The
“cinéma du look” is described
by David A Cook as “ youth oriented films with high production values and a
flashy visual style (“le look”) that often involved inter-textual allusion,
especially to the mis-en-scène of French poetic realism (1934-40), and imagery
borrowed from contemporary popular media.
These films often feature eclectic soundtracks that were a pastiche of
classical and popular music. Cinéma du look was inaugurated by Jean-Jacques Beineix
(b.1946) with the frenetic film noir Diva (1981). (Cook 2004:
473).” The key ‘femme fatale’ character
in Diva, a black American opera singer named Cynthia Hawkins, serves as
a nucleus of art, beauty and obsession within the Parisian set narrative, which
Milne describes as a “Marvellous amalgam of sadistic thriller and fairytale
romance, drawing on a wild diversity of genres from film noir to feuillade
serial (Milne 2008:276).” Twenty years
on, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie (2001), set in a fantastically
dissimilar Paris to that of Diva, follows the fortunes of the introvert,
waiflike Amélie Poulain and her attempts to enrich the lives of those around
her. Hammond explains that “Jeunet
brings the same mastery of detailed, allusive mis-en-scène, set design and colour composition to this love
poem to la vie Parisienne. Central to
Jeunet’s vision is the anchoring performance of Tautou, through whose innocent
eyes this carnival of earthly pleasures, places and people is seen (Hammond
2004: 27).” We will investigate
further the roles of the two female leads in terms of their function as a site
of spectacle and visual pleasure within the texts.
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| The divine diva performs, immersed in a world of blue, a colour scheme that will run throughout the film. |
The opening scene of Diva is
instrumental to the construction of the spectacle that is Cynthia Hawkins. Beineix readies us for her appearance by
giving us a glimpse of the world she inhabits.
His use of low angle camera presents the grandiose yet decaying
auditorium as an awesomely overpowering stage, placing us within the world of
opera before she has even sung a note.
As Axmaker explains “The opening concert is set not in a grand opera hall
but a dilapidated theatre with crumbling walls and an open stage. "This
was an opera crime film so we started with symbolic images of the opera, but in
fact we're not at the opera," explains Beiniex. It's like a cross between
an ancient amphitheater and a gutted relic of a concert hall, a kind of
junk-chic (Axmaker 2009 - online text).”
Indeed, this ‘junk-chic’ seems to exaggerate the spectacle and visual
pleasure of the Diva herself.
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| Cynthia's world and influence extends far beyond the empty shell of the opera house. It permeates through every scene and location within 'Diva'. |
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| As a child, Amelie's dreamlike imagination creates an ethereal world that extends into adulthood. |
Incongruously, the introduction of
Amélie Poulain is far more tongue in
cheek. Jeunet presents us with images of
his female lead as a feisty sperm, followed by a speedily temporal sequence of
events running through her early life, evoking nostalgia and an essence of
innocence that will remain throughout the film. Hammond explains that “in the
hectic comic overture of this sweet-hearted nostalgia fest, director Jeunet
offers a colour saturated compendium of her likes and dislikes that leaves you
breathless, amazed and laughing (Hammond 2004: 27).” Unlike Diva, we are placed within a
world where the mechanisms of routine banality are displayed with a child-like
enthusiasm. When we are eventually introduced
to the adult (yet still child-like) Amélie, played perfectly by Audrey Tautou,
the camera zooms from long shot into a close-up of her face, addressing the
camera directly, a camera technique repeated throughout the film and as Beineix
has done in Diva, Jeunet seems to have committed an individualistic style of
camerawork to the character of
Amélie.
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| The long zoom ends with a direct to camera stare as the adult Amelie is introduced, initiating a unique relationship with the audience |
Indeed, this technique draws us involuntarily into
the mindset of Amélie, placing us deep
within her majestic and animated world, ensuring our vision of the narrative is
seen through her curious eyes, while outwardly her unquestionable natural
beauty is played down by her dowdy, none-to-glitzy attire, and further
underplayed by her stooped, reclusive shuffling movements as she ambles through
the seamlessly constructed streets of a fantastical Paris. As Mitchell explains “She (Amélie) has the
innocent vitality of a silent-film star; with her helmet of gorgeous brunet
hair, she is posed to suggest Louise Brooks from some angles. Mr. Jeunet
directs his protagonist so that even when she is a child (played by Flora
Guiet), each thought and impulse shines though her skin. (Ms. Tautou addresses
the camera as if she were looking each viewer right in the eye; she has the
cross-hairs focus of a movie star.)” (Mitchell 2001 - online text).
So powerful is the opening scene of
Diva that it stays with us throughout the film.
