Empresses in the Palace is regarded as an exotic product of Hollywood. In 2007, the American-style French biopic la vie en rose was a great success, which opened a new chapter in history. The story of a little girl born in a workers' block who became the greatest singer in postwar France not only won the box office but also made the French actress Maria? Gloria won the Oscar for Best Actress. As a result, the word "biography" originally in English began to become a regular vocabulary in French dictionaries.
After la vie en rose, French biographical films flourished, such as No Weapons, Hatred and Violence (2008), Public Enemy Number One (2009), Wolf of Carlos (20 10) and Conquest (20/kloc-0). Croft of Francois (20 12), etc.
Just as political thriller is a transnational genre, European films undoubtedly played an important role in its development, as did legacy films, but it was born against the background of European crisis at the end of the 20th century. Therefore, there are different views on French biographical films: one is that it is a new type produced in the French context, and the other is that it is an imported type (from Hollywood).
Just as political thrillers can easily be classified as broader thrillers or political films, biographies can easily be classified as historical films and costume films. For example, the French media almost never label Rodin's Lover as a biography. American scholar Raphael? Meng Wan doesn't think that contemporary French biographies are copies of the Hollywood model, but attributed them to the decline of French heritage films in the 2 1 century and the cultural transformation of French society.
For example, he took Wolf Clan (200 1) and Decoding Face (200 1) as examples, and thought that these two films "borrowed from Hollywood's commercial operation and aesthetic elements and successfully competed with them. At the same time, by paying tribute to the French film heritage and popular culture, the characteristics of French films have been preserved. "
These "American-style" French films, like "American-style" French biographies, all reflect the inherent identity confusion of French historical films: "Lost on the road of inheritance and fragmentation, imitation and singleness." Traditional movies are nostalgia for the past. Investing in the past is also a way to "commemorate spiritual wealth" and cultivate a new generation of movie-watching groups. At the same time, it is also a confrontation against the invasion of American cultural imperialism and a new benchmark of French culture.
The same is true of British movies. Heritage films usually have characters in classic literature or real historical figures. For example, La Reine Margot (1994) portrayed the heroine as a slut of a degenerate aristocratic family, but did not restore the real Margaret in history. Moliere in Moliere's Love History became a character in his own comedy. The fable role in La Fontaine's Challenge is La Fontaine's mistress.
Contemporary biographies often choose figures from the 20th century, perhaps to escape from the present and recall the past in times of crisis. Because both heritage films and biographies interpret the past with present values, the boundary between them is often blurred. In view of this background, French biographical films have had an intermittent history without being labeled as genre films, which also reflects the changes in aesthetics, ideology and cultural themes.
Biographies in1930s tend to praise or even deify great men, such as Musician, Biography of Beethoven (1937), Great Man and Pasteur (1935). Biography after World War II still focuses on beautifying the protagonist and paying tribute to great men. For example, Mr Vincent (1947) has created a heroic and positive male role model, which is helpful for the reconstruction of patriarchal authority after the war. At the same time, a number of female biographies appeared, including the beautiful goddess of the Renaissance (1953) and the beautiful otero (1954).
/kloc-after Mitterrand was elected president of France in the 1980 s, France lost confidence in "grand narrative" and biographies gave up beautifying heroes and nationalism, such as Francois? Adele of Truffaut? Hugo's story (1975), Allen? Stavisky of Renai (1974) is experimental in dealing with history with new words.
1In the late 1990s, French "heritage novels" rose, Isabel? Agani teamed up with Depardieu's Rodin's Lover (1988) to become the most famous biographical film, while Luc? Besson's Joan of Arc (1999) is also very successful, and the peak is olivier? La vie en rose, Aang.
Hollywood biopic began with the theme change in 1950 s, and was released in France in 2 1 century. Biographies are no longer heroes or great men or elites, but tend to be stars/celebrities. On the one hand, celebrity culture, which originated in the United States, has only recently developed in France, so this new phenomenon is also regarded as a sign of the gradual Americanization of French society.
