lynx eyed detective and shadow bandits: visuality and eclipse in french detective stories and films...

8/12/2019 Lynx Eyed Detective and Shadow Bandits: Visuality and Eclipse in French Detective Stories and Films before WWI

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Lynx-Eyed Detectives and Shadow Bandits: Visuality and Eclipse in French Detective Storiesand Films before WWIAuthor(s): Tom GunningSource: Yale French Studies, No. 108, Crime Fictions (2005), pp. 74-88Published by: Yale University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4149299.

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TOM GUNNINGLynx-EyedetectivesandShadowBandits:Visuality ndEclipse nFrenchDetective Stories ndFilmsbeforeWWITHROUGH A MAGNIFYING GLASS, DARKLYAnd heseuestions;he nknown,henvisible,llthese roblems-hownterestingheyreAnd hemystery-somusing-JulesClaretie,'accusateur,897

WhenD. A.Miller uotesEmileGaboriau's etectiveMonsieur ecoqdescribinghepolice s "thatmysteriousuthorityhich, hough ei-ther eennorheard tself, onethelesseesandhears verythinglse,"he associatesthedetective enrewith"panopticalnarration."1utdoesthedetectivetory, ith tsscenario f nvestigation,xposure,andarrest, ecessarilymply disciplinaryisualregime fthesortMartin ay escribesnhismagisterial ork, owncastEyes:TheDen-igrationfVision nTwentieth-Centuryrench hought,2mastering,objectifyingurveillance mbodiednthe lignmentfknowledgendvision nthescientificazeand thepanoptic isionof ocialcontrol?The centraldevice of detective iction,heclue,stages dramaofcontested ision, iterallyndmetaphorically.s CarloGinzburghas said,"though ealitymay eemtobeopaque,there reprivilegedzones-signs, clues-which allowus topenetratet."3The drama fthedetectivetoryiesnot implyn eeing, ut n eeing hrough,ass-ingfromheevident othe atent,wrestingruthromppearance. i-suality ndobscurity ogetherefine etective ictionnd films. in-

1. D. A.Miller, heNovel nd thePolice Berkeley:niversityfCalifornia ress,1988), 4.2. MartinJay, owncastEyes:TheDenigration fVision n Twentieth-CenturyFrench houghtBerkeley: niversityfCaliforniaress, 993).3. CarloGinzburg,Clues: Rulesof nEvidentiaryaradigm,"nClues,MythsndtheHistoricalMethodBaltimore:ohns opkins, 989), rans. ohnndAnneTedeschi,123.YFS108,Crime ictions,d. AndreaGoulet nd Susanna ee,O 2005byYaleUniversity.74

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TOM GUNNING 75tend otrace hemanner n which hegenreworks he nterplayfvi-sion ndopacityntoplots, haracters,mages,nd ituationsn thepe-riodfrom he 1860s to WWI as mass audiencesmovefromeafingthrougheuilletonsogawkingt thecinema creen.Theemblem or hedetective'sseeing hrough" as ongbeenthehand-heldmagnifyinglass emblazoned n themargin fmycom-puter creen n juxtaposition ith the deerstalkerap andthename"Sherlock,"nvokingheworld'smostfamous etectivendthe om-bination f he cientificechniquesf bservationndthehunter'sn-stinct hatGinsburg inds ssential o cluehunting). utthe mageofthedetectivettentivelyombing crime cenefor luesdoes notbe-ginwithArthur onanDoyle'sHolmesbut arguably-"firsts"re l-waysdisputable) ithhisFrenchredecessorwhomHolmes nananx-ietyof nfluence oesout ofhiswaytodismiss),Gaboriau'sMonsieurLecoq.4Lecoqdoes not iterally se a magnifyinglass, lthoughGa-boriaudescribes isscrutinyf hecrime cene n Monsieur ecoq inthese terms: Therewas notan inch ofspace thathadnotbeen ex-plored, arefullyxamined ndstudied, nemight lmost ay,withmagnifyinglass."5With thesystematic ecoq,Gaboriau ntroduces etailedvisualscrutinyothegenrethe nvestigationf hechateau nd ts nterpre-tation n TheMysteryfOrcival takesupnearly hundred ages),6forcingrommuteobjectsa narrativefpast events.ButGaboriauunderstandsnvestigationotsimply s a visualprocess, ut as a di-alecticbetweenvisionandmeaning, process freading s muchaslooking. xaminingheexteriorfthetavernn Monsieur ecoq,thedetective eclares:Thisexpansef arth,overed ith now,s an mmense hite ageuponwhichhe eopleweare nsearch fhavewritten,ot nlyheirmovementsnd heiroingsnd omings,ut heirecrethoughts,hehopes nd nxietieshatgitatedhem.Monsieurecoq, 7)Lecoq transformsheground rom simplevisual arrayntoa textwhose ecretmustbewrestedromt.Thus, n Gaboriau's escription,

