Le cinéma français face à la violence: du New French Extremism à une violence intériorisée

Abstract

This article revisits the portrayal of violence in French cinema. It shows how and why a number of French directors, whose work has been labelled as New French Extremism, (Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Gaspar Noé, Bruno Dumont) have depicted violence in an extreme way since the beginning of the twenty-first century. If this trend of violence in films and from films is an important step in the specific context of France, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate that some recent films, such as Bande de filles/Girlhood (Céline Sciamma, 2014), will consequently choose to address the issue of violence by internalising it. These films combat images of violence and thus offer an innovative perspective on the banlieue or on war. The public is invited once again, and in a less brutalising way, to partake in a collective reflection on the phenomenon of violence.