For example, in Public Enemy One, when Merlin saw the news report about himself for the first time, he excitedly shouted "The drama is on" and later declared himself a "star". This is related to the criminal who was inspired by the taxi driver to assassinate the president, the legendary rock band Beatles lead singer John? Lennon's criminals have the same psychological logic: "I'm famous!" "
At the same time, a number of biographical films of stars and celebrities appeared in Hollywood in the 2 1 century. Instead of focusing on the overlooking and epic narration of life, they intercepted an event and showed the true human nature in a tiny way. For example, Capote (2005) focuses on the process of writer Capote's cold-blooded writing and depicts his complex inner world: passion for fame and fortune, compassion, sensitivity and cruelty.
Me and Orson. Wells (2008) chose this great film director to direct Shakespeare's stage play Julius? Caesar, interaction with an unknown young actor; My Week with Monroe (20 1 1) intercepted Monroe's friendship with an ordinary British youth when filming The Prince and the Dancer. What we see is not the shining stars, but the fragility and anxiety that people have not shown.
Hemingway and Gellhorn (20 12) shows the emotional entanglement between Hemingway and his third wife. The focus is not on the great writer, but on the woman behind him. The first lady (20 16) revealed for the first time Jacqueline's sad and complicated mental journey after Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
Nowadays, under the influence of the United States, France has entered the era of stars, and has begun to invest in some French celebrities who are internationally renowned, and to tap celebrity resources that can export their own cultural advantages in the era of globalization, such as a series of movies about fashion legend Chanel, fashion pioneer Chanel (2009) and Chanel's Secret Love History (2009).
And the biography of Yves Saint Laurent (2065438+05); Lovers of Plant Cafe by philosophers Sartre and Beauvoir (2006); Moliere's Love History (2007) and Sagan (2008) about writers; Legends about robbers and gangs by Public Enemy No.1 (2009) and Prophet (20 1 1); Besides, what about Eve? Mondang and Romy? Schneider, grace. Biography projects of Kelly and other superstars.
In Whose Life: A Biography as a Contemporary Film Type (Rutgers University Press, 20 10), Dennis? Bingham conducted a peer-to-peer study of male/female biographies and found that female biographies often emphasize "the conflict and tragedy of a successful woman" more than "movies about those great men".
No matter what her occupation is, the theme of victims is more than survivors (having a lasting career or a non-traumatic personal life), emphasizing that women's professional achievements are accompanied by the loss of assumed priorities (family, marriage, motherhood), and famous women are always played by more attractive and younger actresses.
This model can be found in contemporary French biographies, that is, the dramatic Hollywood model depicts modern women who pursue independence, but their pursuit of ideals is accompanied by various hardships. In order to realize their dreams, excellent women have to pay more than men and bear more mental and physical pain and suffering.
For example, in la vie en rose, Piaf's premature aging caused by alcoholism and drug abuse has always been a main narrative line. The film constantly switches between her live singing and the tragedy of life: abandoned by her parents as a baby, pregnant and aborted as a teenager; Knowing the news of her lover's death, she happened to find "Ode to Love" playing in the background music in the corridor of her apartment. Standing at the door, she suddenly came on stage through the curtain and sang "Ode to Love" in front of the theater audience.
In "Fashion Pioneer Chanel", Coco became Chanel only after her lover Boyi died unexpectedly. In order to forget the pain, she devoted herself to the fashion world and eventually became a legend. This new "drama mode" once again carries forward the traditional double standards of artistic creation. The motivation of men's creation is from personal talent, while women are from the baptism of love and death.
Public Enemy Number One is positioned as an American gangster film and pays tribute to Hollywood classic movies many times. Palma's impartial (1987), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), and Martin? Scorsese's Angry Bull (1980) and Good Guy (1990).
At the same time, the film combines American action drama and French dialogue, and the dialogue tends to be black.1France in the 1950s, Merlin kept repeating his gang creed: "The person I choose will never sail against the current." When arrested by the police, Brusad said to Merlin, "The police never worry too much. They just do what they say. " Merlin replied, "There will be no women and champagne next time, just you and me."