mécanique, 1924); and Germaine Dulac, one of the
cinema’s first female artists, whose The Seashell and
the Clergyman(1928) is one of the two acknowledged
masterpieces of surrealist cinema.
The other masterpiece is An Andalusian Dog
(1929), created by two Spanish artists working in
Paris: painter Salvador Dalí and filmmaker Luis
Buñuel. Here, the logic is that of a dream, with its
visual effects including an opening sequence in
which we see a razor slitting a woman’s eyeball (for
an image of this famous shot, see page 78). While
Dali soon returned to painting his surrealist mas-
terpieces (including his version of Leonardo’s Mona
Lisawith his own face replacing hers), Buñuel
became one of the very few major directors to con-
tinue making surrealist feature movies, including
Viridiana(1961), Belle de Jour(1967), and The Dis-
creet Charm of the Bourgeoisie(1972). The second
type of French Avant-Garde filmmaking in the
1920s consists of psychological studies that empha-
size naturalism, the idea that an individual’s fate is
determined by heredity and environment, not free
will. This becomes very powerful in a film such
asRien que les heures(1926), by the Brazilian-born
Alberto Cavalcanti. A multilayered study of Paris
over the course of a day, the film employs cinematic
effects, including bold wipes, freeze-frames, double
exposures, and split screens. It also reflects the
influence of Soviet Montage in its juxtapositions
and linkages of shots, some through contrast, oth-
ers through irony, and still others unrelated. The
overall impression of this film (which fits into a
small, impressive category of films known as “city
symphonies”) is that of a mosaic: the images relate
only when they are considered in connection to the
whole picture. Also impressive are Dimitri Kir-
sanoff ’s Ménilmontant(1926) and Marcel L’Herbier’s
L’Argent(1928).
All of the films discussed so far in this section in
one way or another emphasize visual form for its
own sake, have a comparatively short duration,
and for the most part were made independently of
the French film industry. There was, however,
another type of French Avant-Garde filmmaking of
the 1920s that includes narrative (often feature-
length) movies that are far more ambitious in their
scope, length, and overall visual effect. These
Surrealism on film Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s famous
story, Jean Epstein’s The Fall of the House of Usher(1928)
remains captivating with its complex psychological themes,
haunting exteriors and interiors, and overall dreamlike
quality. In this image, Madeleine Usher (Marguerite Gance)
returns from the tomb in which she was buried alive by her
brother, Sir Roderick Usher (Jean Debucourt), who dies from
fright when she falls upon him.Turning of The WheelWhile the movies have always been
fascinated by trains, Abel Gance’s The Wheel(1923) is
obsessed with them. Its extraordinary mise-en-scène is a
world surrounded by locomotives, tracks, smoke, and railroad
workers. This highly melodramatic story contains elements
that remind us of classical tragedy, and its sweeping vision of
life is matched by a vividly avant-garde style, creating an
unforgettable milestone in French cinema.A SHORT OVERVIEW OF FILM HISTORY 447