4. Holmesdismissed ecoq as "a miserable ungler"n A Study n Scarlet, irArthuronanDoyle,TheComplete herlock olmes NewYork: oubleday ndCom-pany, 930), 5.5. ImileGaboriau,Monsieur ecoq NewYork: overBooks, 975), d.E. F.Bleiler,44.Originally ublishedn 1869.Alltranslationsremineunlessotherwisepecified.6. Gaboriau, heMysteryfOrcivalNewYork: harles cribner'sons,1900), 8-149.Originallyublishedn1867.



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76 Yale French tudiesLecoq"onhisknees, tudied achfootprintith he ttentionf chi-romancerrofessingoread hefuturenthehandof client" 24).Ga-boriau'scomparison xplicitly elates heprocessto thedivinatoryarts, vokingwhatGinzburgallsthe venatic, ivinatory,onjecturalor semiotic" aradigmfworkinghroughlues.7Rather han para-digm fvisual mmediacy,luesprovidedraces f hepast nneedofa skilled eading.Masteryf hecrime cenerelies nconjecturend nterpretation,recalling spectsof the scientificmethod,butwhich,as Ginzburgdemonstrates,n tsattentiono ndividual races nd ymptomsead-ing othe dentificationf ndividual ulprits,peratesn avery iffer-entmanner romhe ciences f heGalileianparadigmfgeneraliza-tion and quantificationGinzburg, 06-112). Further,he textthedetective eadsremains human ext, heproduct f ndividuals gi-tated y"secret houghts,"atherhan imply he awsofnature. hedetective otonlymustdivine he ecret houghtsf ulprits,ut, ikeapostmodernistritic,must lsoread gainst hegrain f he mmedi-atelyvisible.WhenMonsieurLecoq arrives t theOrcivalchateauwhere murderndtheft aveapparentlyeencommitted,e imme-diately ecognizeswo evels tothe crime ext: There re the tracesleft npurpose omisleadus-the jumbled pbed,fornstance; henthere re therealtraces, ndesigned,s arethesehatchet uts."8Thedetectiveeesthroughhemisleadingnscriptionseliberatelylacedbytheculprit-authorownto the"undesigned,"elf-betrayingruth.While hese ialectics f ightnduncertaintyertainlyomplicatethedetective'sisualmastery,othey all t nto uestion? hestrug-gle to see throughppearances o an underlyingtructuref truthrecalls heprotocols fWesternmetaphysics,enetratingurfacevi-dence osignificanteality,rom lato'scaveto theprocess fpsycho-analysis. utwhat s taken or ruth ndtheprocess ywhich t s dis-covered onstitute, emight ay, he takes fhistory.he detective'sengagement ithvisuality rovides clue,not o muchfor he truth"lurking ehind hegenre,s ofmodernity'segotiationfnew visualexperiences.t is less Lecoq's pursuit fthetruth hatmarks newgenre hanhismethod freadinghetraces fhumanpassionon nan-imate bjects nd he onfluencen a crime ceneof he ntentionalndmisleadingwith he ccidental ndbetraying.

