FRENCH 201.51:

INTRODUCTION TO 20th CENTURY

FRENCH AND FRANCOPHONE

LITERATURE AND FILM

MODULE 25

Film

Zazie dans leMétro

Louis Malle

Table of contents

  • I. Acknowledgments
  • II. Introduction to Course and Module
  • III. Introduction to the Movie Zazie dans le Métro
  • IV. Before Watching the Movie
  • V. During and After the Viewing
  • VI. Useful Vocabulary for Writing about Film
  • VII. Required and Graded Activities
  • 1. Oral Discussion
  • 2. Composition
  • 3. Oral Presentation
  • 4. In House Exam

I. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This learning packet is designed to be used in French Individualized 201.51 and specifically to accompany Louis Malle’s Zazie dans le Métro.

Marylaura Papalas is the author of these materials.

Copyright by the OSUCollege of Humanities. This manual may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the permission of the authors and the College.

Created 2006

II. INTRODUCTION TO COURSE AND MODULE

Required film:

Malle, Louis. Zazie dans le Métro.DVD Arte France Développement, 2005.

Students are required to closely watch this film. You can either check out the DVD or

VHS from the II center and view it at home, or you may view it here in the center with

personal headphones. All checked-out material must be returned to the front desk within

48 hours.

Objectives:

1. to understand the social and historical context of the movie.

2. to gain a better understanding of the difference between formal French and the spoken colloquial French used in Malle’s film.

3. to improve aural proficiency and comprehension.

4. to be able to speak and write about this movie with thematic and technical vocabulary.

III. INTRODUCTION TO THE MOVIEZAZIE DANS LE MÉTRO

Please read the following paragraphs about Zazie dans le Métroand answer the questions that follow.

Pendant cette période, le cinéma français se tourne vers la tradition, vers la sûreté et une certaine qualité classique. «Le cinéma de papa,» comme le désigne François Truffaut, se caractérise par un budget cher, un complot (plot) important qui domine la narration, et une formalité artificielle.

Dans les années 50 et 60, plusieurs metteurs en scène (réalisateurs, cinéastes, cinématographes) (directors)commencent à se rebeller contre la notion de cinéma classique. Le groupe qu’on appelle maintenant La Nouvelle Vague redéfinit les paramètres du cinéma moderne. Plusieurs de ces réalisateurs associés avec le mouvementcommencent leurs carrières comme journalistes. Ils écrivent pour un journal de cinéma intitulé Cahiers du Cinéma qui propose des idées très innovatrices, notamment, La Théorie de l’Auteur: l’idée que le film en gros reflète la vision personnelle dumetteur en scène. En 1954, François Truffaut écrit un article dans Cahiers du Cinémaintitulé « Une Certaine Tendance du Cinéma Français»où il explique l’importance du cinéaste et son style personnel. Comme l’auteur d’un livre, le réalisateur d’un film a le pouvoir de créer son propre univers.

Bien que la Nouvelle Vague évite les adaptations littéraires pour des raisons d’originalité et de complot traditionnel, Louis Malle choisit le roman de Raymond Queneau pour en faire un film. Le film résultant n’est pas du tout traditionnel: thèmes d’ambiguïté sexuelle, allusions aux films muets, effets spéciaux de son, montage expérimental. Comme la plupart des films de la Nouvelle Vague, Malle tourne (films) de nombreux films dehors dans la rue, évitant l’artificialité de l’intérieur d’un studio et un budget élevé. La nouvelle technologie de la période offrait des caméras légères de 16mm et des magnétophones portables et leur permettaient de créer des scènes naturelles, de longues prises de vues (shots) continues et des changements de scène rapide. Les cinéastes de la Nouvelle Vague préféraient les villes comme Paris, et beaucoup d’entre eux (Louis Malle, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Goddard, Claude Chabrol et Jacques Rivette) ont peint un portrait de Paris qui nous montre la ville d’une façon réelle, quotidienne, et intime. Les thèmes de la vie en ville, de l’individu existant dans le monde moderne, et de l’absurdité de l’existence humaine reflètent les idées de l’Existentialisme, qui ont influencé la Nouvelle Vague.

Est-ce que vous avez jamais vu un film de la Nouvelle Vague? Est-ce que vous avez jamais vu ou visité Paris? Quelles sortes d’images avez-vous en tête de cette ville connue? A votre avis, est-ce que se sont les images que vous allez trouver dans le film de Louis Malle?

