Historical Dictionary of French Cinema

WOMEN

Women: translation

Although women have been involved in French cinema from the beginning, they have, as in the case of other national film industries, had a great deal more difficulty than their male counterparts in establishing themselves, whether as directors, actors, screenwriters, or cinematographers or in any number of roles. The first director of a narrative film in France wasAlice Guy. Her filmLa Fée aux choux(1896) was made forGaumont, although for nearly a century,Georges Mélièswas credited with having made the first narrative film. Guy went on to become head of production at Gaumont for a number of years, training all of the early directors at the studio and directing several hundred films. Yet she was virtually forgotten about. Her films were attributed to various other directors in many cases, andLéon Gaumontmade no mention of Guy in his memoirs. In many ways, Guy is emblematic of the status of women in cinema. Their contributions have often been greater than the reputation afforded them.
Apart from Guy, there were a number of other women who made a significant contribution to cinema during the silent era. The great stage actressSarah Bernhardtappeared in several early films, lending her tremendous artistic weight to a fledgling medium. Likewise, the stage performerMistinguettappeared in film, bringing audiences to the cinema because of her enormous popular appeal. Early film stars such asStacia Napierkowska,Renée Carl, andMusidorabuilt audiences for the cinema by creating large followings interested in their work. Carl and Musidora also worked behind the camera, both directing films. Musidora also contributed as a screenwriter.Germaine Dulacwas one of the first avant-garde directors, helping to cultivate impressionist cinema, and focusing her own films squarely on the lives of women.Her filmLa Souriante Madame Beudet(1922) interrogated gender roles at a remarkably early moment in film history. This is a theme later women directors would revisit. Dulac was also the first director to make a film based on a work byLouis Delluc. Her filmLa Fête espagnole(1920) preceded Delluc's entry into the cinema, and yet he has an award named for him and she does not.
In the early sound era, women's contribution in film was almost entirely in front of the camera. The so-called golden age of film was marked by the presence of numerous talented actresses, includingArletty,Edwige Feuillière,Michèle Morgan,Danielle Darrieux, andFrançoise Rosay. Their presence onscreen was crucial to French cinema's success, both domestically and internationally, and yet not one of these actresses has come to hold the iconic status of someone likeJean Gabin, despite the fact that several of them had film careers longer than his.
Women did not often find themselves behind the camera during this period. One notable exception isMarie Epstein, the sister of impressionist directorJean Epstein. She codirected a number of films withJean-Benoît Lévystarting in the 1920s and continuing into the 1930s. Another female director from the period isJacqueline Audry, who got her start as a screenwriter working with directors such asRené Clément. She made her first film,Les Malheurs de Sophie, in 1946 and went on to make nearly twenty other films.
The 1950s and 1960s were also periods during which women appeared with regularity on the screen. This period gave the world such starlets asBrigitte BardotandMartine Carol, more known for their physical presence than their acting abilities. It also introduced audiences to actresses suchCatherine DeneuveandJeanne Moreau. Moreau is one of the iconic actresses of French stage and cinema, and Deneuve went on to become one of the most recognized and respected actresses in the world.Agnès Vardabegan her career behind the camera in the 1950s. She is regarded as one of the most talented woman directors in the world. Varda made her first film,La Pointe-courte, in 1956 and she has directed nearly forty films since. Not simply a woman director, Varda puts women at the center of her films, and it is perhaps due to her influence that the 1970s produced a number of other women directors. Varda was not the only influential woman to make films during the period.Marguerite Durasbegan her film career working with the male directors of theNouvelle Vagueor New Wave. An accomplished novelist, Duras came to cinema by writing the screenplay forAlain Resnais'sHiroshima mon amour(1959). She wrote numerous other screenplays as well, and in 1967, she began directing.
As noted, the 1970s marked a veritable revolution in women's filmmaking. Directors such asDiane KurysandClaire Denisbegan their careers in that decade. They inspired yet another generation of woman filmmakers in the 1980s and 1990s, includingAnne FontaineandTonie Marshall. In front of the camera, the actresses of the period were increasingly valued for dramatic ability and less for their physical appearances, a fact that also suggests something of a revolution in film. Deneuve continued to be a force, and the actressMiou Mioucame into her own. Other talented actresses appearing onscreen includedSandrine Bonnaire,Fanny Ardant,Juliette Binoche,Isabel Adjani, andIsabelle Huppert. The present day is one in which increasing numbers of women have prominence in front of and behind the camera. They sit on film juries, teach at film schools, and encourage future generations of women to follow in their footsteps.