7. Ginzburg,17.GinzburguotesLecoq'sdescriptionf hefield f now s awrit-ten ext n thispage swell.8. TheMysteryfOrcival, 5.



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TOM GUNNING 77Let's pproachhedetective enreess as anallegoryf he riumphofthevisual nclarityndrevelation,nd more s a dramatizationftheambiguities fvision n a newageofflexibledentitiesndtech-nological ision. nthis ontext,ruth olongerxists ndependentfthecontingenciesfsight nd signification.s Jonathan raryhasshown, heregulationfvision nthenineteenthndearly wentiethcentury epends n acknowledgingtsphysicalityndcontingency,the ubject fboth cientificnvestigationnd aesthetic heory.9n apopularevel, hedetectiveenre lso rehearseshis mbedded ndhis-torical isionwithdramas fbothdiscoveryndevasion.

DETECTION AS SCIENTIFIC METHOD OR LOGICALGAME: AN UNRESOLVED DIALECTIC... with his ellow upin, person astoworkn thedark, nd,instead fdeductinghe ruth rom stablishedacts, manmustextracttfrom isownbrain,ndafterwardearn f t s supportedythefactsnthe ase.-Herlock Sholmes nMaurice eBlanc, rsdne upin ontreHerlock Sholmes (1906-1908)

Traditionally,hedetective's rocess fvisual nvestigationas beencompared otheobservationalciences.RdgisMessac'smonumental1929 workLe "DetectiveNovel" et 'influence e la penseescienti-fiqueinventoriedhisassociationwithsomewhat ontradictorye-sults.10Messac definedhedetective enre s a story hat enters nthegradualndrational rocess f xplaining mysteriousvent. rac-ingthis hread fnarrativexplanation,Messac supplied genealogy,findingredecessorsnarange fworks rom reek cience nddrama,Talmudic ndArabian ales, ighteenth-centuryseudo-orientalalesof erendipWalpole) ndZadig Voltaire),othe lassicalworks fPoe,Gaboriau, ndDoyle Messac, ).Messac connects hegenre's nravel-ingofmysteryyrationalmeans to thedevelopment f scientificthoughtnd the deology ftheEnlightenment.hustheroots fde-tectionay nthequestioningndrational xplanationfmiracles,n-9. Jonathanrary, echniques fthe Observer: n Vision ndModernityn the

NineteenthenturyCambridge: IT Press, 999), ndSuspensionsfPerception:t-tention,pectacle ndModern ultureCambridge: ITPress, 999).10. R6gisMessac,Le "DetectiveNovel" et l'influence e la penseescientifique(Paris: ibrairie ncienne onoreChampion, 929).The relationf his tronglympir-icalandhistorical ork oSiegfriedracauer'slmost ntirelyheoreticalerDetektiv-Roman,whichwaswrittentalmost he ame time 1922-25,butonlypartiallyub-lished ntil1971) xceeds he copeof his ssay.Messac'sworkwashighlynfluentialonWalter enjamin's nderstandingf hedetectivetory.



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78 Yale French tudiescluding hoseofMontaigne,rotestantttacks n Catholic supersti-tions," nd DavidHume'sskepticism. herationallyif ftenmprob-ably) xplainedmysteriesftheGothicnovelsofAnneRadcliffe,ndespecially chiller'sGeisterseherrovided orMessac thenarrativeform f rationalpproach oapparentmiracles, irectlynticipatingtheform f hemodern etectivetory.Messaccomplicatesperhapsontradicts?)his ong raditionnd tsalignment ith he cientificnlightenmenty lsotracingherelationbetweenhegenrend hematerialonditionsfmodernity,oth he n-vironmentfthemodem ity hat upplied hedecor or hegenrendthemassreadershiphatmade hegenre commercialormMessac, 1;389-92;419-23).Messac'swork penswith n invocationfthegreatrailwaytation f hemodemmetropolis,rovidingot nly n emblemof hemodernitynd ts nergynd mmediacy,ut lsothe lacewheredetectivetoriesre soldenmasse.Thedetectivetory, essacclaims,offersiteratureorrespondingoanewmoderneality:If hedetectivenovels roliferatet s because heyatisfyneed, newneed" 5).InhisconclusionMessac admits hat herelation etweendetec-tivefiction ndscientifichought emained atheruperficial,'1ai-lored o themassreadershiphatdefinestsmodernity.nitiallyMes-sac differentiateshedetectivetory romhefirstnstance fmodernmassreadershipnFrance, hefeuilletonftheearlynineteenthen-tury,ontrastinghe larity,ompression,ndsystematicxplanationof heclassicalPoe taletothe"interminable"erial onstructionndvagueclosure f hefeuilleton. utultimatelyeconfesses heir on-fluence.Althoughogically ndcompositionallypposed othecon-cise tale ofdetection,hefeuilletonended oswallow thedetectivestory.Within hefeuilleton,hedetective'sogical ndsystematicn-vestigationolongerupplied he rmaturefnarrativeevelopmentandclosure, ut imply ecameoneepisode nthefeuilleton'sngoingrush f ensations.Messac devotes s much ime oPonsonduTerrail'sfeuilleton ocambole s to PoeorDoyle.Slightlymore han decade ater,RogerCaillois in hisshort 941bookLe romanpolicierfollows similar rajectory.aillois initiallyclaims thatthedetective enre pposestheanarchy f the novelby11. Ibid. 67-68.Ginzburg'slignmentf hedetectivetory ith henon-Galileiantraditionsf ndividuatingonjecture ight ave uppliedMessacwith wayoutofhissomewhatontradictorylaims boutthegenre's elation o scientific ethods.Mes-sac'stracingfthe nfluencefCooper's athfindern theFrench rime nddetectivenovelpointsn thisdirectionnd upplied ne ofhis most nfluentialnsights.



