Nearly 100 years after its creation, Germaine Dulac’s film The Smiling Madame Beudet has not faded into the obscure irrelevance of so many silent era films largely thanks to its dream sequences. Madame Beudet’s daydream sequences posses an unprecedented ability to masterfully blend innovative form with complex content. The film’s progression of plot and development of characters rely heavily on the information presented within Madame Beudet’s dreams. Empathy for her desperate, hopeless situation is fostered by these sequences, which allow for an impact far superior to what could normally be achieved in a silent film, even with spot on acting that is subtle and believable like Germaine Dermoz’s.
Through Madame Beudet’s dreams, we are granted a window into her soul and a direct depiction of her thoughts and desires that would otherwise lack the same poignancy and would need to be inferred by the viewer. As we follow her through the story, the dream sequences are essential to both her and Monsieur Beudet’s character development. This focus on dreams to externalize a character’s inner thoughts and emotions was a novel practice in silent cinema. It enabled for a rarely achieved level of complexity in depth of character and story, along with a gripping overall atmosphere. Dulac, a master of her craft, drew from a wide variety of revolutionary cinematic techniques to interweave the film’s bilateral real versus surreal structure. Her brilliant direction allows the film to effortlessly drift in and out of reality and her, then cutting edge, movie magic allows for an aesthetically pleasing representation of dreams, where intent of the action is clear.
Jacob Leflein