Beyond the direct contribution of women, French cinema is interesting for its representation of women onscreen. Very early on, it became evident that women constituted a significant share of the market for film. Filmmakers therefore tried to appeal to that audience, which perhaps explains the diversity of the representations of women that exist in French films. Even in the silent era, there are all sorts of women onscreen. Films such as Pathé'sDix Femmes pour un mari(1905), featured women as aggressive husband hunters.L'Honneur d'un père(1905) featured women as cold, unfeeling, and cruel.Louis Feuillade'sLes Vampires(1915) presented women in the roles of victim and femme fatale. In contrast, films featuring Bernhardt depicted powerful women, and films featuringStacia Napierkowskadepicted exotic women.
Many of these types of roles held into the 1930s and 1940s. Certainly there were femme fatales such as Mireille Balin's Gaby inJulien Duvivier'sPépé le Moko(1937) or Arletty's Clara inMarcel Carné'sLe Jour se lève(1939). There were also femme fatales who turned out to be not so fatal, as inGinetteLeclerc's Denise inHenri-Georges Clouzot's classic film,Le Corbeau(1943). This period also offered melodramas and romantic comedies with women in roles ranging from matron to young lover. The most interesting variations to these types of roles began to appear in films by women.Jacqueline Audry'sGigi(1948) in particular was a sort of deconstruction of women's roles in society, and several of Audry's other films would also offer diversity in the presentation of woman onscreen.
In the 1950s and 1960s, yet another incarnation of the screen woman appeared, the bombshell represented best by Bardot and Carol. In addition to foregrounding the woman's body, the cinema also began to explore women's sexuality (although it was still predominantly through male fantasy). Such films asMax Ophuls'sLola Montés(1955) orRoger Vadim'sEt Dieu. . .créa la femme(1956) are obvious examples. In this period, Varda's filmmaking began to expand the possibilities for depicting women onscreen.Cléo de 5 à 7(1961) offered a more psychologically complex portrait of women (or at least one woman), and Varda would continue pushing boundaries in her exploration of other women, including herself. Even the seemingly macho directors of theNouvelle Vagueor New Wave offered fairly complex meditations on woman's existence.Jean-Luc Godard, in particular, created some very vivid and dynamic female characters in such films asVivre sa vie(1962).
As more women have come into the film industry, particularly from the 1970s onward, the representation of women onscreen has been increasingly complex and interesting.Diane Kurysexplored the ties that connect women inCoup de foudre(1983).Claire DenisandColine Serreauhave both examined various facets of woman-hood in the contemporary world, questioning the construction of manhood in the same gesture. Brigitte Rouan has also focused on women in films such asOutremer(1990) andPost coïtum(1997). Her particular emphasis is on the psychology of women's everyday lives. Even the women created by men have become more realistic and more diverse. DirectorClaude Chabrol, for example, has produced screen women as diverse as Emma Bovary inMadame Bovary(1991) and Catherine and Sophie ofLa Cérémonie(1995). While femme fatales and bombshells still do make their way to the silver screen, they find themselves increasingly in the company of much more complex female characters. This is true in films by both male and female directors. However, it is quite clear that if contemporary male directors do produce some complex portraits of women, it is without question the growing influence of women in the filmmaking industry that has encouraged these more serious explorations of woman onscreen.

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  15. women—[wmn]женщинабабаженоподобный мужчина бабаженщины женский полженственность женское началослужанка уборщицакамеристка фрейлинаженаподружка любовницаоборотная сторона монеты...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  16. women—n женщины...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  17. women—сущ. мн. от woman...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  18. women—сущ.u мн.ч.u от woman...Англо-русский словарь по социологии
  19. women—сущ.em мн.ч.em от woman...Англо-русский социологический словарь
  20. women—n вдem woman...Англо-украинский словарь
  21. women—жнки womens inequality in employment дискримнаця нервноправнсть жнок пд час прийому на роботу womens rights in the political sphere права жнок у полтичнй сфер womenhat...Англо-украинский юридический словарь
  22. women—жнки...Англо-український словник
  23. women—pl вд woman....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  24. women—жнки womens inequality in employment дискримнаця нервноправнсть жнок пд час прийому на роботу womens rights in the political sphere права жнок у полтичнй сфер womenhate...Англо-український юридичний словник
  25. women—[wmn] pl от woman...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  26. women—women [wmn] pl от womani...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  27. women—wmn pl от womanem...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна