From Surrealist Cinema to Surrealism in Cinema: Does a Surrealist Genre Exist in Film?

Author(s): Raphaëlle Moine and Pierre Taminiaux

Source: Yale French Studies, No. 109, Surrealism and Its Others (2006), pp. 98-114
Published by: Yale University Press
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 RAPHAELLE MOINE

FromSurrealistCinema to Surrealism
in Cinema: Does a SurrealistGenre
Existin Film?

It mightseem strange,even iconoclastic,to call upon the notionof

genrein orderto understandsurrealistcinema.As one alreadyknows,
surrealismmanifestsitselfaboveall in a group,whichis characterized
byits restlessdestiny.In thissense,surrealistfilmsare strictlyworks
createdbyone ormoremembersofthegroup.Indeed,surrealismis not
abouta genre,butaboutan aestheticmovement,basedonfounding and
program-like texts(theManifestos). It is also about revolutionaryand
subversiveideas involvingartisticcreationas a way oflife,and one's
relationshipwiththeworld,withoneself,withothers,and ultimately
withsociety.Moreover,sincetheconstitution and therecognitionofa
cinematographic genre involvea largenumber ofworks thatsharethe-
matic,formal,and stylistictraits,thenotionofgenreimpliesa princi-
ple ofbothrepetitionandquantity.Recognitionofa "genericformula"
is thuscontingenton a minimumoflongevityand stabilityin artistic
production.'Conversely,aestheticschools and movements,particu-
larlyavant-garde and modernistones like surrealism,oftenset them-
selvesapartbyan ephemeralqualitythatprohibitsall large-scaleartis-
tic productionthatwould accomplishtheirprinciples.Afteran often
evanescentperiodofgrowthand blossoming,thesemovementsexer-
cise a widespreadunderground influencethathas nothingin common
withthefundamentally repetitiveserialmodel,althoughsusceptible
to variations,that is being proposedby genericformulas.Finally,
schoolsandmovementsspringup inarthistoryin ordertoopposedom-

ofgenrein formulaic,
1. Fordefinitions and culturalterms,see, forex-
narrative,
ample,JohnCawelti,Adventures, Mysteryand Romance:FormulaStoriesas Artand
PopularCulture(Chicago:ChicagoUniversityPress,1976);ThomasSchatz,Hollywood
Genres:Formula,Filmmaking and theStudioSystem(NewYork,RandomHouse,1981).

YFS 109,Surrealismand Its Others,ed. KatharineConleyandPierreTaminiaux,

? 2006byYale University.
98

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 99
inantideas and to imposean aesthetic,a style,and a new gaze,while
genresembodyorseta tradition. This refusalofthenormandthisstrat-
of
egy rupture have never been so clearlydisplayedas in the radical
ideas ofsurrealism.
The purposeofthisessayis notto make surrealistcinemaa genre.
Instead,I will showin thefirstpartofmyessaythat,evenifthenotion
ofgenrecomesacrossin manywaysin surrealistworks,it is impossi-
ble forsurrealistfilm(inthestrictest sense)to constitutea genre.How-
ever,todayitappearsthattheterm"surrealistfilm"is usedfrequently,
notonlyto designatean exclusivelysurrealistproduction(La coquille
etle clergyman, Un chienandalou,and L' ge d'or),but also to charac-
terizean entirevarietyoffilmsdirectlyorindirectly influencedbysur-
realism,or read and interpreted as such,sometimeswithoutany es-
tablishedaffiliation.Thus therehas been a genrification ofsurrealism
in cinema:theterm"surrealistfilm"has become a categoryofinter-
pretation.As such,it is comparable,ifnotto a genericcategoryin the
fullestsense,at least to a genericoperator.I will returnto thisnotion
in thesecondpartofmyessay:it indeedresemblestherecentconcep-
tionsofgenreas a mediatingtoolbetweenworksandtheirpublic.Con-
sequently,I will showhow "surrealistfilm"has beenable tobecomea
truegenericoperatorin thefieldofFrenchcriticism.

GENRE(S) AND SURREALISM

The "mauvaisgenre"thatone commonlyequateswithgenrefilmscer-
tainlycontradicts theaestheticvalue judgmenton surrealistfilms,but
it is stillaccepted,even openly,bythesurrealists.Whenused forcin-
ema, the term"genre"almostsystematically refersto "genrefilms,"
thatis to commercialproductionsdeprivedofall ambitionandartistic
intention,while the notionofthe literarygenredoes not necessarily
evokegenreliterature orparaliterature),
(popularliterature butinstead
categories, theoretical
either or that
historical, are completelyliterary
(the essay,the novel,the epic, and so on). The contemporary use is
inclinedto circumscribethe cinematographic genrewithinpopular
cultureandthemassproduction offamiliarstories,withfamiliarchar-
actersin familiarsituations,all witha familiarcinematographic treat-
ment.Bearingthisin mind,theevocationofgenrein thecase ofsurre-
alist filmcan seem iconoclastic,even morethansimplyincorrect.It
seemsiconoclasticbecauseoftheaestheticvalue attributed bycritical
traditionto surrealistfilms(Un chienandalou orL'1ged'orarepartof

