans Paris 3. A Family in Mourning, or Mourning the Family? Contrasts and Contradictions in Arnaud Desplechin’s Un conte de Noël………………………………………..………..111-152 Mourning the Living: Self-grieving in the Mythical Family Subconscious Revelations Speaking the Unspeakable: The Unrestrained Dialogue of Love/Hate Relationships Visual Poetry and Virtual Puppetry: The Art of mise-en-scène 4. Filming Fracture in Xavier Dolan’s J’ai tué ma mère………………………………153-179 Video Confessions as Cinematic mise en abîme Fragments of the Real: Non-diegetic Still Shots vi Fragmented Fantasies Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………180-182 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….183-188 vii VITA Education Seattle University Bachelor of Arts, 2007 Publications Filming Fracture in Xavier Dolan’s “J’ai tué ma mère.” Québec Studies Journal, 2014 Conference Participation Colloquium Participant: “Xavier Dolan: Rethinking Family and Sexuality in Quebec’s “New” New Wave Cinema.” Sarasota, Florida, November 2012. Paper presenter: “Xavier Dolan: Rethinking Family and Sexuality in Quebec’s “New” New Wave Cinema.” 110th PAMLA Annual Conference. Seattle, Washington, October 2012. Paper presenter: “Young Quebec Filmmaker Breaks from Tradition in Les amours imaginaires.” 21st ACSUS Biennial Conference, “Ottawa, a Capital City.” Ottawa, Ontario, November 2011. Paper presenter: “Re-gendered Dreams: Fantasy and Family Relations in Quebec Cinema.” 17th ACQS Biennial Conference, “The French North American Experience: Tributaries and Confluences.” Burlington, Vermont, November 2010. Paper presenter: “Remembering Tomorrow: Tradition and Modernity Reconciled in Jean-Marc Vallée's C.R.A.Z.Y.” 20th ACSUS Biennial Conference, “North by Northwest, South by Southwest: Canada and the United States, Past, Present and Future.” San Diego, California, October 2009. Participant, Quebec Summer Seminar; Center for the Study of Canada, August 2010 Participant, Dartmouth Summer Seminar in French & Francophone Studies, 2009 Awards Robert Merrill Award for Best Teaching Assistant, 2011-12 University Service Conference Chair, UCLA French Graduate Student Conference: Alone Together, Together Alone: Literature and Isolationism in the Modern Era. Oct. 6-7, 2011. Graduate Student Association Volunteer, French Department Contact Person, 2008-2010. viii INTRODUCTION The family is no stranger to the cinema. For filmmakers, the family provides a wealth of narrative and thematic possibilities such as marriage and parenting, divorce and reconciliation, sibling rivalry, illness, death, or mourning. The noticeable penchant for films about the family, as well as the narrative and formal inventiveness in the contemporary cinemas of France and Quebec is the focus of my dissertation. In each society, filmmakers are taking new risks with style, content, and form in order to rethink, reinvent, and reimagine the concept of the family. Identifying Quebec and France as two sites where the connection between family and the cinema is culturally significant, my goal is to show how representations of the family in both cinemas have taken new form in the twenty-first century. More precisely, I am interested in filmmakers who offer original—and sometimes provocative—insight into family dynamics, and who also deviate from structural and formal convention. In the chapters that follow, I consider the following questions: How do structural changes in social composition modify family narratives? How does individual “fantasy” play out on screen within families with shifting gender roles? To what degree do filmmakers explore similar or different narrative structures in their efforts to portray changes to the way that family is defined? My project provides a brief historical overview of family organization in Quebec and France from the 1960s to the present which will buttress the subsequent discussion of the family in contemporary films. My topics will include cinematic representations of mothers, fathers and children, questions of the “dysfunctional” family, redefining gender roles, sexual coming of age, and the increasing visibility of the famille recomposée. I argue that contemporary filmmakers are 1 rethinking standard plot structures and experimenting with alternative cinematic forms to explore new, and often controversial, concepts of the family. Since the 1960s, France and Quebec have both undergone immense social change. In a short period of time, French marriage and fertility rates declined as divorce rates increased, all of which gave rise to the famille recomposée and to PACs (Pacte civil de solidarité), or legal civil unions, as well as the emergence of new conceptions of the family unit. In Quebec, the family institution experienced a particularly rapid evolution during the same time, beginning with the broader social and political changes brought about by the Quiet Revolution and the women’s rights movement. Whereas traditional rural life along with the Catholic Church had long demanded the production of large families,