FROM FRANCE WITH LOVE: GENDER AND IDENTITY IN FRENCH
ROMANTIC COMEDY
By Mary Harrod (I. B. Tauris, £62/ $99)264
pages. Hardback. ISBN: 9781784533588
Review by Diane
Rodgers
French romantic comedy has been enjoying
something of a popularity boom, beginning slowly in the 1990s and showing no
sign of waning two decades later. The
'comédie romantique' (still a relatively new term in the French language) now
firmly standardised as a popular film genre in France. The rom-com genre has outperformed all others
financially, responsible for around 50% of domestic box office takings and the
lion's share of French film production. So why, Mary Harrod poses, has the area been so badly neglected by
scholarly research?
This book is not, perhaps, for those with a
casual or passing interest in the genre; some degree of academic knowledge and
awareness of related literature is assumed here. However, throughout the study, Harrod makes a
strong case for academic attention and the need for further study on this
contemporary cycle of films. Drawing
from extensive research, and a feminist framework, we are presented with how
there has been a slow shift towards promotion of the female point of view in more
recent films, with a large proportion of female writers and directors taking
the helm. This shift may seem late in
coming in comparison to the rest of the world, but perhaps unsurprising for a
country which didn't allow women to vote until 1944 and generally has exhibited
delayed liberalisation in terms of modern female life in France.
Harrod discusses this relatively new
phenomenon and newness of privileging female subjectivity from a number of
different perspectives and cites over a hundred films as examples here, which in
themselves clearly highlight some of the difficulties in categorising the
genre. Rom-coms veer from the
traditional boy-meets-girl narrative, to family-centred ensemble pieces, to other
recent trends such as rom-coms featuring male duos; male buddy 'bromance'
comedies.
The rom-com is historically seen as frivolous
and lacking in substance; deprecated as an object unworthy of study, not least
in France where critics have tended to denigrate domestic efforts as
"pathetic imitation[s] of former Hollywood models". However, Harrod argues, comedy itself is
highly regarded in literature and can be profoundly revealing about the social
world and, of course, the very notion of romantic love is frequently
central in western fiction, remaining
irresistibly alluring throughout the ages. So, perhaps the fact that romance can be used as forum for women to
explore their identity, emotional lives and experiences is the very thing that
makes it at once historically overlooked by patriarchy and yet invaluable in
terms of social significance.
Harrod examines the French version of
romantic love, alongside changing dynamics of contemporary notions of the
couple. Although there are a huge number
of film titles mentioned in passing, there are a few more engaging case studies
which allow for detailed understanding of the issues under discussion. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie (2001); one of
France's most successful rom-coms ever to make a mark at the international box
office, is studied here as an example of the genre before it was
well-established in the domestic market. Harrod remarks upon a number of atypical elements with the film;
although having a feel-good Hollywood style ending, it displays notions of
disjointed and fragmented families, with the central couple more akin to
childlike friends rather than romantic lovers (the film also has suffered
allegations of misogyny and racism).
This study often, intentionally, raises
more questions than it answers - Harrod notes the "babbling polyphony of
discourses" apparent within the genre from race, religion, sexuality and
commitment, to defining the very construct of 'romance' itself. The fact that there are so many areas of
question is what makes Harrod's work feel like it's bursting at the seams;
further research is clearly called for to even begin to adequately cover all
the issues raised here - but the fact that they are acknowledged is a good start.
Timeless human issues such as male and
female positioning to commitment and adultery are frequently deliberated in
rom-coms, views on which have changed over time. In French cinema, adultery has traditionally
been seen as something of a joke; almost an endearing trait in men and integral
to the experience of marriage. Harrod notes that, though the notion still persists
and is far from dead, adultery has been significantly deglamourised and is significantly
less socially acceptable in modern French cinema (and, we infer, French
society). Female desire is increasingly
prominent in such films but, as Harrod points out, even in films made by women,
female promiscuity seems to result in emotional emptiness at best (using Bridget
Jones as a point of comparison).
The significance of the effect of cinema on
society (and vice versa) should not be underestimated; changing social
attitudes has been linked with audiences taking cues from their cinematic
hero(ine)s or, at least, are reflected in them. An important example Harrod gives here is the film Pédale Douce (1996) which
had significant impact on the case for gay and lesbian equality and made a key
contribution to legal change for same sex couples to adopt children in France.
Alongside foregrounded representations of
alternative or queer gender positions, Harrod discusses the emergence of new
types of heroine, and conflicting versions of womanhood represented by French
female stars. She presents Audrey Tautou
and Marion Cotillard as unthreatening, childlike versions of femininity whereas
more modern trends seem to allow for more comic heroines; favouring intelligence
over naïvety and becoming, therefore, more believably realistic rather than
(male) romantic fantasy. Romauld et
Juliette (1989) is noted as a key departure from conforming to norms of
physical attractiveness of French female protagonists (especially in terms of
slimness), but it remains that the rom-com genre still contributes
substantially to traditions of idolising the female body (as opposed to achievement). Harrod notes the double standard in attitudes
here; in 2005's Je préfère qu'on reste amis, Gerard Depardieu is described as "just
within the bounds of healthy size in this film" (having put on a
substantial amount of weight in recent years), yet continues to be cast in
leading roles - the same would be unlikely for a female lead.
The history of women needing to be
'rescued' - usually a low status woman by a rich man (Ã la Pretty Woman, 1990) -
also still pervades; the two most recent rom-coms Harrod saw at the time of concluding
this study, she says, both show career goals for women as unfulfilling, even
belittling, which, in the case of male characters is invariably the
opposite. She also addresses the still
current hot topic of age difference in the coupling of stars; many male
co-stars are at least 20 years senior to their partner (in the 1999 film Venus
Beauté, Audrey Tautou is a scandalous 49 years younger than co-star Robert
Hossein).
A particularly interesting pattern that
arises here is that, increasingly, characters in French romantic comedies
express desire to be part of a family unit; well beyond simply the romantic
desire of coupledom. This is highly
significant in a social context - the fact that a high proportion of female
directors opt for the family ensemble narrative adds fuel to the concept that romance
for men ends with conquest whilst for women it is a more of an ongoing
narrative.
Harrod gives a broad picture of the evolution
of the nature of family as a social unit in film, into less conventional
formats; seen in the shift towards ensemble rom-coms, the dethroning of
marriage as a central goal, alongside inclusion of same-sex relationships. The emergence of the nurturing father is
discussed also - with Trois hommes et un couffin in 1985 (later remade in the
USA as Three Men and a Baby); although less prominent into the '90s and beyond,
nonetheless, motherhood for women became less often an exclusive life-goal.
Whilst Harrod's book may not be for the
casual rom-com viewer, she argues her case well: this is clearly an area of
distinct social significance for film studies, unfairly neglected and even
scorned by scholars and critics alike. Hopefully there will be enough academic interest in the near future for the
fascinating questions she raises to be taken on board and developed by others.
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