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100 Yale FrenchStudies
thepantheonofcinematographic works).Butit is less incorrectthanit
seems ifone considersthat,in the specificcase ofthe surrealists, the
linebetweenartandnon-artis blurred.The famousdefinition ofsurre-
alism by Andr6Bretonclearlyshows this: "a psychicautomatismin
itspurestate,bywhichoneproposesto express--verbally, bymeansof
thewrittenword,or in any othermanner-the actual functioning of
thought. Dictated by thought, in the absence ofany control exercised
by reason,exemptfromany aestheticor moral concern."2In other
words,beforeanycapacityofthecinematographic imageto expressthe
"actualfunctioning ofthought,"itis theculturalillegitimacy ofyoung
cinemathatpushesthesurrealists, notwithouta certaindandyism,to
hangoutfrequently inneighborhood places,tolookfor"disorientation"
and "magnetic"momentsin serieslikeLes mysteresde New Yorkand
earlyCharlotandPicrattseries,3andtoappreciate"Americancomedies
witheasy sentimentality, or violentfilmswhereone sees lost people
who rehabilitate themselvesand fallintothearmsoftheideal woman
afterhavinghadthemostmiserableoflives."4As AlainandOdetteVir-
mauxwrite,"bysystematically seekingouttheworstcommercialpro-
duction,one didn't onlyaim at offending people of cultureand good
taste,but also thezealots of the 'seventh art,'thefansofaestheticcin-
ema, the firstcinephiles."sIt is therefore genrecinemathatinterests
the"surrealists"whentheythemselvesarethespectators.
When one considersthe surrealists'creativeinvolvementin the
cinematographic universe,one is forcedto recognizethatit is outside
ofcinema and actuallyin literaturethatone can undoubtedlyfinda
truegenrecreatedand developedby the surrealists:the screenplays,
writtenindependently ofall plansanddesiresoffilming andsometimes
evendeclaredtobe "unfilmable,'"6 wherecinemafunctionsas nothing
morethana pointofreference, forexample,editingandtypography that
evoke"real" screenplays. These werepublishedin manyreviewsdur-
ingthe mid-1920sor in separateeditions,and thisprimarilyliterary

2. AndreBreton, Manifestoes ofSurrealism,trans.RichardSeaverandHelenR. Lane

(AnnArbor:The University ofMichiganPress,1969),26.
3. Breton,"Comme dansun bois," in L'cigedu cinema4-5, specialsurrealistedi-
tion(August-November 1951),26-30, reeditedbyAlainandOdetteVirmauxas Les sur-
realisteset le cinema(Paris:tditionsSeghers,1976),277-82.
4. Michel Leiris,L'dged'homme(Paris:Gallimard,1939),224. (Translations here
andthroughout arethetranslator's,exceptas otherwisenoted.)
5. Virmaux,Les surrealistes etle cinema,14.
6. This is thecase in TroisScenariibyBenjaminFondane(1928),PaupiBresmzires,
Barrefixe,andMtasipoi.

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 101

productionwas importantup untilthemid-1930s.One mustnotably

mentionPulcherieveutune auto byBenjaminP6ret(1923);La loi de
l'accomodation chez les borgnesby Picabia (1928), a "filmin three
parts"thatdemandsofthereaderto use thescreenofhis imagination
toviewthefilm;theDesnos screenplays, thetitlesofwhichrefertothe
neighborhood places where the surrealistused to hangout (Les recifs
de l'amour,Les mystresdu metropolitan); orOndsimea Dijon, which
makes reference to theherooftheGaumontseriesofcomics created
between1912and 1914byJeanDurand.These screenplaysweremade
moreepisodiclater(HenriStorckpublishedin 1951an unfilmedscreen-
play,La rue).Unlike theworkofSoupault,a man destinedto filmhis
"cinematographic poems" (butwithoutsuccess),manytextsby Dali
(Babaouo,publishedbyCahiersLibresin 1932),Pdret,Desnos,Artaud,
Ribemond-Dessaignes, and othersweredestinedonlytobe readandto
"lavish the extraordinary,to multiplyanomaliesor deformations, to
to
toss theuniversearound, ceaselesslyspeculateabout the uncanny
and the absurd"(Virmaux,72). The rathersupple formof the texts,
rangingfromsynopsisto dissection,in an erawhenthepublicationof
screenplays was neitherfrequent norinstitutionalized, offerednewpo-
tentialforwritingunstructured texts,freefrom theconstraints andra-
tionalityimposedbythenarrative ortheessay.It also offersthechance
to createpoetrywithoutwritingpoems(an exceptionmadein thecase
ofSoupault).Butthencinemais onlya wayoffinding andrenewingthe
literaryexperience.
The numberofsurrealistfilmsproducedseems negligiblein com-
parisontotheabundanceofscreenplays writtenat thetime.Onlythree
filmsareunanimouslyrecognized:La coquille etle clergyman byGer-
maineDulac (1927,based on a scenarioby Antonin Artaud),Un chien
andalou byLuis Bufiuel(1929,co-written by SalvadorDali), and L'age
d'orbyLuis Bufiuel(1930),thelastbeingan absolutepointofreference
in thesubjectofsurrealism,in partbecause ofthe scandalthatit pro-
vokedanditssubsequentban,7butalso because it gaveriseto thepub-
licationofa "surrealistmanifestoconcerningL'dged'or" in 1931,the
onlysignedcollectivetextfromthemovementthattrulydiscussedcin-
ema. The judgmenton cinemahereis irrevocable:
Fromtheendlessspooloffilm, proposedtooureyesuntilnowandto-
ofwhichsomefragments
daydissolved, wereonlymereentertainment
tospendanevening; someothers, a subjectofdejectionandincredible

