Feminist Film Theory and Cléo from 5 to 7

169 Pages·2016·1.22 MB·English

by  Hilary Neroni

Feminist
Film Theory
and Cléo from
5 to 7
FILM THEORY IN PRACTICE
Series Editor: Todd McGowan
Editorial Board
Slavoj Žižek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Joan Copjec, Brown University, USA
Hilary Neroni, University of Vermont, USA
Jennifer Friedlander, Pomona College, USA
Fabio Vighi, University of Cardiff, UK
Hugh Manon, Clark University, USA
Paul Eisenstein, Otterbein University, USA
Hyon Joo Yoo, University of Vermont, USA
Louis-Paul Willis, University of Quebec, Canada
FILM THEORY IN PRACTICE
Feminist
Film Theory
and Cléo from
5 to 7
HILARY NERONI
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
NEW YORK • LONDON • OXFORD • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury Academic
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BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc
First published 2016
© Hilary Neroni, 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on
or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can
be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Neroni, Hilary, 1969-
Feminist film theory and Cléo from 5 to 7 / Hilary Neroni.
pages cm. – (Film theory in practice)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-5013-1368-4 (hardback : alk. paper) –
ISBN 978-1-5013-1369-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Feminist film criticism.
2. Women in motion pictures. 3. Feminism and motion pictures.
4. Cléo de 5 à 7 (Motion picture)–History and criticism. I. Title.
PN1995.9.W6 N465
791.43'6522 – dc23
2015024517
ISBN: HB: 978-1-5013-1368-4
PB: 978-1-5013-1369-1
ePub: 978-1-5013-1371-4
ePDF: 978-1-5013-1370-7
Series: Film Theory in Practice
Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
to Jane and Del Neroni, truly feminist parents

CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1 Feminist Film Theory 17
2 Feminism and Cléo from 5 to 7 85
Conclusion 151
Further Reading 156
Index 158

Introduction
In 2015, the Cannes Film Festival awarded French filmmaker
Agnès Varda an honorary Palme d’Or, the highest honor at the
festival. Cannes gives the honorary Palme d’Or as a lifetime
achievement award, and Varda was the first female filmmaker
to receive the honor, which is not surprising considering the
low percentage of women nominated or receiving awards at
Cannes. Cannes was aware of this disparity and staged several
panels that discussed the plight of women in the film industry
that year. Panelists elaborated on the difficulties women face
in the industry, including the extremely detrimental effects of
male colleagues treating women as sexual objects. Ironically,
the Cannes film festival also made the news for another reason.
The festival’s directors ordered all the ushers to permit only
women wearing high heels to enter the site. Following these
directions, the ushers barred entrance to female ticket holders
wearing flats.
In the same year that the Cannes Film Festival finally awards
an honorary Palme d’Or to a female director and sets up panels
to address sexism in filmmaking, it also enforces an overtly
sexist dress code. This may seem a shocking contradiction,
and one might wonder how the festival’s directors managed
to perform both actions simultaneously. It is a contradiction,
but it is one that perfectly encapsulates the contradiction
that women face within contemporary society. The festival
organizers could perpetuate this contradiction because they