French War Films and National Identity By Noah McLaughlin

both documents of social history and as increasingly legitimate historical reconstructions. The chronological breadth of this project, from Abel Gance's 1919 J’Accuse to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 2004 Un long dimanche de fiançailles, permits me to suggest an evolution of strategies, ranging from literary appropriation to allegory to Barthesean myth and artificial myth and most recently to experiments in history.

The reader will not find herein a detailed timeline of French history during the twentieth century. This is an academic study focused on formal analysis which assumes the reader's knowledge of the important events of World Wars I and II and the Algerian War. Additionally, the organizing principle of formal strategies rather than chronology makes including such information with each analysis redundant. For those who would like to learn about, or brush up on, the historical context of the films analyzed, I suggest the second edition of James McMillan's Twentieth Century France (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) or the anthology Modern France, edited by McMillan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). Excellent historical studies of French cinema include the most recent edition of Susan Hayward's French National Cinema and Alan Williams’ Republic of Images: A History of French Filmmaking.

This work also assumes the reader's previous knowledge of its subject films. For those who would like a refresher, a series of brief plot summaries is found in the appendix. Most of these movies are readily available in DVD format. Une affaire de femmes and Un long dimanche de fiançailles are especially rich in extra features that grant a unique insight into their conception, production, and even reception. Several others are available in special editions from Criterion Films, including The Battle of Algiers, L’Armée des ombres, La Grande Illusion, and Hiroshima mon amour. Not only do these editions have a remarkable picture and sound quality, but the extra features are often of the highest caliber. The reader is strongly encouraged to investigate the special edition materials or any extra features that have made DVDs such a boon to the field of film studies. Abel Gance's 1919 J’Accuse is a peculiar case. It is not easily available on either DVD or VHS format and moreover exists in several different forms. The original version of the movie was an epic