7. The filmremainedbannedin Franceuntil1981.

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102 Yale FrenchStudies
someothersthesourceofa brief
cretinization; andincomprehensible
Whatdo we retainifnotthearbitrary
exaltation. voiceperceivedin
someofMackSenett's comedies; inEntracte;
thevoiceofdefiance that
ofsavagelovein Ombresblanches;ofan equallyunlimitedhopeand
despairinChaplin'sfilms? exceptfortheir-
Asidefromthis,nothing,
reduciblecalltorevolution
inLe CuirassePotemkine.
Nothingbesides
Un chienandalou andL'dged'orwhicharelocatedbeyondall thatex-
ists.8
Besidesthesethreefilms,thereexisteda handfulofotherworksduring
the1920sthatweresimilartosurrealist works,butwerenotrecognized
as strictlysurrealist;some ofthesewererejectedon thegroundsthat
theyfollowedotherartisticcurrents-therotoreliefs ofAnemic cin-
ema byDuchamp (1926)borrowedfromDadaist processes,seen in the
firsttwoMan Rayfilms,Retoura"la maison(1923),presentedat a Dada
show,and Emak Bakia (1927); others,includingabstractfilms,pure
cinema,or Le sang d'un porteby Cocteau (1928)werecondemnedby
the surrealists;finallyL'etoilede merby Man Ray (1929) is oftennot
considereda "surrealistfilm"because thewords,ratherthanthefilm
itself,are the mostimportantpartofthe work.Thus it is called "the
Desnos poeminterpreted byMan Ray." Evenwithoutshowingthein-
transigenceand rigidityof the attributionofthe title"surrealist"to
filmsmadebeforethedissolutionofthemovementin 1939,one must
statethatthetrulysurrealistfilmis a rareoccurrence.It is so rarethat
it does notauthorizea priorithepinpointing ofrecurrent characteris-
ticsinherentto thegenre.Therearemanycauses forthepaucityofsur-
realistfilms:a scarcityofproducer-patrons willingto investin such
productions fora ratherlimited audience;internalrupturesin thesur-
realistmovement;and the impossibility,accordingto Virmaux,of
combiningthegeneralideologyofsurrealismwiththeconditionsand
thelengthoffilmingand filmmaking thatdo notallow forimprovisa-
tionor spontaneity (Vermaux,85). The inventionoffilmswithsound
thatis sometimesevokedis a morequestionablereason.IfArtaudor
Bretoneffectively condemnspokenfilmsby sayingthattheycause
silentfilmsto lose theirmagic,it wasn't in factuntil 1934 thatcen-
sorshipand standardization actedas a brakeforexperimental cinema.

in L'avant-scdne
a proposde L'dged'or,"reproduced
8. "Manifestedes surrealistes
cinema27-28 (June15-July15,1963).
9. On thelimitsofthebodyofsurrealistfilms,see Virmaux,Les surrealisteset le
cinema,34-38.

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 103
Thepreceding bya great
yearsarecharacterized richness ofexperiments
withsoundin film,in all sectorsofcinematographic production,and
sounddidnotatfirst formembers
createa barrier 10
oftheavant-garde:
L'dige the
d'oris a filmwithsoundand "interior the
dialogue"of two
loversinthepark(LyaLysandModot)illustrates thatsoundparticipates
in theconstruction oftheimaginary spaceandtime.The characters
out a
carry dialogue without opening mouths
their andwhentheymove
theirlips,theirmotiondoesnotcorrespond tothewordsthattheviewer
hears.Whilethecharacters do notleavetheirseatsin thepark,their
voicesblendwithWagner's Prdludeacla mortd'Isolde.Theirdialogue
first
evokesa conversation murmured between loversinbed:
Man:"Areyoutired?"
YoungWoman:"I wasgoingtosleep."
Man:"Where's
thebuttontoturnitoff?"
YoungWoman:"At thefootofthebed ... you'rehurtingme with
yourelbow."
Man: "Move yourhead thisway;thepillowis coolerhere."
YoungWoman:"Whereis yourhand?I'm finelike this.Let's stay
like this-don't move."
Man: "Areyoucold?"
YoungWoman:"No, I'm fallingasleep."
Man: "Sleep."
The dialogue continues with a passionate declaration by Lya Lys, a
characterwho calls to mind Medea: "I have been waiting foryou fora
long time. What a joy . .. what a joy to have killed our children!" The
pause is filledwith the exalted repetitionof two words by Modot, "My
love, my love, my love, my love ..., my love." This innovative use of
sound allows forboth the multiplicityof space and time and the liber-
ationofthestrengthofmad love off-camera,
whiletheimageactually
showsus nothingmorethanthepresentstateoftwolovers,whoareal-
wayspreventedin thefilmfromachievingtheirdesires.

SURREALISM AS A CATEGORY OF
INTERPRETATION
But, if trulysurrealist films are rare,one consequently witnesses, at
least in France, an inflationof the term "surrealist film" to designate

En routeversle parlant.Histoired'uneevolutiontechnolo-
10. See MartinBarnier,
gique,iconomiqueetesthgetiquedu (1926-1934)(Liege: EditionsduC6fal,2002),
211-15. cinema

