Copyright by Clemence G. Ozel 2018
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Copyright by Clemence G. Ozel 2018 The Dissertation Committee for Clemence G. Ozel Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Dissertation: QUEER TOPOGRAPHIES IN CONTEMPORARY FRENCH CINEMA: THE FILMS OF CÉLINE SCIAMMA, VIRGINIE DESPENTES, AND ÉMILIE JOUVET Committee: Hervé Picherit, Co-Supervisor Lalitha Gopalan, Co-Supervisor Alexandra Wettlaufer Barbara Bullock QUEER TOPOGRAPHIES IN CONTEMPORARY FRENCH CINEMA: THE FILMS OF CÉLINE SCIAMMA, VIRGINIE DESPENTES, AND ÉMILIE JOUVET by Clemence G. Ozel Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2018 Abstract Queer Topographies in Contemporary French Cinema: The Films of Céline Sciamma, Virginie Despentes, and Emilie Jouvet Clemence G. Ozel, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2018 Supervisors: Hervé Picherit, Lalitha Gopalan Until the 1980s, the history of French cinema was for the most part written without the work of women filmmakers. Despite a recent surge of interest, the works that focus on the films of women filmmakers remain few. This project therefore seeks to replace women at the center of French film production by focusing on the films of three directors with very diverse backgrounds. Close readings of the films of Céline Sciamma, Virginie Despentes, and Emilie Jouvet, as well as the consideration of changing modes of film production will shed light onto the existence of a queer space within French film production. This project will therefore pave the way for the study of French films through an original lens, which will disrupt the history of French cinema as well as the very ways in which queer films have been examined. Instead of focusing on the thematic content of the films, this work will demonstrate that their queerness lies in their aesthetics and modes of production. In other words, this project opens up a new space for French film studies, at the center of which is queer. iv Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ vii Introduction: Situating French Queer Films Directed by Women...................................... 01 Chapter 1: Between the Axes: The Peripheral Trajectories of Sciamma's Queer Bodies ............................................................................................................................... 21 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 21 Organizational dichotomies ......................................................................................... 30 What is between inside and outside? .......................................................................... 45 Spaces outside the inside/ outside dichotomy ............................................................ 64 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 2: Rough and Loud: Virginie Despentes's Punk Cinema ...................................... 80 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 80 Punk and Queer ............................................................................................................ 88 Music/ subculture/ filmmaking .............................................................. 88 Spatially disrupted narrative: self-reflection......................................... 96 Temporally disrupted narratives: false flashbacks ............................. 103 Rewriting rape-revenge through image and sound .................................................. 107 Deliverance/ Pulp Fiction: sensational reworking ............................. 110 Thelma and Louise: Visual stillness, infinite movement ................... 114 Representing rape with image and sound ........................................... 121 Porn ............................................................................................................................. 125 Manipulation of image and sound ....................................................... 125 v The gaze and women's desire .............................................................. 133 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 141 Chapter 3: Film as performance: Emilie Jouvet's film 2.0 ................................................ 142 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 142 Annie Sprinkle's queer children ................................................................................ 147 Sex-positive feminism vs. post-porn ................................................... 147 Perverse desires .................................................................................... 150 Performance, performativity, and changing reality ............................ 159 Porn in the age of 'digitalized' film ........................................................................... 169 The age of access .................................................................................. 170 Crowdfunding/ crowdacting ................................................................ 176 The specificity of the porn industry .................................................... 180 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 183 Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 184 References ............................................................................................................................ 189 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Adiatou celebrating after completing the hole ............................................... 31 Figure 2: Long shot of Fily’s celebration ....................................................................... 32 Figure 3: Extreme long shot of the Grande Arche and Les 4 Temps ........................... 36 Figure 4: Extreme long shot of Marieme by her apartment building ........................... 37 Figure 5: Extreme long shot of Laure/Mickaël arriving with her/his father ................ 44 Figure 6: Long shot of Mickaël in the woods ................................................................ 44 Figure 7: Extreme long shot of Mickaël ......................................................................... 44 Figure 8: Floriane and Marie walking down the Axe majeur ....................................... 47 Figure 9: Floriane and Marie sitting at the foot of the Twelve Columns ...................... 48 Figure 10: Point-of-view shot from the stairs .................................................................. 49 Figure 11: Tracking shot of Marie and Floriane talking on the stairs ............................ 50 Figure 12: Marie at her bedroom door .............................................................................. 53 Figure 13: Marie and Floriane at the door ........................................................................ 53 Figure 14: Marie and Floriane talking .............................................................................. 54 Figure 15: Floriane alone ................................................................................................... 54 Figure 16: Marie looking outside her bedroom ................................................................ 54 Figure 17: Floriane leaving the yard ................................................................................. 55 Figure 18: Marie kissing the glass .................................................................................... 55 Figure 19: Lady unlocking the door.................................................................................. 62 Figure 20: Marieme unlocking the door ........................................................................... 62 Figure 21: Lady walking away from the group ................................................................ 65 Figure 22: Marieme walking away from the camera ....................................................... 66 Figure 23: Marieme crying against a pillar ...................................................................... 66 vii Figure 24: Last moments of the film................................................................................. 67 Figure 25: Laure/Mickaël in front of the bathroom mirror ............................................. 70 Figure 26: Medium close-up of Laure/Mickël looking in the mirror ............................. 70 Figure 27: Laure/Mickaël in the second scene ................................................................. 71 Figure 28: Laure/Mickaël checking out his/her fake penis in the mirror ....................... 72 Figure 29: Extreme long shot of Marieme at the pool ..................................................... 73 Figure 30: Extreme long shot of Marieme at the pool ..................................................... 73 Figure 31: Extreme long shots of the pool ....................................................................... 74 Figure 32: Anne at Marie’s door ......................................................................................