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TOM GUNNING 79obeying recise ules, uchas the structuralnversionftheplot,be-ginningwiththediscoveryf thecrime ndthenreconstructingheevents hat recededt."This snot narrative,ut deduction. storyis nottold,but s rather econstructed."12orCaillois,thegenrewasgrowingrogressivelyore"mathematical":Reasoning liminatessensation."Caillois traces n evolution rom heromantic eroes fPonsondeTerrailndEughneuetothedrawingoom etectives f hetwenties ndthirties,uchas theobeseandhedonistic eroWolfwhorarelyeaveshisoffice,ut ntellectuallyiguresutthe ogicofthecrime. hecodificationf ules f hegenre,s supplied y heEnglishDetectiveClub,marks healmost lgebraic ondition fthegenrenitsfinal volution:hegenre ecomes jeudel'espirit,n"intellectualmechanism"whosepleasures re bstract16-25)."Onedoesnotpickup a detective ovelfor hepleasureofbeingtolda story," ailloisclaims."Rather neparticipatesna magic how n whichthemagi-cian mmediatelyeveals llhis secrets"35).Cailloissubstituteshe raditionf hebrainteaserndmathemat-ical abstraction orthe scientificmethod, ut his argumentbouttheevolution fthegenreparallelsMessac's--including is secondthoughts. ailloisultimatelyeverses is divorce fthe ogical, ule-bounddetectivetoryromts ensational eginnings.aillois realizesthat hepopularityfthedetectivetory epends n itscorpses 53).Thegenre, edecides, xists nthetension etween wopoles, hat f"theambitions f ntelligence"ndthe"appetite or ensation"68).Thegenre annot urvive implyntherarifiedtmospheref ogicalproblem olving: The shadowofdeathmustfallover he ndifferentschemas f ogic" 54).The comparison fthedetectivetorywiththeabstract rotocolsof he cientificmethod, venbythosewhoseemtochampiont,doesnotyield n dentificationf hegenrewith he bstractision ndpro-cessesofrationality.tbest, ogicaldeduction upplies neaspectofthegenre-an aspectdialecticallyelated othe evasionsofa villain(Cailloisquotesmystery riter ierreV6ry's iew of heFantomas e-ries,dentifyinghepoleof ensationwith hebandit ant6mas ndthepoleof ogical nvestigationithhisadversarynspector uveCaillois,68-69]). The optiqueofthedetectivenvolves hesubterfugesf n-visibilitysmuch s it nvolves laritynd demonstration.

