Film-Philosophy
Journal | Salon | Portal (ISSN 1466-4615)
Vol. 6 No. 26, September 2002
Julie Papaioannou
Intersecting Identities
Lieve Spaas _The Francophone Film: A
Struggle for Identity_ Manchester and New York:
Manchester
University Press/St
Martins Press, 2000 ISBN
0-7190-5861-9 xiii + 290 pp. Lieve Spaas's original
study, _The Francophone Film: A Struggle for Identity_,
introduces the reader to issues of identity formation in the
French-speaking countries other than France by bringing
together directors and films within the context of a common
linguistic heritage, as the terms Francophone and
Francophonia denote. Spaas's work attempts to break new
ground in Francophone film study, as it is the first work
that comparatively addresses the social, political,
individual, and collective realities of a historically
differentiated French-speaking world. The focus of the book
is the context of a common Francophonia that connects
linguistically, geographically in cases, but first and
foremost historically, the countries under study with
France. In Spaas's own words, the book 'studies those
countries of Francophonia that have had a sustained contact
with France and, in the case of former colonies, that were
French at the moment of independence' (x). Spaas also
clearly explains Francophonia in relation to the
organization of ACCT ('Agence de la Cooperation Culturelle
et Technique', created in 1973, which in 1993 became 'Agence
de la Francophonie', preserving nevertheless the acronym),
and this association works well on the informative
level. The book is divided into
three parts, each representing Francophone film production
in three different continents: Europe, North America and the
Caribbean, and Africa. Every section is further divided by
countries of interest, drawing attention to specific
historical and socio-political issues that have affected
each particular case of Francophone film production. The
book almost exclusively covers films from the second half of
the 20th century (except the discussion of the Belgian
filmmakers Charles Dekeukeire and Henri Storck that goes as
far back as the 1920s). In the light of a given
socio-historical and cultural background for every
Francophone country, always in dialogue with France, the
study narrows its focus to a number of filmmakers whose
individual work most satisfactorily represents the struggle
for identity. Thus the structure of the book functions on
two important levels: each continental section has its own
breath of life while it simultaneously connects with the
experience of other Francophone cinemas through the bond of
identity formation. This intersection of Francophone
experiences serves Spaas to cautiously and consciously
transcend categories of 'race, gender, genre, period or
nation' (x) in addressing a wide range of films. In the
Preface to the book, Spaas acknowledges the diversity of her
chosen subject, in terms of both social and filmic
experience, and makes clear that her comparative study takes
into account 'distinctions of ethnicity, territoriality,
religion and citizenship' (x). Given this clarification,
however, the explanation about the critical paradigm of this
study is rather elusive. According to Spaas: 'the emphasis here is on the
intersections between memory and history, narrative
representation and social reality, with the intention of
scrutinizing the relationship between individual, social and
political issues and colonial, postcolonial and neo-colonial
problems manifest in Francophone cinema' (x). The objective of the project
is thus to draw attention to the *intersections* of the
above questions, and the method used is that of a 'mapping
expedition' (x). Indeed, the very structure of the book
plays out this method, one that assists in treating
questions both of the particular (individual filmmakers, and
significant films), and the universal (discussions about
film production within state borders, regions, and
continents). By emphasizing specific countries and
filmmakers, and by analyzing a significantly important body
of films, Spaas examines continental, regional, and state
issues of identity formation. Though adeptly developed in
each individual section of the book, the method of a
'mapping expedition' creates a sort of tension in bringing
its three separate sections of distinct Francophone
experiences to work together as an organic whole under the
rather generic term of Francophonia. This tension becomes
clearly evident in the Introduction: 'Francophonia and
Identity'. The first half of which is devoted to the
Frenchness of Quebec and the nationalistic nature of the
dialogue between Quebec and the *motherland* France; the
second half brings up the question of the Frenchness of the
former colonies, approaching it through a brief discussion
of colonization and neo-colonial tactics in
post-independence. European Francophonia, such as the
cinemas of Belgium and Switzerland that are treated in the
first part of the book, is not mentioned in the
Introduction, leaving the reader rather puzzled as to the
purpose of this omission. Is it the centrality of the former
position of Belgium as a colonial ruler -- a position that
latently equates this country with the historical position
of France as a former colonizer -- that disallows Belgium's
lining up with the formerly colonized and marginalized
Francophone regions, as for instance with the Democratic
Republic of the Congo; or is it Belgium's own internal
crisis of linguistic and national identity that, along with
Switzerland's neutrality, disqualify these countries from
the introductory discussion of Francophonia as a repository
of Frenchness in terms of language and culture? It is
strikingly remarkable, nevertheless, that the implications
of colonization, assimilation policies, and the
dissemination of French language and culture, as discussed
in the study, highlight rather than blur historical
preoccupations within the all-inclusive character of the
Francophone family. Spaas's 'intersections'
challenge the universality of the term Francophone,
emphasizing difference and distinct relationships in
cinematic experiences. On these grounds, however, Spaas
repeatedly makes use of the term 'postcolonial' in an
ambivalent manner. While the use of the term postcolonial is
often linked with the terms colonial and neo-colonial to
indicate a chronological order, its use in the case of
Belgium as 'part of the postcolonial world' (8) begged an
elucidation. Returning to my previous point, if Belgium
historically equates France on the level of former colonial
powers, could the term postcolonial be used in relation to
France, and in what particular conditions? Would these
conditions be merely chronological? In fact, the
unhyphenated version of the term that Spaas employs in her
book has stirred a long theoretical debate in postcolonial
studies, inasmuch as it highlights the tendency to evade the
chronological succession that the prefix 'post' implies.
