Abstract
Comedies, on a universal level, are often the end result of a series of visual gags, but not always necessarily. Comedies can also sometimes correspond to narratives that address real political and social issues. Laughter and cinema as a popular comic art can address national tragedies, refecting social, economic, or political realities and directed by their strength of conviction, denounce the manipulation to an entire nation. These comedies, often misclassified by their occasional ambiguous appearance, can be best described as satirical comedies whose intent is to both exploit the comic vein and influence the evolution of mentalities with a social and political impact. Therefore satires and parodies can demonstrate a socioeconomic reality and ultimately contribute to the emancipation of consciences. The 1950s were the years when these social satires developed and some eventually became national phenomena. These films intended to create some degree of social impact, condemning individualism and plunging spectators into the heart of social and economic realities. While social satires were legion, other comedic genres still dominated the cinemtographic scene in France, a country now in search of new cinematic models. The postwar era, a period which started from the first hours of the Libération and ended with the events of May 1968, is often defined as the golden age of French comedies. The French film industry, which gradually regained a profuse cinematic productivity and innovation, saw the rise and stardom of many comedians, among whom three names flourished during these two decades: Fernandel, who had already secured national recognition before the war, Bourvil, and Louis de Funès.
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Notes
Marcel Aymé, La traversée de Paris, a short novel published in 1947 in the collection Le Vin de Paris.
Max Douy also worked on Claude Autant-Lara’s Le diable au corps (Devil in the Flesh, 1947) and
Robert Bresson’s Les dames du bois de Boulogne (The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne, 1945).
Born André Raimbourg in Normandy (in the small village of Bourville which inspired his pseudonym as an actor), Bourvil is nowadays best known for his films, but he began his artistic career as a singer. In the immediate postwar years he became an apprentice baker and plumber to make a living in Paris. He slowly resumed his career as a singer in preludes for shows in Pigalle. In May 1946 Bourvil signed his first record with Pathé, which included a parody of realistic songs he has sung in his first film, Jean Dréville’s La ferme du pendu (Hanged Man’s Farm, 1945). His acting career follows the lead and he gets comic roles in which he excels:
Jean Boyer’s Le trou normand (Crazy for Love, 1952),
Marc Allégret’s Un drole de dimanche (Sunday Encounter, 1958),
Gilles Grangier’s La cuisine au beurre (My Wife’s Husband, 1963) with
Fernandel, and Le corniaud (The Sucker, 1964).
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© 2014 Rémi Fournier Lanzoni
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Lanzoni, R.F. (2014). The Comedies of Postwar France. In: French Comedy on Screen. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137100191_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137100191_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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