For more information about the film Zazie dans le Métro or The New Wave, you might want to check the following French and English language websites:

IV. BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM

The analytical techniques used to watch a movie are different than those used to read a novel or play. Please feel free to watch the movie as many times as you like. You may wish to view the movie in a casual way, and then view it more closely, or vice versa. Be sure that when you decide to do a close, analytical viewing, you are prepared to take notes during or afterwards. If you wish to view a copy of the original dialogue written out, French II has the transcript to the movie available behind the main front desk. Please ask the receptionist for the “check out materials binder,” fill it out appropriately, and be sure to return the materials the following day. The subsequent questions are helpful to prepare you for viewing Malle’s film:

1)What images of Paris does the film show? Pay particular attention to the outdoor scenes in the city.

2)The dialogue in the film is often directly taken from the novel. Take advantage of being able to hear Queneau’s language applied.

3)In order to see a list of characters and the actors interpreting each role, please access the International Movie Data Base page (the first link in the previous section).

4) Pay attention to the special effects that Malle uses: increasing the speed,

experimenting with sound and voice over

V. DURING AND AFTER THE VIEWING

Before viewing Malle’s film, pay attention to the following themes and take notes during or after the viewing (the chapters referred to are the arbitrary chapters recorded on the French II DVD) :

1)Pay attention to the first few scenes and how Malle increases the speed of the action. How do the changes in speed, particularly the fast-motion, affect the overall mood of the film? Make a list of all the scenes in the movie that display a change of speed and compare the moods and themes of each scene. Can you describe any other special effects that Malle uses in his film? (hint: pay attention to sound as well)

2)During the scene following the initial train station scene, when Charles, Gabriel, and Zazie are driving back to Gabriel’s place, what do Charles and Gabriel talk about? Do Charles (the driver) and Gabriel (Zazie’s uncle) know the major landmarks of Paris? Is their knowledge of these landmarks important? Which Parisian landmarks are clearly defined or indicated in the film?

3)Pay attention to Zazie’s encounter with Pedro. How does Zazie interact with Pedro? Who seems to be in control of the situation? What does Zazie want out of Pedro, and does she get it?

4)Which scenes are repeated? (hint: first train scene and the last train scene, there are several angry crowd or mob scenes, etc.) Make a list of all the scenes that are repeated or that seem to have some sort of parallel structure with another scene in the movie.

5)Why do Charles and then Gabriel, during the EiffelTower scene, become frustrated with Zazie?

6)La Sainte Chapelle is the destination of the Cityrama Bus, but the bus actually goes to a completely different church, the church Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, and no one seems to notice. What does this mean about the importance of tourist sites? Do the tourists truly care about what they are seeing.

7)Mado Ptit-pieds and Charles’ wedding dinner scene, towards the end of the movie (chapters 14 & 15), is perhaps the scene that most differs from the novel. It begins calmly but deteriorates into a classic slapstick fight scene (this scene is perhaps the scene that most differs from the novel). This style is also called anarchic comedy, which connotes a satire of some form of authority. What forms of authority are being made fun of? Notice how the walls of the bistro fall away and become the walls of Turandot’s bar, which then fall away and become the set of the movie. Malle is reminding the viewer that he/she is watching a movie. What kind of effect does this reference to the film itself have on the viewer?

8)Chose one scene, it can be your favorite scene, and write a detailed description of the action that unfolds. Also take notes on the dialogue, the mise-en-scene, the physical appearance of the characters, the lighting, the special effects,and any themes that develop. How does this scene connect with the rest of the movie? Is it representative of the movie as a whole or is it different. Is the scene symbolic of any ideas that are presented in the movie?

9)Do you think this film is a typical New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) film? Why are why not? Keeping in mind Auteur Theory, describe Louis Malle’s personal vision for this film. What kind of a universe does he create? What techniques mark this film as original and unique?

