''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' (french: La Coquille et le clergyman) is a 1928 French

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

directed by

Germaine Dulac Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...

, from an original scenario by Antonin Artaud. It premiered in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on 9 February 1928.

Synopsis

The film follows the erotic hallucinations of a priest lusting after the wife of a general.

Reception and legacy

Although accounts differ, it seems that Artaud disapproved of Dulac's treatment of his scenario. The film was overshadowed by ''

Un chien andalou ''Un Chien Andalou'' (, ''An Andalusian Dog'') is a 1929 French silent short film directed by Luis Buñuel, and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Buñuel's first film, it was initially released in a limited capacity at Studio des Ursuline ...

'' (''An Andalusian Dog'', 1929), written and directed by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

and

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

. ''Un chien andalou'' is considered the first surrealist film, but its foundations in ''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' have been all but overlooked. However, the iconic techniques associated with surrealist cinema are all borrowed from this early film. In Lee Jamieson's analysis of the film, the surrealist treatment of the image is clear. He writes:

''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' penetrates the skin of material reality and plunges the viewer into an unstable landscape where the image cannot be trusted. Remarkably, Artaud not only subverts the physical, surface image, but also its interconnection with other images. The result is a complex, multi-layered film, so semiotically unstable that images dissolve into one another both visually and 'semantically', truly investing in film's ability to act upon the subconscious."

The

British Board of Film Censors The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national clas ...

famously reported that the film was "so cryptic as to be almost meaningless. If there is a meaning, it is doubtless objectionable". Alan Williams has suggested the film is better thought of as a work of or influenced by

German expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

. The

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

included ''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' on a list of 10 Great Feminist Films, stating:

Germaine Dulac was involved in the avant garde in Paris in the 1920s. Both The Smiling Madame Beudet (1922) and The Seashell and the Clergyman are important early examples of radical experimental feminist filmmaking, and provide an antidote to the art made by the surrealist brotherhood. The latter film, an interpretation of Anton Artaud’s book of the same name, is a visually imaginative critique of patriarchy – state and church – and of male sexuality. On its premiere, the surrealists greeted it with noisy derision, calling Dulac “une vache”.

Musical scores

The silent film is popular with musicians and has been scored by many groups. It was one of the first films scored by Silent Orchestra and performed by them at the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...

in Washington, DC in 2000. This was the first film to be scored by live accompaniment band Minima. Their debut performance was at the UK's Shunt Vaults at London Bridge in 2006. It has also been rescored by Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Black Cat Orchestra. Sons of Noel and Adrian performed a live score at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhous ...

in June 2009. In March 2011,

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music. Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...

performed an acappella score of her own composition with the Holst Singers as part of the

Birds Eye View A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downwards. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photograph, but also a dr ...

festival. In January 2012, a new score to a director's cut of ''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' was released by the artist Roto Visage on Kikapu. This score was released in conjunction with Transflux Films and with a Creative Commons license. In 2015 an electronic soundtrack was composed by Luigi Morleo for the Film Silence Music Festival in Italy. A new score by Sheffield musicians

In the Nursery In the Nursery are an English neoclassical dark wave and martial industrial band, characterized by their cinematic sound. The duo has provided soundtracks to a variety of TV programmes and films, and is known for its rescoring of silent film ...

was performed live to accompany a showing of the film on 9 June 2019 and released on CD on 25 October 2019.

Cast

* Alex Allin as Le clergyman *

Genica Athanasiou Genica Athanasiou (3 January 1897 – 13 July 1966) was a Romanian-French stage and film actress.Soister p.175 Selected filmography * '' Count Kostia'' (1925) * '' Misdeal'' (1928) * ''The Seashell and the Clergyman'' (1928) * '' The Lighth ...

as La femme du général * Lucien Bataille as Le général

Home media

*''Avant-garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and '30s'' – DVD collection which includes ''The Seashell and the Clergyman''

References

Bibliography

*Wendy Dozoretz, ''Germaine Dulac : Filmmaker, Polemicist, Theoretician'', (

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Dissertation, 1982), 362 pp. *

Charles Henri Ford Charles Henri Ford (February 10, 1908 – September 27, 2002) was an American poet, novelist, diarist, filmmaker, photographer, and collage artist. He published more than a dozen collections of poetry, exhibited his artwork in Europe and the Un ...

, ''Germaine Dulac : 1882 - 1942'', Paris : Avant-Scène du Cinéma, 1968, 48 p. (Serie: Anthologie du cinéma; 31)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seashell and the Clergyman, The 1928 films French black-and-white films 1920s French-language films French silent short films Surrealist films Works by Antonin Artaud 1928 short films 1920s avant-garde and experimental films 1928 independent films French avant-garde and experimental films French independent films 1920s French films