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104 Yale FrenchStudies
filmsof all kinds,experimentalfilmsin commercialcinema coming
fromartfilmsthatexpressin a consciousor involuntary way a wide-
spread surrealismorcontain fragmentsof surrealism.Works like those
of Arrabal,thatclaim to be surrealist;the abundantfilmography of
BufiuelafterL'aged'or;thefilmsthatoldersurrealistshelpedto make
(forexampleHitchcock'sSpellbound,becauseofDali's contribution to
thedreamsequence):all oftheseareoneiricworksthatprovetheexis-
tenceof a veritablefantasyin the constructionofimaginaryworlds,
worksin whichthesubjectis a storyofpassionateorimpossiblelove.
The semanticshiftthataccompaniesthe popularizationof the term
"surrealist"(thathas come to mean in today'sFrench"bizarre"or
"strange")certainlyexplainsthisflourishingofsurrealist
filmsoutside
ofsurrealism.ButAdo Kyrou'sLe surrealismeau cinema,11published
forthefirsttimein 1963,is likelyto be responsibleforthissituation,
too. Beyondits clearlynormativeintention(to distinguishbetween
filmsthatexpress,evenin a transientmanner,an authenticsurrealism
and thosethatonlyproducea pale reflectionofit),thisbook,starting
fromthe principlethat "cinema is essentiallysurrealist,""that the
dreams of a sleeping person lose theirnature of dreams . . . in orderto
turnbeforeourmarveledeyesintoreality"(Kyrou,9), endsup finding
surrealismto be,ifnoteverywhere, in anycase in an impressivenum-
beroffilmsthataddress"love" or "revolt,"thatcapture"elsewhere"
or"theimpossible"(thesearetitlesofKyrou'schapters), orinfilmsthat
embody a sort (Melies,Feuillade).Nearlythe first
of"pre-surrealism"
twothirdsofthebookarededicatedtofilmsthat"redivideat one point
the luminousline of surrealism"(Kyrou,169). That these meetings
withsurrealismareoftencompletelyinvoluntary mattersverylittleto
Kyrou.On the even,
contrary this"objectivecoincidence"wouldtend
implicitlyto giveeven morevalue to the magnetizingmomentsthat
came fromit: "Today involuntarysurrealism,followingfromold
habits,is hiddenunderthestrangesttawdryragswhetherin filmedbal-
lets,in thedreamsofaveragefilms, in advertisements
or one sees dur-
ingintermission, themagneticspiritofsurrealismslapsnumbspecta-
torsin thefaceandrevivesthem"(Kyrou,169).
One thuscomesupona paradoxicalsituationwherethereis, on the
one hand,a minusculegroupofsurrealistfilmsthataretheexpression
oftheaestheticmovementin cinema,and,on theother,an abundance

11. Ado Kyrou,Le surrealismeau cinema (Paris:RamsayPoche Cinema, 1985

[19631).

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 105
offilmsin whichfragments arereadas surrealistand therefore labeled
as surrealistfilms.It is theexistenceofthislast typeofsurrealistfilm
thatcauses one to thinkthatsurrealismfunctionstodayas a genre,in
otherwords,an a posterioricategorythatallows fortheregrouping of
a certainnumberofworks(anyworkofwhicha fragment, aspect,orel-
ementcanbe labeledas surrealist). The reference tosurrealismendsup
designating here "what we collectively believe it to be," to go back to
a definition ofgenrebyAndrewTudor.12Tudormakesthisproposition
afterhavingunderlined(inthecase ofthe"Western"movies)thatcrit-
ics alwaysstartfroman implicitand commondefinition ofthegenre
are
they studying, which indeed determines a body works,and that
of
theyredefinethegenreafterwards accordingto theiroriginalhypothe-
sis. He therefore identifiesan unconsciouslytautologicalapproach,in
whichhe substitutesa recursivedefinition thatinsistsupontheinter-
pretative consensus presiding over the recognitionofa genreand the
distribution ofa filmin a genericcategory.Each interpretative com-
munityfashionsand uses its own genericcategories,accordingto its
ownstrategies, itsexperienceofcinema,ofculture,itstimeperiod,and
its place in society.To separatefilmsinto genresby using the very
rigorous,pragmaticperspectivedevelopedby Rick Altmanin Film/
Genre'3is todo muchmorethanmapouttheworldofcinematographic
worksortopinpointonwhichcontinenta filmis found:itis toexpress,
activate,or accepta systemofcommonand implicitreferences, a "la-
belinggame,"as Jean-Pierre Esquenazi calls it,14whichdepartsfrom
the "languagegames" describedbyWittgenstein in his Philosophical
that
Investigations, primarily resultedin of
patterns productionandre-
the
ception.Therefore, genre has to be considered above all as a cate-
goryofinterpretation. This categoryactuallysays moreabout there-
lationto cinemaand cultureoftheone who recognizesand mobilizes
it thanaboutthefilmsthatit characterizes. Fromthisperspective, the
a
genredesignates category,supposedly well known,common, and
shared,thatonecanassociatewitha filminordertocharacterize iteven
ifit is not a genrefilm.It has the meritof separatingthe cinemato-
graphicgenrefromthepejorativemeaningthatwas mentionedat the

12. AndrewTudor,"Genre"[19741,in FilmGenreReaderII, ed. BarryKeithGrant

ofTexasPress,1995),5.
(Austin:University
13. RickAltman,Film/Genre (London:BFI,1999).
Esquenazi,"Le renouvellement
14. Jean-Pierre d'un jeu de langage.Genreset ca-
naux,"Rdseaux81,"Les genrestd16visuels"(Paris:CNET,January-February 1997),105.

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106 Yale FrenchStudies
beginning of this article. It also provides a more widespread and less
taxonomic sense to the notion ofgenre,since any categorythat enables
viewers (but also producers,critics,and others)to name and then situ-
ate a particular film can be considered a genre. Since it is an interpre-
tative category,it becomes a mediating tool between works and their
public.15
While recent theories of genre focus on this communicative and
pragmatic function,one can hesitate to use the term "genre" in the
sense that in abandoning the traditional conception of classification,
one expands upon the sense that one usually hears about. Some au-
thors,including Jean-MarieSchaeffer,consequently preferto discuss
genericity.'6I propose to discuss generic operatorsin orderto designate
categories that,without listing genres in dictionaries and without de-
partingfrom"genre names," have ceased to functionas expressions of
the aesthetic movement (or,in othercases, having to do with the tech-
nique or the production of a work), but have become categories of in-
terpretation.17 This is preciselythe case with "surrealistfilm,"and the
surrealist movement is not the only one concerned with this genrifi-
cation, which is certainlyan indicator of major cultural diffusion,but
also is an indicatorof a stereotypicalreduction. In fact,as indicated by
Jacqueline Nacache,
The New Waveas a genericoperatoris no longeran artisticlabel buta
categoryofinterpretation thatis valuedless foritscontentthanforits
function.In this,the interpretive categorynot onlyrejoinsthe genre
its
through capacity as mediator, but it also assuresit almostmoreef-
fectivelythan the artisticlabel. For if the criteriaof genericity
have
evolvedso muchthattoday'sspectatordoesnotreallyknowwhattoex-
pectfroma Westernor a musical,the "New Wave" or "youngFrench