Questions of periodicity and continuity, as well as
questions of counter-hegemony and counter-colonial
perspective, have generated a variety of *post(-)colonial*
approaches. Also, considering the theoretical debate as to
whether territories such as Quebec or Australia belong to a
postcolonial world, a concrete position on the issue of
postcoloniality on the part of the author -- without
nevertheless bogging the reader down with elaborate
theoretical analyses -- would have provided him/her with a
solid understanding of the postcolonial condition in the
context of this study. At any rate, looking at film
production in the major Francophone countries, the study
inevitably reveals intersections of relative categories
between North (Europe and North America) and South (Africa).
Spaas skilfully makes a subtle connection between capitalist
and non-capitalist worlds, going beyond the dichotomy
between First and Third (World) cinema. Significantly, the
prism of Spaas's *intersections* is the bridging of
dichotomies to maximize discussions on specific identities.
The strength of the book lies in the thematic arrangement of
each particular section with regards to issues of identity
formation. Spaas's engaging narrative flow brings forth the
juxtaposition of the filmmaker's personal experience with
the analysis of individual films to successfully get the
point across to the reader. Throughout the book the
study of European Francophone cinema is strongly
characterized by issues of existential quest, identity
crisis, fragmented self, and social identity, positioning
the individual at the forefront of the analysis to either
depict or echo the post-war predicament. Chantal Akerman's
_Les Rendez-vous d'Anna_ (1978) serves as a great example of
Spaas's choice of films that raise questions of post-war
modern Europe through memory, mapping out individual
experiences that are not necessarily confided within the
Belgian borders, but rather they are intriguingly involved
to the quest for social, and furthermore European identity
(30). Akerman's _Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080
Bruxelles_ (1975), or _La Dentelliere_ (1977) by the Swiss
Claude Goretta, provide another set of examples of European
Francophone filmmaking dealing with individual identity, but
highlighting the feminist condition (27). Significantly,
both Belgium and Switzerland present a corpus of films that
treat questions of exile at home, underscoring issues of
multilingualism, diversity of the population, migration, and
economic crisis. Cinematically, the group of European films
focuses on the daring investigation and acute criticism of
conventional film language. Quebec's quest for national
(and furthermore nationalistic) identity dominates the
discussion of film narrative in the second part devoted to
North America and the Caribbean. The focus of Spaas's
analysis of Quebecois films is the breaking with
conventional codes, whether they be social, moral, or
cinematic codes. An extensive presentation of the struggle
to establish Francophone film on the Canadian National Film
Board (NFB, or ONF standing for the French 'Office National
du Film') is not only highly informative, but also reflects
Quebec's campaign to shed its provincial status and acquire
national autonomy, as well the regions' resentment towards
the Anglophone part of the federal state of Canada. The
choice of Quebecois film reflects the region's appeal to
nationalism portrayed through the filmmakers' investigations
around themes of masculinity and fatherhood, liberation of
women, and traditional, moral, or religious values. Indeed,
the majority of the films under discussion challenge
conventional models of male behavior, and in most of the
cases incompetent father figures and absent mothers often
allegorically relate to the English conquest and rule, and
the loss of 'motherland' France respectively. Spaas examines
films by directors such as Claude Jutra and Denys Arcand
that, along with Micheline Lanctot, Claire Poirier, and Lea
Pool (representing the most recent film production by women
filmmakers), bring questions of individual identity to the
fore against the background of Quebec's quest for national
identity. The reference to the referendum in Quebec in 1980,
which 'shattered the dream of an independent Quebec' (64),
appears to underline the book's omission of the most recent
referendum in 1995. Quebec and the Francophone
Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique are grouped
together not only by their geographical proximity, but also