12. Roger aillois,Leroman olicier BuenosAires: ditions es ettres ranraises/Sur, 941), 2.



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80 YaleFrench tudiesTHE FLICKERING DETECTIVE: TRUTHAND ITS SCREENSSilhouette fhorror,ilhouetteimultaneouslyrecisend ndistinct,silhouette hichmeltednto henight, isappearingor n nstant,reappearings a dark pot n thebrightackgroundf hewall-itwasthe ilhouettefFant6mas-Pierre SouvestrendMarcelAllain, ant6mas:Le policier pache 1911)

Asavisualmedium,he inemamust ackle he ssueofvisualitywitha visualrhetoric.inema n ts seconddecade 1906-1916)underwenta gradualnarrativization,s morecomplexstoriesand charactersappeared round1909,entailing shiftn genres.Cinema, I haveclaimed,'3 merged irst s a meansofvisualdisplay ather hannar-ration. ntil round 906 naestheticfvisual ttractions,atherhanthecreation f coherenttoryine or well-definedharacters,omi-natedmostfilms.Although arrativeecomes ncreasinglymportantafter 907, heemerginginematic enres tillprivilege ighly isualaction verdevelopmentf haractersrplot. nearly rench inema,thedetectivemerges rom ilmsn which hedeductivespect f ap-turinghecriminal lays ittlerole.Slapstick omedies, hasefilms,andtrick ilms ormed hemostpopular ictional enres efore 909anddetectiveiguresppear ccasionallynallof hem.Althoughmostearly hasefilmswere omedies, number ortrayedursuit f rimi-nals, uch sPathe'sUn tour u monde olicier 1906), es chiens on-trebandiers1906), rLes chiensdepolice 1907), maging learly heopposing olesofpursuing oliceandfleeingulprit.

The strongelation etween hetrick ilm ndthedetective enreentails more omplex volution. he trick enre ppearedwiththeorigins fcinema, xploring ossibilities f hefilm pparatus nd tstechniques, s substitutionplicesandstopmotioncreatedmagicaltransformationsnthe arly ilms fMd1iesndPathe.Likemost f hecinemaof ttractions,hetrick ilmdepended nvisualnovelty,ndbyaround 907thegenre eeded enewal. he French etective enreemerged radually, oving romheseriesofone-reel ilms eaturingdetectivesNick Carter,Nick Winter,ndNat Pinkerton eginningabout1908to tsfloweringnthe eries fmulti-reelilms fZigomar13. See "TheCinema fAttractions"ndother ssays atheredn ThomasElsaesserandAdamBarker,ds.,EarlyCinema:SpaceFrameNarrativeLondon: ritishilm n-stitute,990).



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TOM GUNNING 81andFant6mas rom 911to1914.14 s cinema nteredheteens, am-eratricks ecameabsorbed ntothe ncreasinglyopularnarrativizedgenres fcrime ilms, istorical ramas,ndsociety omedies. ntheearly evelopmentf hedetective enre,inematicricksould magetheprocesses f mbiguous ision nd elusive dentity.Trick ilms hat enewed hemysteriousppearancesndtransfor-mationofthegenre y ntroducing ysteriousriminals ursued yfrustratedoliceshadowed heorigin fthedetective enre.MartinaDahlquisthas analyzed seriesof ateFrench rick ilms tretchingfrom 908 o1912 Levoleurmysterieux,lippery im, rtheme upinechappe encore).These films mploy battery f trickdevices in-cluding bject nimation-theprincipal ost-M6li&srick ffect,n-troducednFrance round 907), reatingrookswithmpossiblylex-ibleandprotean odies hat efyhe aws ofnature. heseanamorphicculpritsemove heir eet oshakeoffeg rons; lattenhemselveshinenough oslideunder oors;makethemselvesnto ausage-likeubestoget hrougholes, nd, hroughubstitutionuts, ppearmagically,fade romnepart f room oanother,r imply isappear.nplaceofthepredictableodiescataloguednd dentifiedypolicethroughheBertillonmethod, hesecriminals ossessuniquely inematic odiesmirroringhe lipperyature f hefilmmage nd tsdevices.Assuch,they mbody utopiandreamof iberationndanarchy,hevisualequivalent f he nsaisissableFant6mas eingntroducedround hesame time nthe erialnovelbyPierre ouvestrendMarcelAllain.A 1911one-reel ilm rom ath6'sNickWinter etectiveeries, epickpocketmystifi6,hows thedetective enre mergingut ofthecomedy rick ilms ut stillrelyingn thehypervisualityf arly in-ema,demonstratingheformativeolethat mages fvision ndcon-cealment layedntheoriginf hegenre. gamut fdevicesholds hefilm ogether,ll dealingwithvisualizing rime nd detection atherthandeveloping coherent arrative f deduction. he filmbeginswitha pickpocket ollowing bankmessenger. he pickpocket es-tureshis ntentionsfrobberyothecamera.nthefilm's hirdhot,