Axmaker explains that “Composer Vladimir Cosma creates an eclectic music
score, from lyric arias to techno-rock to new wave pop, and he brought in
Vietnamese musicians and Tibetan singers to add unusual and unexpected colours
to the score. But it's all anchored by the beautiful aria from La Wally
that opens and closes the film. The voice of Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez
rings out clear and strong and, like the blue hues that infuse the imagery,
casts an unusual audio backdrop to the crime thriller. (Axmaker 2009 - online
text).” In this context, the music and
colour scheme throughout the film serve to remind us of the spectacle of
Cynthia, even when she is not on screen.
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| Sets and props saturated in blue remind us of the omniprescence of the Diva, and our protagonist's infatuation with her. |
From the opening performance Beineix
takes us into the Diva’s dressing room, where a line of fans await autographs
and a meeting with their heroine in a fashion similar to that of a
pilgrimage. An extreme close-up of
Cynthia further highlights her beauty, with her red earrings matching the red
roses that lavish her dressing room.
Indeed, flowers serve to augment the spectacle of the Diva throughout
the film, most obviously when Jules brings a large bouquet to her hotel room,
which is already overflowing with petals and colour. As Cynthia signs light blue programmes with her picture on the
front she sits before an imposing light blue poster of herself, images which
will both be repeated during the movie.
She is told by a member of her entourage that “Darling you were very
moving. The princess insists on seeing you.”
The glistening diamond ring she wears as Beineix gives us a close-up of
her hands further heightens the sense of glamour that surrounds her character,
and Jules’ act of stealing her dress
foregrounds his infatuation with the Diva.
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| Washed away with blue |
Interestingly, Cynthia does not
reappear directly for another half an hour into the film, although owing to the
soundtrack, colour scheme and narrative, her character takes on a sense of
omnipresence throughout. The use of
blue, similar in colour to the dress she wore and which Jules has stolen, can
be seen literally everywhere; in every frame and on nearly every character. As the barefooted Nadia runs helplessly
through the train station she wears a light blue overcoat before she is stabbed in the back,
literally, which in itself is comparable to Jules’ metaphorical stabbing in the
back of Cynthia by surreptitiously recording her music; an act she later refers
to as rape. We see the headline “Who
stole the Diva’s dress” twice, we are transported though scenery drenched in
blue, from the drab walls of the police station, to Gorodish's aquatically inspired
apartment, to the blue painted sky of Jules’ garage walls as he is mesmerized
by the music he has recorded. Again,
Beineix frames him using the same tracking style with which he captures Cynthia
at the films opening, and repeats this technique as Gorodish lies in the bath
listening to her aria. Cleverly, through
camera movement, Beineix manipulates his audience into visualising the Diva.
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| Shades of blue throughout 'DIVA' |
All the police officers wear the
same colour light blue shirts, as do Jules and his colleagues, and the statue
of Beethoven which is discarded disdainfully by Le Cure also shares the same
colour scheme, relating directly to the garment worn by and stolen from the
Diva. The dress itself ensures Cynthia’s
presence is intact, with Jules wearing it as a scarf, draping it beneath the
poster he has of his heroine and on the mannequin at the prostitute’s
apartment, which itself is a miasma of blue.
Finally, when the prostitute steps into the dress, Jules‘ insatiable
adulation for the Diva is fully realised.
Axmaker explains that “Even the
sunlight glows through the windows of Gorodosh's loft in cerulean hues, thanks
to a layer of blue cellophane, an inexpensive alternative to more traditional,
and expensive, gels (set designer Hilton McConnico recalls that they were
purchased from a candy factory). (Axmaker 2009- online text).” Indeed, so glaringly intense is the blue
themed imagery that it appears the mendacious Jules is, at times, drowning in
guilt, an idea strengthened when Cynthia’s manager explains that the “offers
will come flooding in.”
Key to the success of Amélie is undoubtedly the central performance
of Tautou, which at times is a visual tour de force. Her face becomes a beacon of expression, a
fact not lost on the actress herself.
“One of the many unique facets of the film is watching Tautou's visual
expressiveness. With relatively minimal dialogue, the actress speaks with her
face. It's an intricate, delicate performance, but Tautou refuses to embark on
any analytical exercise. "To me, when I play a character, I try to feel
the same kinds of feelings as the character, depending on her different
situations. And so, those feelings come via my face (Femail.com - online
text)." Yet unlike Cynthia, we the audience are the only ones focusing on
Amélie as she goes about her mischievous schemes.