15. RaphaelleMoine,Lesgenresdu cindma(Paris:Nathan,2002),19-20 and83-85.

16. Jean-Marie Schaeffer,Qu'est-cequ'un genrelitteraire(Paris:Editionsdu Seuil),
1989.
17. The "remake,"forexample,thatinitiallyindicatesa techniqueofproduction of
filmworksstarting witha preexistingwork,functions in Frenchcriticismas a "generic
operator";inthepostmodern eraofrecyclingoldfilms,atthetimeofHollywoodremakes
offoreign films,theseworksare evaluated(and comparedto theirsource,oftennega-
tively)basedon theirqualitiesandflaws.The remakehas becomea mediationthatcon-
structsa horizonandcriticalreceptionposturea priori.It is similarto novelization.Cf.
RaphaelleMoine,"Cinema,genreset novellisation,"in JanBaetensand MarcLitts,La
novellisation/Novelization.Du filmau livre/FromFilmtoNovel(Leuven:LeuvenUni-
versityPress,2004),87.

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 107
cinema"labelsarebycontrast thatdo not
loadedwithconnotations
inorder
needtobeelucidated tobeunderstood.
"18

THE GENRIFICATION OF SURREALIST FILM

How is surrealistfilmable to constitutea genericoperator? Whatdoes
thisgenrification constitute, and what does it from
preserve thesurre-
alism ofthesurrealists? To answerthesequestions,it is relevantto ex-
aminetheoccurrencesandtheuse oftheterm"surrealistfilm."In this
regard, thecriticalreceptionoffilmsoffersgoodterritory toinvestigate.
As an example,I willuse an entirecorpusoffilmreviewsthatappeared
in FrancebetweenDecember2004 and January2005 in the weekly
TMlkrama, a Frenchculturalmagazinewitha readershipmade up of
people of the educated middle-class-neithera newspaperforthe
masses nor a publicationstrictlyforcinephileslike the Cahiers du
cinema.Fourreviewsmakereference to surrealistfilm-the reviewof
Dias de campo (a Chilean filmby Raoul Ruiz, reviewedby Jacques
Moriceinissue 2866 on December18,2004),thereviewofEtles ldches
s'agenouillent(a CanadianfilmbyGuyMaddin,reviewedbyFrancois
Gorinin issue 2868 on January 1,2005),thereviewofChateau ambu-
lant (a JapanesefilmbyHayao Miyazaki,reviewedby Cdcile Muryin
issue 2870 on January 15,2005),andfinallythereviewofthenew com-
mercialshowingofPandoraand theFlyingDutchman(AlbertLewin,
GreatBritain,1951,reviewedby GuillemetteOlivierin issue 2868).
The firstobservation:"surrealistfilm"is used tocharacterize fourvery
different films.The reasonsthatpromptcriticsto make reference to
surrealismare also verydiverse,but theyare ratherrepresentative of
whatconstitutesa "surrealistfilm"in contemporary France.The rea-
sons givenare above all thematic-the strangeobjectthatmakes up
thecastlein theMiyazakifilm("a giantwiththelook ofa chicken,in-
fernalmachinery, a deliriumofintricatedevicesand passageways,of
traps,valvesand bolts"),as well as thelove bindingSophieand Hauru
themagician,describedas "the antithesisofall Disney floweriness."
ForPandora,it is themythofthe FlyingDutchmanwho wandersin
searchof"THE woman,"and also thebaroquestyleofthe ddcor,the
lightingandthecolorsthatbeautifyAvaGardner.One findshereagain

18. JacquelineNacache, "Nouvelle vague et jeune cinema: des 'operateursgen6-

du cinemafrangais,"
riques'a la genrification in Le cinemafrangaisfaceaux genres,ed.
RaphaelleMoine(Paris:AFRHC,2005),61.

