Jewish Identity in French Cinema (1950-2010)

Book excerpt: This book examines the expression of a Jewish identity in French films and the characteristics used by filmmakers to portray this nebulous concept in movies produced after the Shoah and World War II. Throughout a sixty-year span, French directors struggled to define Jewish identity and a correlation with the larger question of French national identity. The study delves into the larger question of Jewish identity as characterised in works of cinematic fiction in accordance with the history of the Jews of France, using the centrality of the emancipation paradigm of 1791 and the theoretical frame provided by Jean-Paul Sartre’s Réflexions sur la question juive. The book identifies and describes three categories of films produced between 1950 and 2010 that represent the manner in which directors portrayed an evolving Jewish identity and its relation to French society, rejecting the practice of labeling a film as “Jewish” because of the ethnicity of a director or writer. Based on extensive research including the review of over 200 full-length films, the book provides an overview of features addressing the concept of Jewish identity and includes a Descriptive Filmography of productions matching the author’s definition of a Jewish-identity film. From the template La Grande Illusion to contemporary releases, the book argues that French Jewish-identity films dwell in the sociological realm of Jewishness, as the epicenter of tension is rooted in identity rather than religion.