Educational Media Reviews Online

Yannick Bellon directs this 1951 short film featuring commentary written and narrated by an aged Colette. At the time, Colette was immobilized by arthritis in her leg; she died more than two years later. Despite her age and infirmity, Bellon still manages to capture Colette’s vibrancy or as the author herself describes it, “a truly female life punctuated with ordinary, curable sorrows, rebellions, laughter, and cowardice.”

In French (with English subtitles) Colette traces most of the author’s residences in France, from the large country home in Burgundy where Colette was born in 1873 to her apartment at Palais Royal. Bellon inundates viewers with beautiful shots of the French landscape and the various gardens and pets that Colette enjoyed, while she describes their influence on her body of work. Colette penned several semi-autobiographical novels including the Claudine and Chéri series, The Vagabond, Music-Hall Sidelights, and Gigi. The accompanying music for Colette, typical B movie fare, dates this otherwise engaging film. Aside from the cinematic exploration of Colette’s multiple residences, the film includes a pleasant tete-a-tete between Colette and her neighbor the French poet, Jean Cocteau.

Don’t expect this film to match up to a documentary like Dominique Auvray’s Marguerite, a Reflection of Herself. Auvray’s documentary of Marguerite Duras’ made extensive use of archival materials, interviews from television programs, extracts from Duras' films and her home movies, and from her photographs. Bellon’s Colette does provide some basic biographical information on one of France’s most famous feminist authors - Sidonie Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954), the first woman chosen as a member of France's prestigious Goncourt Academy. It features a glimpse of Colette’s career as a mime and dancer through a brief interview with George Wague and it mentions her marriages and the birth of her daughter. Obviously Bellon set out to evoke the sense and sensibility not only of Colette but also Colette’s writings. She succeeds.

French feminist filmmaker Bellon is perhaps best known for her in-depth study of rape in Rape of Love/Violated Love (1978). Bellon also collaborated with Chris Marker on another recently released title Remembrance of Things to Come, which is also distributed by First Run /Icarus Films). Both of these films have been featured at multiple film festivals together and libraries might consider purchasing them together rather than singly. Especially recommended for academic library collections focusing on French literature or women's studies.