Parting thoughts on AVLE

Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)

Music• We’ve discussed the use of music in the opening

scene and as Mathilde visits Manech’s grave• Most prominent tune: Mathilde’s theme• Opens with oboe, orchestra swells under it (the

love that drives Mathilde?)• Motif of two alternating notes in the strings

reflects how she will keep searching• Recurring melody of a one-note drop that then

moves up an ascending pattern of notes starts in strings and then moves to horns

• Mimics how Mathilde gets knocked back only to pick herself up to keep searching – resilience

• Features several times throughout the film;– When we first meet Mathilde– When she bids goodbye to Manech– When she finds him

What we know…• Themes: cost of war, resilience of love and

importance of hope• Opening scene (and we know of the lives of the 5

soldiers)• Mathilde’s character (V.O, music,

cinematography)• Manech and Mathilde scenes (flashbacks, golden

filters, MMM…)• Tina and Mathilde – two sides of the same coin

(costume, dialogue, cinematography)

Essays – remember:• Convenient structure: technique by technique• Unpack the language of the question in the intro• Address all of the question• Structure of paragraphs– Topic sentence– Example– Explanation– Link to question– Link to next paragraph

• Audience positioning (who do we identify with and why?)

• Director’s purpose: encourage us to look for the humanity within people; to give a voice to those soldiers often accused of cowardice; to communicate the suffering of those at war (and those who had to let them go)

• According to The Independent, the aim of the movie was “to break down 90 years of collective amnesia during which war memorials were built in every commune but the human stories were forgotten” because there is/was? A “lack of active remembrance in France”

• France lost almost as many soldiers as Germany.• 1.4 million (10% of the working male population)• UK lost between 800,000-1 million• AVLE “is the first mainstream cinematic attempt

to raise awareness about the First World War in France.”

• Remember: blue cornflower is the French equivalent of the poppy (is hardly worn in France though)

• At the time of release, there were only 15 WWI veterans left in France

• From The Paths of Glory: The French Army 1914-1918: “On one occasion forty men with self-inflicted hand wounds were arrested. Petain immediately ordered twenty-five to be shot, but later directed that all be thrown into no-man's land for a night.”

• Even now, those in the military and patriots have a complex (or not so complex) relationship with deserters/those who opt out of conflicts

• Ie. Sergeant Bowe Bergdhal. Held by Taliban for 5 years. Received death threats for “deserting” and a fellow soldier said he “deserted in a time of war”.

• Five NZ soldiers were executed for desertion in WWI

• In 2000 all were (posthumously) pardoned by the NZ government.