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108 Yale FrenchStudies
theequation"madlove + exaltationoffemininebeauty= surrealism,"
alreadyusedbyKyrouinordertofindaspectsofsurrealismintheLewin
film:"The twohandsunitedin Pandora'sfishnetare a conclusionfull
of consequencesand the stunningAva Gardner,who personifiesthe
eternalloveroftheflyingDutchman,is forme theperfectexampleof
a womanin love.Lewinhighlighted throughout his entirefilmthepre-
destinationofa greatlove. As a cultivatedand intelligentman (andas
an aesthetetoo),he proclaimedhis fiercefaithin love" (Kyrou,129).It
is once morelove and deaththatauthorizesFrancoisGorinto discuss
the "surrealistfilm"in thecase ofEt les liches s'agenouillent,but in
thiscase theexperimental characteroftheautobiographical filmrein-
forcesthis characterization: "There is sound,but no words.A trem-
blingSuper-8image,in black and white,coloredadequatelyhereand
there.Thus theblue handsofthe dead fatherofa youngwoman who
turnsthe lifeofhockeyplayerGuy upside down,a woman who will
eventuallyhavethesehandstransplanted ontoherloverin orderto sat-
isfya vengeance.A magician'strick,in fact,thatmirrorsthis minor
film,a melodramathatdeviatestowarda surrealisttale." As forthe
Ruiz film,"a nostalgicmeditationon themothercountryandthefleet-
ingyears,"it is judgedto be surrealistbecause ofthepastworksofthe
director,oftenattributed witha Bufiuelianaffiliation, and because of
its complexstructurethatallows forthe realizationof parallel and
communicating worlds:"a typicalRuiz movie,as onesays,thepromise
ofthesenarrativeloops thatthe most surrealistofour directorsexe-
as ifhe werebreathing.Thereare also tales inde-
cutes as effortlessly
pendentofthemainaction,a back-and-forth betweenthekingdomof
thedeadandtheworldoftheliving,butwithtransparency andunusual
simplicity."
These fourreadingsthatmobilizethegenericoperatorofthe "sur-
realistfilm"seem to me to be ratherrepresentative ofwhatthesurre-
alistfilmhasbecomeinthefieldofcontemporary criticism.Theybring
surrealismback to semantictraits(passionate,heterosexuallove, a
diegetic,oneiric,unrealisticorimaginary universethatexcludesall re-
alisticrepresentation)and/orsyntacticaltraits(themeanderingstory
in which the complextime structureoffers,in the words of Gilles
Deleuze, "a pluralityofsimultaneousworlds,""a simultaneity ofpre-
sentsin different worlds"19).Whenone knowsthatitis mainlythesta-
ble combinationofsemanticand syntacticalelementsthatallows one,

(Paris:t'ditionsde Minuit,1985),135.
19. GillesDeleuze,L'image-temps

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 109
froman academicpointofview,to recognize theexistenceofstrong
genres and to analyze them as such, one sees that thegenrification of
filmis actuallyveryadvanced! Ofcourse,genrification proceeds from
a simplification thatis explained bythediffusion andpopularity ofa
surrealist vulgate, allartistic practices combined. Butinthecaseofcin-
ema,italsocomesfrom definitions givenbythesurrealists themselves
andfrom theweakness oftheirtheoretical discourse ontheseventh art.
I
As mentioned previously regarding the unfilmable screenplays and
theweaknessofthestrictly surrealist bodyofworks,andas Claude
Murciaremarks, "ingeneral their relation withcinema-whichdenies
theworldliness ofthetextinorderto searchinfilmonlyforthebrief
instancessusceptible to trigger excitation orreverie--scarcely goes
alongwiththesenseofrealinterest forcinematographic work."20 Cin-
emaappeared tothesurrealists as aboveall a newart,a languagethat
couldabolishall constraints, a writing inwhicheverything is permis-
sible.Well before Edgar Morin and his ou
Cindma l'hommeimaginaire
(1956),thesurrealists seemedconvinced, as spectatorsmorethanfilm-
makers, thata certainmagicallogicwas sharedbycinematic images
andoneiric For
images. example, Antonin Artaud, whilepondering cin-
ematicgenius, writes that itis "essentially revealingof a secret lifeto
whichitis directly related," andthatitis made"toexpressaspectsof
thought, theinterior oftheconscience, notso muchbyplaying with
but more
images bysomething unpredictable that restoresthem to us
withtheirdirectmaterial, without interposition, without representa-
tion."21Becauseofthis,hechampions a "cinemastudded withdreams
thatgivesus thesensation ofpurelife."22 Thewritings bymembers of
thesurrealist groupgenerally confirm this: to them cinema is "a won-
derful wayofexpressing dreams, "23 inother words, a waytoattainsur-
reality,a placewherethecontradictions between realityanddreamare
resolved. Inthelate1920s,Bufiuel wasintotalagreement withthesur-
realistgroupin termsoftherelationship betweenfilmanddreams,
eventhough he laterclaimednevertohavetakenpartin theslightly
naiveenthusiasm thatinspired theseparticular possibilitiesincinema.
The future director thusdidnotdistinguish himself fromhis avant-

20. ClaudeMurcia,Un chienandalou,L'dged'or.Etudecritique(Paris:Nathan,Syn-

opsis,1994),18.
21. AntoninArtaud,"Surrealisme et cinema,"citedin Etudescindmatographiques
38-39 (Paris:Mignard-LesLettresModernes,1965),123.
22. Artaud,Avant-Proposde La coquilleetle clergyman(Paris:NRF,1927).
23. PhilippeSoupault,"Entretien,"
Etudescinimatographiques 38-39 (n.d.).