by the peculiar character of their status: Quebec, a
Francophone province within an Anglophone country; the
Caribbean islands, French Departments overseas. If Quebec,
because of the loss of 'motherland' France, attempts to
appropriate the historical and linguistic bond to gain
autonomy, Guadeloupe and Martinique, because of their
current administrative and political bond with mainland
France, struggle to reappropriate their history and Creole
language. Additionally, questions of African identity and
slavery thematically connect this section with the following
one treating Francophone African cinema. It is at this
*intersection* of differences that Spaas most interestingly
puts her intention of a 'mapping expedition' to work. Later,
in connecting North and West African films in one section,
Spaas explains: 'Although the countries within these two
Francophone regions each have their own distinct
characteristics, several historical and linguistic criteria
and their shared colonial experience justify grouping them
when exploring their film production' (128). Using an analysis of the
Caribbean film _Rue Cases-Negres_, directed by Euzhan Palcy
in 1983, the study draws attention to film production in
North and West Africa. The quest for identity takes on a
different meaning in the African continent, since cultural
and national issues come to the fore. With the introduction
of Francophone African film production, Spaas makes a clear
and significant point: 'Ten years on, stronger
national identities are emerging and studies on specific
countries and individual film-makers are appearing. Yet,
because of the distribution problems of African cinema,
which cause African films to remain unknown to a larger
audience, each country still needs the over-reaching
groupings of being 'African' and 'Francophone''
(131). Spaas discusses a wide array
of filmmakers and films and, in her film analyses and
discussions of identity, concisely includes questions of
orality, tradition, and individual and social life,
addressing a series of dichotomies between the spoken and
written word, tradition and modernity, urban and rural
space. It is understood that in this study, great in scope
and detail, the availability of films, as well as the
author's personal preferences dictated its
comprehensiveness. It is understood that in this study,
great in scope and detail as it is, the availability of
films, as well as the author's personal preferences,
dictated its coverage. Films that participated in FESPACO
1999 -- Festival Panafricain du Cinema et de la Television
d'Ouagadougou, a renowned event that takes place biennially
in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso -- make up a
considerable list of the Francophone African films in this
book. However, it is surprising that Abderrahmane Sissako's
_Life on Earth_ (_La Vie sur Terre_, Mali, 1998), that won
the best editing award in 1999, is not included, while the
video-documentary _Chef_ by Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroon, 1999)
makes the list, along with _Pieces d'identites_ (Mweze
Ngangura, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1998), that won
the much coveted Yennenga Stallion (*Etalon de Yennenga*)
the same year, _La Genese_ (Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Mali,
1999), and _Silmande_ (Pierre Yameogo, Burkina Faso, 1998)
-- films that brought home the FESPACO 1999 prizes of best
cinematographic decor and best musical score respectively.
In addition, discussion of promising filmmakers such as the
Burkinabe director Regina Fanta Nacro and Jean-Pierre Bekolo
-- whose _Aristotle's Plot_ (_Le Complot d'Aristote_,
France/UK/Zimbabwe, 1996) allegorically treats African
cinema and its deplorable conditions of distribution and
exhibition -- could have further underscored this otherwise
meticulous scholarship. Spaas's insightful analysis
of film texts makes the book pleasurably readable and
accessible to a wide range of readers. This accessibility
assures a successful application in film classes on regional
cinemas, since the individual sections work well as
reference material, providing analyses, both chronologically
and thematically, of a wide spectrum of significant films.
films University
of Rochester, New
York, USA Copyright ©
_Film-Philosophy_ 2002 Julie Papaioannou,
'Intersecting Identities', _Film-Philosophy_, vol. 6 no. 26,
September 2002
<http://www.film-philosophy.com/vol6-2002/n26papaioannou>.
Save as Plain Text Document...Print...Read...Recycle
Back to the Film-Philosophy homepage
