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Paul Ramain Et Jean Epstein En Correspondance

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Paul Ramain Et Jean Epstein En Correspondance 1895. Mille huit cent quatre-vingt-quinze Revue de l'association française de recherche sur l'histoire du cinéma 78 | 2016 Varia Paul Ramain et Jean Epstein en correspondance François Albera Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/1895/5117 DOI : 10.4000/1895.5117 ISSN : 1960-6176 Éditeur Association française de recherche sur l’histoire du cinéma (AFRHC) Édition imprimée Date de publication : 1 mars 2016 Pagination : 104-129 ISBN : 978-2-37029–078-6 ISSN : 0769-0959 Référence électronique François Albera, « Paul Ramain et Jean Epstein en correspondance », 1895. Mille huit cent quatre-vingt- quinze [En ligne], 78 | 2016, mis en ligne le 01 mars 2019, consulté le 04 janvier 2020. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/1895/5117 ; DOI : 10.4000/1895.5117 © AFRHC Revue_1895_78-16117 - 22.4.16 - page 104 104 Lettre d’Epstein a` Ramain durant le montage de la Chute de la Maison Usher. Cine´mathe`que franc¸aise. Revue_1895_78-16117 - 22.4.16 - page 105 105 ARCHIVES Paul Ramain et Jean Epstein en correspondance par Franc¸ois Albera Pre´sentation Paul Ambroise Joseph Ramain (1895-1966), me´decin, me´lomane, cine´phile et bien d’autres choses 1895 encore (œnologue, entomologiste et mycologue notamment), natif de Haute-Savoie mais qui a fait ses e´tudes a` Montpellier – ou` son pe`re, agre´ge´ de Lettres classiques, avait e´te´ nomme´ –, et ou` il soutint sa the`se REVUE D’HISTOIRE DU CINE de me´decine (sur l’influences des radiations solaires sur le taux de globules blancs), fut l’un des the´oriciens et esthe´ticiens du cine´ma les plus ambitieux dans la France des anne´es 1920. Il demeure e´galement l’un des plus me´connus. Il faut dire que Paul Ramain a publie´ intensivement mais sur une pe´riode limite´e. 1895 ade´ja` publie´ une e´tude d’envergure sur Ramain dans son nume´ro Musique ! en 2002, sous la signature de Laurent Guido, qui mettait avant tout l’accent sur sa contribution a` une the´orie musi- caliste du cine´ma 1. Par le biais de sa correspondance avec Jean Epstein, on voudrait maintenant e´largir encore la connaissance que me´rite sa re´flexion sur l’esthe´tique du film car Ramain fut l’un des commentateurs les plus enthousiastes et profonds des films d’Epstein et, quelques anne´es durant, les deux hommes furent tre`s proches bien qu’il semble ne pas s’eˆtre beaucoup vus. Plusieurs rendez-vous rate´sa` Paris, des renoncements a` des de´placements apparaissent dans cette correspondance avec les ´ regrets re´ite´re´s qu’il en fuˆt ainsi. MA n S’il de´couvre le cine´ma en 1921-1922, Paul Ramain de´bute sa carrie`re de critique et d’esthe´ticien dans la musique, un peu plus toˆt, dans la Vie montpellie´raine en 1912 – il a alors a` 18 ans – puis dans le Courrier musical ou` il s’attache rapidement aux relations du cine´ma et de la musique. Dans la filiation des mouvements lance´s par Cine´magazine et du Vieux-Colombier, il cre´e en avril 1925 les Amis du Cine´ma a` Montpellier, apre`s avoir participe´ aux Amis du film languedocien (cre´e´ en 1923) et a` un cine´- o club a` Nıˆmes, puis il a le projet d’un cine´-club, la Bobine, dont on n’a pas repe´re´ la localisation (peut- 78 PRINTEMPS 2016 eˆtre Thonon-les-Bains), il est membre du Cine´-Club des Alpes a` Grenoble. Il a coutume d’accompa- gner les films au piano sur des partitions de sa plume (voir celle de la Belle Nivernaise dans le cahier couleur) 2 ou qu’il improvise, prononce des confe´rences et des pre´sentations de films – a` Montpellier, a` 1. Laurent Guido, « Le Dr Ramain, the´oricien du ‘‘musicalisme’’ » dans Franc¸ois Albera, Giusy Pisano (dir.), Musique !, 1895 revue d’histoire du cine´ma,no 38, octobre 2002, pp. 67-100. 2. La musique pour la Belle Nivernaise est date´e du 25 mars 1925. Patrice Ramain nous signale encore une composition musicale, l’Appel a` la Bien-Aime´e (1er janvier 1924), transcrite pour petit orchestre (cordes et bois) en si be´mol majeur, et exe´cute´ a` Montpellier du 18 mai au 24 mai 1925 pour accompagner la Charrette Fantoˆme, composition e´galement e´te´ chante´e chez Morisset a` Paris par Madame Winsbach le 6 juin 1925. Ne´anmoins Ramain a pour ide´al le film silencieux, sans accompagnement musical (voir notamment « Sur la tournure inattendue que prend la musique d’atmosphe`re », Photo-Cine´, no 11, fe´vrier-mars 1928 [n.p.]