Cinema
The Smiling Madame Beudet
La Souriante Madame Beudet
Germaine Dulac · 1923
Synopsis
In a small provincial town, Madame Beudet, a sensitive woman who loves music and reading, is stifled by a brutal, narrow-minded husband. She escapes through daydreaming, which fills her dreary existence with visions. Her husband has a habit: when he is annoyed, he pretends to shoot himself in the head with a revolver that he knows is empty. One evening when he has gone to the theatre, she slips a bullet into the weapon.
Context
The film adapts a play by Denys Amiel and André Obey first staged in 1921; Germaine Dermoz and Alexandre Arquillière play the husband and wife. Dulac conveys her heroine's inner life through superimpositions, play of light and visions, rather than recounting it. Produced by Charles Delac and Marcel Vandal's Film d'Art, it runs a little over half an hour. It is often regarded as one of the first truly feminist films.
Who it is for
A silent short film; what goes on in the heroine's mind mingles with the real scenes, so it calls for close attention.
Prizes and reception
The director's best-known film; it features in the box set Early Women Filmmakers published by Flicker Alley.
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