France in the 60`s

France in the 60’s
The Fifth Republic
1958-1968
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President: Charles de Gaulle
 Catholic, conservative
• Algerian War (1954-1962)
• Revolution of May 1968
Cherbourg in Normandy
An umbrella shop in
Cherbourg
Rainy climate: need for umbrellas!
Boredom, narrow mindedness
 Madame Bovary
 Geneviève’s pregnancy: “What are we going to
say to our friends and neighbours?”
Specialized shops
Nostalgia
An easier life
 Warmth, human contacts
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Cf Amélie (2001)
 Code of behaviour
Traditions
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Epiphany
 “Tirer les rois”, la fève, “the bean”
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Carnival
Jacques Demy (1931-1990)
Childhood in Nantes
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Jacquot de Nantes by Agnès Varda
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Passage Pommeraye
Documentary
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Le sabotier du Val de Loire 1956
 The making of wooden shoes
 Life in rural France in the 50’s
Demy’s feature films
Lola 1961 (link with Roland Cassard)
La Baie des Anges 1963
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg 1964
Les demoiselles de Rochefort 1967
Peau d’Ane 1970
Catherine Deneuve (1943- )
Famous contemporary actress
Symbolized Marianne 1985-89
Geneviève: her breakthrough role
Generally role of ice-maiden
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Repulsion 1965 by Roman Polanski
Belle de Jour 1967 by Luis Buñuel
Still filming
Les Parapluies de
Cherbourg (1964)
A picture of ordinary life
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Realism
Nostalgia
A fairy-tale
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Music
Colours
Time frame
November 1957-December 1963
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Algerian War: 1954-1962
 Young men called to fight
Milieu/Social setting
Provincial society
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Bourgeoisie
 Decorum: the dinner party
 Clothes, hair, hats
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Working class
Cherbourg: a harbour
 Sailors
 Prostitutes
Family ties
Mother-Daughter
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Madame Emery/Geneviève
Nephew-Godmother
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Guy/Tante Elise
Love
Young lovers
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Geneviève/Guy
Young girl-older man
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Geneviève/Roland Cassard
Mature couple
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Madeleine/Guy
Stock characters
The ambitious, scheming mother

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) by Robert
Bresson
The innocent girl who gets pregnant
The older man who has suffered
The loving girl who is rewarded
A love story
First called La Belle Amour

A pun on Label Amour
Sincerity and simplicity
Yet bittersweet
Questioning of
established order
Not obvious
Geneviève remains a bourgeoise
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Clothing
Hairdo
Bittersweet ending
Irony of last shot
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“La (Cher)bourgeoise”
Music
Film “en chanté”, as “en technicolor”
Not an opera or operetta
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Every word is understandable
Partly inspired by The Medium by Gian
Carlo Menotti, 1951
Songs recorded first
Music
Michel Legrand
Famous themes:
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Mon amour ne me quitte pas
References to paintings
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
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Woman reading a letter
 Patience
Jean Fouquet

Virgin and child Surrounded by Angels
(1450)
 Purity
Woman reading a letter
Vincent Van Gogh
(1853-1890)
The Night Cafe 1888
Starry night
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
1864-1901
Salon at the Rue des Moulins
The kiss
Fauvist painters
A XXth century movement
 André Derain
 Maurice de Vlaminck
 Henri Matisse
Use of bright colours
Dishes and fruit
by Henri Matisse
La mer vue à Collioure by
Henri Matisse
Colours
Brightness, “harsh contrasting colours”
Décor matched to the costumes
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Bernard Evein