. Revue_1895_78-16117 - 22.4.16 - page 106 Annecy, a` Gene`ve – il publie dans des pe´riodiques, locaux d’abord comme la Vie montpellie´raine et re´gionale et la Vie mondaine 3, puis rapidement dans des revues spe´cialise´es parisiennes comme Cine´a- Cine´ pour tous, Cine´magazine, les Cahiers du Mois, Photo-Cine´, ou encore genevoise, Cine´, des e´tudes d’esthe´tique cine´graphique et des articles sur les rapports du cine´ma et du reˆve ou de la musique. Parmi ses auteurs de pre´dilections il y a Epstein et Fritz Lang. Avec tous deux il e´change une correspondance 4 – ainsi, plus modestement, qu’avec Gance, Fescourt, Dulac, L’Herbier, Baroncelli, Tedesco. Il e´crit e´galement sur Sjo¨strom, Stiller, Delluc, Baroncelli, Dreyer, Renoir et encore Niblo (Ben Hur), C.B. de Mille ou le cine´ma sovie´tique (qu’il n’aime pas). Un releve´, sans aucun doute provisoire, de ses articles compte une centaine de titres entre 1925 et 1929. A` cette date, en effet, l’arrive´e du parlant porte un coup d’arreˆt brutal a` l’engouement du Dr Ramain pour le cine´ma, car pour lui « le cine´ma est du reˆve » (et re´ciproquement « le reˆve est du cine´ma ») ou` « les personnages sont muets » 5. L’un des derniers films a` retenir son attention est Une femme dans la lune de Fritz Lang, « seul capable actuellement de replacer le cine´ma du silence dans sa vraie voie : le reˆve » 6. Il se tourne alors vers d’autres centres d’inte´reˆtetne reviendra jamais sur sa re´cusation du cine´ma devenu sonore 7. Mais dans ce court moment d’investissement dans le cine´ma la re´fe´rence a` Epstein est constante et intense. Ramain invite Epstein a` Montpellier, a` Gene`ve (ou` il ne peut ou ne veut se rendre), ils s’e´crivent, e´changent et cette correspondance prend meˆme une forme publique quand Ramain publie une « Lettre ouverte » au cine´aste. Cependant, apre`sunde´but extreˆmement chaleureux de part et d’autre (malheureusement les lettres de Ramain a` Epstein ne sont pas conserve´es et plusieurs de celles d’Epstein manquent) et l’expression non seulement d’une estime mutuelle mais d’une certaine com- munaute´ de pense´e, les relations se distendent puis s’interrompent apparemment en 1932. Le retour de Ramain dans sa Haute-Savoie natale de`s 1925 – anne´e de son mariage – et son installation comme praticien a` Douvaine, ne facilitent pas les relations – meˆme si sa collaboration assidue au pe´riodique genevois, Cine´, son projet de fondation de la Bobine et sa participation aux cine´-clubs de Grenoble, de Gene`ve et d’Annecy, attestent de son activite´ dans cette re´gion jusqu’en 1930. Mais il y a aussi une certaine re´serve de Ramain a` l’e´gard de l’e´volution d’Epstein dont il admire de manie`re hyperbolique les de´buts (Cœur fide`le et surtout la Belle Nivernaise) et moins les films suivants, en particulier les films produits par Albatros – dont il n’he´site pas a` dire que certains sont, a` ses yeux, des « navets » – jusqu’a` 3. Dont Mario-Paul Bringuier, le re´dacteur en chef, est membre des Amis du cine´ma. 4. De la correspondance avec Fritz Lang, Ramain publia deux lettres dans Photo-Cine´ (no 15, novembre-de´cembre 1928, [p.13] dans le cadre d’une pole´mique avec Le´on Moussinac. 5. Paul Ramain, « Essai de psycho-physiologie de I’art cine´matique : Le Cine´ma, art du Reˆve, doit eˆtre Psychana- lytique. Le Film, pour eˆtre cet art, doit se rapprocher de la musique », Cine´, revue d’art cine´matographique,no 1, mai 1926, p. 6. 6. Paul Ramain, « Un film de silence. Une femme dans la Lune par Fritz Lang », Cine´a-Cine´ pour tous, no 146, 15 de´cembre 1929, pp. 9-12. Dans le meˆme nume´ro Jean Epstein publie un article sur le cine´ma sonore ou` il de´plore la domination du technicien sur le cine´matographiste et la « dictature du chef d’orchestre » (« Londres parlant », pp. 7-8). 7. Selon le te´moignage de son fils, Patrice Ramain, le cine´ma ne tenait plus aucune place dans la vie familiale ni personnelle de son pe`re. Le seul souvenir de cine´ma qu’il conserve est une projection d’un long me´trage d’animation de Walt Disney ou` il avait e´te´ emmene´ enfant. 106 Revue_1895_78-16117 - 22.4.16 - page 107 107 ARCHIVES la Glace a` trois faces qui l’enthousiasme a` nouveau. Plusieurs lettres ou cartes attestent ne´anmoins du prix qu’Epstein accorde aux points de vue de Ramain y compris critiques a` son endroit, et des regrets qu’il a a` voir leurs e´changes s’espacer progressivement. Les rapports entre les deux hommes sont aussi d’un autre ordre que d’esthe´tique cine´matogra- phique.
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