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110 YaleFrenchStudies
gardecompanionswhenhe undertookwithDali thewritingand film-
ingof Un chienandalou by joiningtheirtwo dreams.His aim was to
reinstatethe "stormofdreamsthatfloodssleep in waves," to extract
fromnothingnesssome ofthese "billionsand billionsofimagesthat
surgeeverynightanddissipatealmostrightaway,envelopingtheearth
in a cloak oflost dreams.""24The purposeof Un chienandalou is very
clear, indeed: to use the logic of the unconsciousto put into words
dreamsand fantasiesaccordingto an associativelogic,to unitedream
and reality,consciousnessand unconsciousness,apartfromall sym-
bolism.Two antagonisticseriesresultedfromthis,one evokingdesire
(the sea urchin, the box, the hair, the breasts, the buttocks ... ) the
othercastration(thefall,therazor,thecuthand,theobliteration ofthe
mouth... ). The figuresofdisplacement,ofanalogy,and ofcondensa-
tiongovernthediscourseand thefilm.Facingsuchinsistenceon join-
ingcinemaand dream,one will notbe surprisedthatthisoneiricqual-
ity,whetherin thecontentofthefilmorin itsform,has todaybecome
a synonymofsurrealism.Finally,thefamous"Manifestedes surr6al-
istesa proposde L' ge d'or" emphasizesthemesa greatdeal (love,and
at a morepsychoanalytical level,theconflictsbetween"thelifeandthe
deathinstincts")and a subversive of
way treating itssubjects,butfalls
shortofprovidingcinematographic surrealismwitha clearlydefined
aestheticprogram.
All ofthisauthorizesa laterstereotypical reductionofsurrealism
around a thematic nucleus (therepresentations ofthe imaginary, im-
pulses,love and desire)thatcan come to be embodiedin a narrative
form,certainlysuppleand perplexing, but relativelycodifiedafterall
(the stratification of the film narrativein sequences,paralleltimesand
worlds). Is is therefore surprising theterm"surrealistfilm"is
not that
used primarily in regardto thefantasygenrethatfrequently relieson
thesame themesand thesame typeofstorytelling. The "genericoper-
ator"ofsurrealistfilmthusserveson one handto delimita sortofsub-
genrewithintheimportant galaxyoffantasyfilms,regardless oftheac-
tual influenceof surrealismon theirauthors.On the otherhand,by
superimposing itselfonto a usual genericdenomination,the generic
operatorhelps extractworksfromthefieldofcommercialcinema,
to
to take themout ofthefieldofpopularculture,and to givethemcul-
turalvalue.Fantasyfilms,whilecalled "surrealistfilms,"arereceived,
presented,and interpreted withthehelp ofa noblerand moreartistic

24. Luis Bufiuel,Mon derniersoupir (Paris: Ramsay Poche CinIma, 1982), 111-12.

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 RAPHAELLEMOINE 111
whichareoftenreferred
DavidLynchfilms,
category. toas surrealist,
can thusbe seenas artisticandpersonalfilmsratherthanas genrefilms.
Theyareundoubtedly both,butsurrealismservesheretobringtheaes-
theticqualitiesoffilmtotheforefront.
The interpenetration
ofspace
andtime,thesubstitution ofcharacters, intheformofa
thestructure
Moebius stripwheredifferent
worldsrevolvein a loop withoutever
fully whereitisimpossible
the"schizophrenia,"
overlapping, todecide
whetherit is thatoftheheroesorthatofthestory,allow one,fromthe
televisionseriesTwinPeaks to MulhollandDrive and Lost Highway,
toreadthesefilmsas surrealistfilmsand eventuallyas originalworks.
tore-establish
To labela filmas surrealistis therefore a strategyof"dis-
tinction"(in thesociologicalsensethatBourdieugaveto theterm),as
one sees in thepreviouslycitedreviewof Chateau ambulant.Its au-
thordiscusses"surrealistfilm"by emphasizingthatthelove storyis
not syrupy-sweet like in animatedHollywoodfilms.The article'sin-
troductionproceedsin the same way: "all of the geniusofMiyazaki
concentratedin a surrealistfablethattwistsmangaand fairytales."
One thusfallsvictimtoa sortofcircularreasoning, whereitis difficult
to knowifthefilmis becomingsurrealistbecause it movesawayfrom
normedforms(theword"surrealism"beinga shortcutforcommuni-
catingsubversionand thedistortionofgenres,constraints, and codes)
orbecause one is eagerto showthatit movesawayfromstandardpro-
duction.So, to interpret Le chateau ambulantas a surrealistfilmis to
defineitat thesametimeas an anti-Disneyandan anti-mangafilm,or,
in otherwords,as a workthatopposesthetwo dominanttypesofani-
matedfilmsin popularculture.
Surrealismattributed to thisor thatfilmfunctionsas an indicator
of"authorship"25 thataccentuatestheartisticandpersonaldimension
ofthework.The exampleoffantasyfilmsillustratesthiswell,butit is
also noticeableoutsideofthegenre.The case ofLe charmediscretde
la bourgeoisie(1972) seems to me to be particularlyenlightening.
Bufiuel'sreturnto surrealism,seen in this filmand its successorin

25. I am borrowing
thistermfromEsquenazi,who usedit in regardto Godardto in-
dicatehow thetheorizationofthepoliticsofauthorsbytheYoungTurksofCahiersdu
cinemabringsthem,whentheybecomedirectors, to "makeevidentintheirfilms,at any
cost,theidea thatdominatestheirpersonalityand organizestheirwork."This impera-
tiveofauthorshipexpressesthewilltosupporta postureoftheartist.Ithasbeenrepeated
manytimessincethen-successfully, one mightadd-as a criterion ofaestheticjudg-
mentbythecinephilicpress.See Jean-PierreEsquenazi,Godardetla socidtdfrangaise
des anndes1960(Paris:Armand-Colin, 2004),58-63.

