Introduction. The ethnographic optic: A fresh way of seeing post-World War II French cinema ; Colonial ethnography: Enforcing France's imperial mission ; Toward a definition of ethnographic film ; The ethnographic shift and the dissolution of the empire ; Reorienting Rouch toward Marker and Resnais ; Domestic ethnography and its distinctions ; Chapter outlines -- The Ethnographer's Alibi: The Limits of Shared Narration in Jean Rouch's 'Moi, un Noir'. Rouch's initiation into ethnographic cinema ; Rouch's ambiguous politics and filmmaking vision ; 'Les maîtres fous' ; 'Moi, un Noir' ; "Africa" speaks ; The ethnographer's alibi: Subjectivity and whiteness ; From the "African Period" to the "Parisian Period" -- "Moi, un Blanc": Jean Rouch's "Parisian Period," from 'La pyramide humaine' to 'Petit à Petit'. 'La pyramide humaine', from Ivory Coast to Paris ; A Parisian ethnography: 'Chronique d'un été' ; The cultural specificity of 'Cinéma Vérité' ; 'La punition' ; 'Gare du Nord' ; Full circle: Reverse ethnography in 'Petit à Petit' ; Rouch in the rearview -- Missed Connection: Paris in Chris Marker's 'Le joli mai' and 'La jetée'. Marker's Parisian Pair" ; 'Le joli mai' ; The French reception of 'Le joli mai' ; 'La jetée' ; Missed connection: The Orly Airport ; Grounded in Paris -- Seeing Double: Algeria and France in Alain Resnais's 'Muriel'. Resnais's world and the making of 'Muriel' ; The French soldier and the Algerian War ; French soldiers and amateur filmmaking in Algeria ; Hidden violence in Boulogne ; Bernard's contagious gaze ; Two films, one ending ; An unflattering image -- Conclusion. The ethnographic optic and the turn toward the collective in May 1968 ; The resonance of the ethnographic optic: Beyond French cinema and beyond France ; Expanding the ethnographic optic -- Glossary.
Summary:
"'The Ethnographic Optic' in 1960s French Cinema traces the surprising role of ethnography in French cinema and studies its place in New Wave fictions and cinéma vérité documentaries while the French colonial empire fell apart. Author Laure Astourian argues that amid a shrinking empire, the enthusiasm of prominent French filmmakers Jean Rouch, Chris Marker, and Alain Resnais to produce ethnographic analysis of their own society reflects their growing awareness that France's identity was unraveling. In response, they internalized what their similarly white, urban, bourgeois predecessors had long turned outwards against the colonies. Including some of the most canonical and best-loved films of the French tradition, like Breathless and La Jetée, this is an essential book for readers interested in national identity and cinema"-- Provided by publisher.
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