Even Nino, the man she loves, fails to fully perceive her until the film’s close, and the other characters, with the exception of Raymond Dufayel (who spies on her a la Rear Window (1941)), and Gina , seem to take her for granted, including her own father. Therefore, it is not surprising that Amélie’s mind wanders into a world of imagination and fantasy, and director Jeunet takes us along for the ride. As Ebert explains “The film is filled with great individual shots and ideas. One of the best comes when Amélie stands high on the terrace of Montmartre and wonders how many people in Paris are having orgasms at that exact instant, and we see them, 15 in all, in a quick montage of hilarious happiness (Ebert 2001 - online text). We know this sequence is in Amélie’s imagination, and realise that part of the spectacle that is Amélie Poulain is being on the inside looking out. Indeed, the highly stylised streets and undergrounds of Paris, created through CGI, painstaking removal of advertisements and graffiti, and a colour scheme saturated in green, yellow and red, which was inspired by the paintings of the Brazilian artist Juarez Machado, all serve to create a wonderful fairytale setting for the film that is clearly the mind, and therefore spectacle and visual pleasure, of Amélie Poulain.
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| Nino is unaware of the smitten Amelie behind him, allowing the audience a greater sense of power within the narrative |
Even Nino, the man she loves, fails to fully perceive her until the film’s close, and the other characters, with the exception of Raymond Dufayel (who spies on her a la Rear Window (1941)), and Gina , seem to take her for granted, including her own father. Therefore, it is not surprising that Amélie’s mind wanders into a world of imagination and fantasy, and director Jeunet takes us along for the ride. As Ebert explains “The film is filled with great individual shots and ideas. One of the best comes when Amélie stands high on the terrace of Montmartre and wonders how many people in Paris are having orgasms at that exact instant, and we see them, 15 in all, in a quick montage of hilarious happiness (Ebert 2001 - online text). We know this sequence is in Amélie’s imagination, and realise that part of the spectacle that is Amélie Poulain is being on the inside looking out. Indeed, the highly stylised streets and undergrounds of Paris, created through CGI, painstaking removal of advertisements and graffiti, and a colour scheme saturated in green, yellow and red, which was inspired by the paintings of the Brazilian artist Juarez Machado, all serve to create a wonderful fairytale setting for the film that is clearly the mind, and therefore spectacle and visual pleasure, of Amélie Poulain.
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| The film, and Amelie herself, begin to morph into a whole different universe..... |
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| ........ until the sybolism presents the broken hearted Amelie as a mere puddle on the floor. |
The nearest the character of Cynthia
comes to such capricious whimsy is when she and Jules walk the city streets and
sit in the park, swathed in beautifully realised monochrome blue; a picture
postcard Paris, where the delicate, sombre yet achingly poetic piano music
enhances an elegiac lyricism of a new day dawning, and birds taking to the
sky. On returning to the hotel room, as
Cynthia plays a few notes on the piano we realise the previous, nondiagetic
music has now become diagetic; as if the omnipresent Diva has exerted her
control over the film, and what we have just witnessed is an image of Paris,
and for that matter Jules, hypnotised under her spell.
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| Blue is very much the colour of Jules' world as he strolls besides the woman of his dreams and infatuation. |
We have looked
briefly at only a few of the countless facets that make both the characters of
Cynthia Hawkins and Amélie Poulain so memorable, visually compelling and
uniquely endearing. Clearly, in the
hands of directors Beineix and Jeunet,
the characters have been given unequivocal freedom to bloom, enthral and
mesmerise their audience. And although
both characters appear at times fantastical and almost otherworldly, at others
they seem incontrovertibly human and always empathetic.
Bibliography
Cook, David A. (2004), A History of Narrative Film, Forth Edition (New
York, London: Norton).
Articles in
collected Volumes
Milne, Tom (2008), ‘Diva’ , in Time Out Film Guide, Seventeenth
Edition, ed. John Pym (London: Ebury) pp. 276
Hammond, Wally (2008), ‘Amélie’ , in Time Out Film Guide, Seventeenth
Edition, ed. John Pym (London: Ebury) pp. 27
Electronic media
Ebert, Roger (1982) Diva in The Chicago Times, January 1st
1982 [online text]
Axmaker, Sean (2009) in Turner Classic Movies [online text]
Mitchell, Elvis (2001) ‘Little
Miss Sunshine as Urban Sprite’ in The New York Times, November 2nd
2001 [online text]
Donadoni, Serena (2001) ‘Amélie’ in The Cinema
Girl, [online text]
Femail.com 1997 - Audrey Tautou owes Success to her
'Amelie'
Ebert, Roger (2001) ‘Amélie’ in The Chicago Sun Times, November 9, 2001 [online text]
Filmography
Hitchcock, Alfred (1941), Rear
Window
Beineix, Jean-Jacques (1981), Diva
Jeunet, Jean Pierre (2001), Amélie
(Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain).