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112 Yale FrenchStudies
Bufluel'sfilmography (Le fant6mede la libert&,1974) has been dis-
cussed at length,but when thefilmwas released,criticismhesitated
betweentwo interpretations of it. As Jean-PierreEsquenazi showed
while studyingthe Frenchcriticalreceptionof the filmat the time,
readingssometimesemphasizedthesatiricaldimensionandpamphle-
teeringofthefilm(itis therefore a caricature,successfulornot,ofmem-
bers of the bourgeoisiewho flaunttheirtitle),and sometimesthe
oneiricdimension(itis in thiscase addedon to theaestheticuniverse
ofits authorand to Bufiueliansurrealism).26 Let us recalltheprinciple
ofthefilm,constructedaroundtherepetitionofa meal sharedbythe
sixmainprotagonists, alwaysleftunfinished becauseoftheoccurrence
ofevents,each morebizarrethanthelast.These repeatedand fruitless
attemptsprovideunityforthestorythatconstantlyblurstheline be-
tweendreamand reality.The variousunsuccessfulmeals providethe
subjectofan acerbicsocial portrayal, pointedto by the titleand dis-
cussedin somearticlesat thetimebycriticswho didnotfailto notice
thisaspectofthefilm.The bourgeoisieofthefilmis hypocritical, idle,
andunproductive. Consumers(oftenfrustrated) offood,drink,sex,and
drugsare addresseesof someone else's stories-the ambassadorDon
Rafael,theS6nechalcouple,Madame Th6venot,herhusbandand her
sisterFlorence-who do nothingexceptensurethe permanenceof a
constantlyinterrupted ritual.Whiletheyarethemaincharacters, they
areneverexactlyactorsortrusteesofa personalorfamilystorythatthe
secondarycharactersof the filmhave the privilegeto possess. The
repetitivecycledirectedbyBufluelin thefilmenclosesthesepureso-
cial typesin a strictcircleofsocial membership:threemenwho take
partin shadybusinessdeals and don'thesitateto use violencein order
to continuedoingthisbusiness,while the women meet at tea time.
Moreover,thebourgeoisd6cor,meticulouslyrecreatedon screenbythe
director,is, metaphorically but also literallyin one scene, a theater
stage on which the bourgeoisiemaintainsits positionin societyby
playingitsrole.That is whyLe charmediscretde la bourgeoisieis full
ofvariouscodifiedwords:expressionsofpoliteness,ritualmeal-time
conversationalexpressions,menu or recipeterms,proverbialtruths,
well-knownclich6sor alteredones. Whenthe filmis interpreted as a
satireofthebourgeoisie(a greatsocial obsessionin FranceafterMay

26. See Esquenazi,"Repetitionsbourgeoises,"Bufluel,sigloXXI, ed. Isabel Santao-

lalla (Saragosse:Instituci6nFernandoel Catolico/PrensasUniversitarias de Zaragoza,
2004),111-21.

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 RAPHAELLE MOINE 113
1968),it is its capacityto accountfortheworldit makes reference to
thatis put forwardinsteadofBuiluelthe authorhimself.In thiscase,
thesequencesofwalks in thecountryside thatpunctuatethefilmare
interpreted as metaphorsoftheinsignificance or theemptinessincar-
natedbythebourgeoisie.ButLe charmediscretde la bourgeoisiedoes
notsimplyalternatebetweenunfinished meals and disturbingevents:
it almostinextricably intertwines dreamand realityin orderto do so.
The dreammakesitsappearanceat thefourthunachievedmeal in the
formofa "retellingofa dream,"whichcan be easilyisolated.Whilethe
armyconductingfieldexercisesoccupiesthehomeoftheS6n6chals,a
sergeant,havingjust broughtnews to the colonel, tells the dinner
guests one of his dreams,morbidand perfectlystereotypical.The
sergeant'sdreamopens the floodgatesof the imaginationin the film
and,starting withthissequence,realand imaginaryareno longerdis-
tinguishable. Dreamsarethusneithercircumscribed noreasilyidenti-
fiedbytheiraesthetics,andtheprincipleofan a posterioridiscoveryof
the imaginarystatusof these scenes becomes generalized.What the
viewerbelieves to be realitytopplesover on two occasions in the
dream.The meal hostedby the colonel,the masqueradeon a theater
stage,is nothingbut Sen6chal'sdreamand the "second" meal at the
colonel's,whichtheviewerthoughtto be "the realone," turnsout to
havebeendreamtbyThevenotwhohadbeendreamingthefilm... for
some time.Accordingto the same principle,in thepolice stationse-
quences where the bourgeoisare held, the episode of the bloody
brigadier,thata flashbackfalselyauthenticates, is nothingbuta prod-
uct oftheimaginationoftheofficer. The screenplayengagesin a final
pirouetteafterthegeneralmassacreat theveryend ofthefilm-Don
Rafaelwakes up sweatingand starving.Could the entirefilmbe the
dreamofa hungryman?Criticswho favorthislabyrinth ofdreamsun-
derlinethusthesurrealismofLe charmediscretde la bourgeoisieand
theseoneiricinterpretations freethe filmofall possibleconnections
withthesocial andculturalworld.Theyinsteadassociatethefilmwith
theimaginary, conceivedas autonomous,ofBufiueltheauthor,a true
incarnationofsurrealismon screen.

The ideal but all too rarelyused surrealistinstrument,

cinema,has
likelybecome, like otherartisticand culturalproductions,a place
whereinfluences,oftenwidespreadand unconscious,manifestthem-
selves.They stemmedfromsurrealismafterit reachedits peak as an
aesthetic movement. Directorswere most definitelyinfluencedby sur-

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114 Yale FrenchStudies
realism(someveryprofoundly, like Bufiuel,above all a "historicsur-
realist"beforedistancinghimselffromthegroup).Buthere,instead,I
wantedto highlight theinfluenceofsurrealismon thecritics'view of
films(andon theview ofall ofus, too).It is thissecondinfluencethat
caused thetransformation of"surrealistfilm"intoa genericoperator.
In thissense,ifcinemaconstitutesan othernessofsurrealismbecause
it is a mode ofexpressionthatwas onlyoccasionallyexploredby the
surrealists,filmslabeledas surrealisttodayalso appearas "others"in
project.Indeed,thesefilmsonlyjointhegenre
relationto thesurrealist
aftersurrealismhas been simplifiedand institutionalizedas a truly
modernlabel ofartisticquality.

-Translated byPierreTaminiaux

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