VI. USEFUL VOCABULARY FOR WRITING ABOUT FILM

For extra help on writing about film, you may want to check this web site:

accéléréfast or accelerated motion

le cadrethe frame/the screen

cinéma véritécinema verite (a way of filming real-life scenes

without elaborate equipment, playing down the

technical means of production and emphasizing the

“reality” of the screen world

l’éclairagelighting

effets speciauxspecial effects

La mise-en-scènemise-en-scene (the arrangement of elements –set,

characters, lighting- within the frame of a single

shot)

le panoramiquepan shot (refers to the horizontal scan, movement,

rotation or turning of the camera in one direction, to

the right or left, around a fixed axis while filming)

Le personnagecharacter

le planshot

le plan moyenmedium shot (shot filmed from a medium distance)

Le plan serréclose up (face or object fills the frame)

le plan generallong shot (shot taken at a distance from the subject)

Le protagonistethe protagonist (the main character or hero)

Ralentislow or decelerated motion

VII. GRADED ACTIVITIES

In this module, you are asked to read the introduction to the Zazie dans le Métro found in Section II. You are to be familiar with the poems and their authors listed in Section III. You will be graded on the following 4 activities.

1. Discussion Orale (1 appointment): Read the Introduction to the Movie Zazie in Section III of this Learning Packet,view the movie, respond to the questions in this learning packet and be prepared to discuss IN FRENCH what you have learned with your instructor. You should speak about any aspect of the film that interests you. You are free to discuss specific scenes, themes, the director, you can compare this movie with another French movie you have seen, etc. You will be expected to use the entire 15 minuets of the appointment for discussion in French. It is your responsibility to keep the conversation going!

2. Composition (3 appointments, 2 of them must be back-to-back):

a) You will choose one topic from the list of composition topics provided below.

1) Choisissez deux scènes et comparez les. D’abord, indiquez clairement quelles scènes vous avez choisies et expliquez pourquoi vous les avez choisies pour en faire une comparaison. N’oubliez pas de parler de la fonction des personnages, du dialogue, des effets spéciaux, du symbolisme et d’autres aspects des deux scènes qui contribuent à leur signification dans le film.

2) Choisissez une scène et faîtes une analyse détaillée. Indiquez

clairement quelle scène vous avez choisi et expliquez pourquoi vous

l’avez choisie. Expliquez pourquoi la scène est importante et quelle est sa signification dans le film. Décrivez l’action, les personnages, le dialogue la mise-en-scène, les effets spéciaux, l’éclairage, les plans, le style du directeur, etc.

3) Comment le thème de la grève se développe-t-il le long du film? Quelles scènes (de la scène de la Tour Eiffel, à la scène d’embouteillage) font référence à la grève du métro?

4) Comment le film reflète-il la culture française? Combien de références à la culture française pouvez-vous trouver? Quels aspects du film le révèlentcomme film français?

5) Décrivez le personnage de Zazie. Choisissez des scènes qui illustrent ses qualités. Commentest-ce que Malle la montre à travers la caméra? Comment sont les interactions de Zazie avec les autres personnages?

b) Develop a 250-word typewritten and double-spaced composition to be presented to an instructor in the I.I. center. Make two consecutive appointments to discuss the draft of your composition and have it graded by an instructor.

c) You will take the corrected draft home and rework it, integrating the instructor’s corrections and suggestions, and you will schedule one more appointment for the grading of the final draft of your composition.

d) For your "final version" appointment you must have both versions 1 and 2 with

you. You must earn eighty percent (80%) or better for each composition. (For hints on writing a composition, see the link on the Learning Packets page entitled General Guidelines)

3. PrésentationOrale (1 appointment): Chose one of the topics from the previous section, but it cannot be the topic you chose for your written composition. You will want to plan out your response by first writing an outline and organizing your thoughts and the quotes/excerpts you may use to support your ideas. You may record notes on a 3 X 5 index card and refer to the card as you are presenting. Keep in mind that you will not be allowed to read your presentation directly from your note card. Before this appointment takes place, you may want to meet with an instructor to ask about pronunciation, elocution, and any other issue that may arise during the presentation. If there is time after the presentation, the instructor will ask you questions about your topic.

4. L’Examen (1 appointment):

a)Preparation for this exam involves reading this entire Learning Packet, being familiar with the material in it, and thoroughly answering all the questions. You will also want to be very familiar with the film, the characters, the themes, the scenes, etc.

b)The final component of this module consists of a written test. The entire test is in French, and you will be writing only in French. The first section consists of five statements which you must identify as true or false. These statements are based on section III of this Learning Packet. The second section consists of three short answer questions whose response must be at least three sentences long. The third section is another short answer section whose answers must be five sentences long. Both of the short answer questions are based on information provided in the movie. The last section is an excerpt of dialogue from the movie which you will have to analyze. The response must be 75 words long.

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