French War Films and National Identity By Noah McLaughlin

a single framework upon a diverse selection of films, I have decided to search through the theoretical toolbox for the systems that are most appropriate for each analysis. Also, since different films call for different approaches, every analysis does not follow the same formulaic steps. What this method may lose in overall cohesion, it gains in the specifics of the close readings. Thus, most theoretical discussion is found in the introduction to each chapter rather than here.

Nonetheless, the theories of both Roland Barthes and Gilles Deleuze are frequent touchstones. Both theoretical systems speak to the fundamental subject of this project: the correspondence of form and ideology. I discuss specific applications particularly in chapters 2, 3, and 4. Eventually, you will undoubtedly notice that many of the other methodologies adopted herein are of a literary and semiologic nature. I want to demonstrate that there is something to be gained through such an interdisciplinary approach. Just as the French war film finds itself at the conjunction of history, cinema, and national identity, this study blends approaches from various fields the better to examine its subject.

STRATEGIES

The heart of this book is a series of close readings of ten films from a wide cross-section of French and Francophone production during the twentieth century. The number is sufficiently representative of French cinema in order to draw some broad conclusions, but it is also small enough to allow for detailed analyses of each work. I have borrowed other criteria from Daniel, beginning with the decision to focus on films that have been commercially successful. While certainly not representative of artistic merit or esoteric interest, commercial success is a good indicator of a movie’s potential social impact. Additionally, like Daniel, I have selected works that are important both intrinsically (in their originality) and extrinsically (in the influence on their contemporary audiences, subsequent thought, and cinematic creation).

In addition to (re)building a definition of the French war film, each chapter investigates its subjects via two prisms: as a document of social