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DEADLY DEVIATIONS, SUBVERSIVE CINEMA:
THE INFLUENCE OF HOLLYWOOD FILM NOIR ON THE FRENCH NEW WAVE
by
James Rowlins
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(FRENCH)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 James Rowlins
Object Description
| Title | Deadly deviations, subversive cinema: the influence of Hollywood film noir on the French new wave |
| Author | Rowlins, James |
| Author email | rowlins@usc.edu;james.rowlins@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | French |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-02-23 |
| Date submitted | 2012-04-24 |
| Date approved | 2012-04-25 |
| Restricted until | 2012-04-25 |
| Date published | 2012-04-25 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Pinkus, Karen |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Norindr, Pani Lippit, Akira Mizuta |
| Abstract | This dissertation develops a comprehensive study of the influence exerted by Hollywood “genre” cinema, in particular the B-series film noir, on the French New Wave. Initially, I ask if this relationship is not the principle identifying criterion of New Wave cinema. It is, after all, a matter of record that Hollywood’s cheaply-made B-movies were championed by the critics of Cahiers du cinéma as permitting authorial self-expression and as encouraging cinematic innovation and evolution. Genre cinema subsequently remained a preoccupation for the New Wave auteurs, who made no fewer than fifty gangster and crime films between 1958 and 1965, including many of the New Wave’s most iconic films. ❧ I therefore embark on a comparative study that considers in great detail the New Wave’s reprisal and adaptation of the film noir format, with my analyses focused not only on character and plot conventions, but also on the tropes, aesthetics and filmmaking production techniques common to both cinemas. I show how the two cinemas cross-pollinate, especially given that the French polar itself exerted influence on Hollywood film noir and that French critics were among the first to identify the new tendency towards making film noir in postwar Hollywood. I also draw a number of important conclusions. Primarily, I show that while the New Wave borrows extensively from Hollywood aesthetics, its manipulation and subversion of American film noir conventions are also at the very heart of the politique des auteurs. This politique is characterized by a profound dissatisfaction with their era, the Americanization of French society, France’s involvement in Algeria, and a reticence about the impending sexual liberation movement. ❧ I contextualize my project within the current debate in film and French studies regarding the legacy of the New Wave, particularly in light of a tendency to cast doubt on the movement’s involvement with “the political,” as well as to dispute the New Wave’s status as a defining moment in French cinema. |
| Keyword | French new wave; film noir; Hollywood; political aesthetics; genre film theory; 1960s France; Jean-Luc Godard; François Truffaut; Eric Rohmer; Agnès Varda; Louis Malle; Jean Rouch; Jules Dassin; Jean-Pierre Melville |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Rowlins, James |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume4/etd-RowlinsJam-636.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | DEADLY DEVIATIONS, SUBVERSIVE CINEMA: THE INFLUENCE OF HOLLYWOOD FILM NOIR ON THE FRENCH NEW WAVE by James Rowlins A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (FRENCH) May 2012 Copyright 2012 James Rowlins |
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