14. I noted he nteractionf he rick enrend thedetectiveilmn"Attractions,Detection, isguise:Zigomar, assetnd theHistory fGenresn EarlyFilm,"Grif-fithiana 7 (May, 993). thassincebeenfurthereveloped yMarinaDahlquist n herexcellent issertationThe nvisible een nFrench inemabefore917" UniversityfStockholm,001).Richard belprovidesnexcellent verviewf hedetectiveenrenearly rench inema nThe CineGoesto Town: rench inema 1896-1914 Berkeley:UniversityfCaliforniaress, 994), 55-88.



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82 YaleFrench tudiesdetectiveNick Winter ppears nd observes hepairsurreptiously,seeminglyngagednlighting ispipe, s they nter bankbuilding.He thendraws utabookcontaininghotographsfknown riminals.With cut-in o a mediumclose-up,Winter oldsthe book so it isclearly isible othecamera ndbegins eafinghrought.He locatesthepickpocket'smug hot, urns o thecamera ndexpresses elight.Inside thebuilding,NickWinter ucksbehind pillar, henre-emerges,isguisednanentirelyewcostumewith fake eard.nthebankoffice,Winterbserves hemessengertill hadowed y hepick-pocket.Acut-in o a closeshotfocuses nthe ane thepickpocket asplaced on a counternext to the bankmessenger's atchel.Prongsemerge romt,openthesatcheland removebanknotes,replacingthemwithnewspapers. he closeshot howsonly heprocess frob-bery,gnoringhecharacters.'s lthoughherobbery lays keyroleinthefilm's tory,tsvisualization solates t as an attractionn tself,theplayof hings ominatingverhuman nteraction.Inthefollowingong hot,we see Winteridleupto thepickpocketand ift hebanknotesfrom im,observed ythemessenger hobe-lieveshe iswitnessing robbery.Winters seizedbya group fmenwhotakehimoffo thepoliceas a thief. hecamera racks nfrontfWinter ndthe rowd sthemenmarch imdown he treet o thepo-lice headquartersn an extraordinaryhot.At police headquarters,Winter resents is card, hown n close-up: trianglewithan eyewithin twith he nscription,NickWinter etective." n thereturntolong hot, hestolenbonds rediscoveredn thepickpocket,Win-ter sreleased,ndthebankmessengerhakeshandswithWinter.

Thisone-reel ilm ellsa coherenttory fcrime nddetection yforegroundinghevisualaspects f hedetective'sursuit f hecrim-inalandtheculprit's rimes.nplaceof ogicaldeduction, ifficultoimage, hephotographicile fknown riminalsdentifiesheculprit.Winter'smmediate onning fa disguise s achievedthroughrickwork.Trick ubstitutionffects,liminatinghetimenecessary ortransformation,ouldmakeany performerheequal of suchquick-change rtistes s Trewey rFregoli. hemethod fthecrime, singthemechanical ane apparentlyccomplished inematicallyhroughstop-motionnimation),ecomes visualattraction ithin hefilm,as does theprocess f akingWinterhroughhe treet opolicehead-quarters hroughheflamboyantnd unusualtrackinghot.Along15. Abeldescribestas stopmotionnhisdiscussionf hefilm,55-56.



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TOM GUNNING 83with hese inematic evices, hevisuality fmodern oliceprocessesshapesthenarrativetrategiesfLe pickpocketmystifif,rom heBertillondentificationf he ulprit sing photographicile hroughWinter's nobservedurveillance. is emblem s a detective,heeyewithin he riangle,mitates he mblem fAlanPinkerton'sureau fprivatenvestigators,ut lso nscribes he enseof power f urveil-lance, watchfulranscendentye.But ven n this imple lot, uccessfulurveillancentersects ithtechniques f nvisibilitynd misidentification.isguise,themaintechnique fthefeuilleton etective rpolicespyfrom idocqtoIn-spectorJuveandnot at all scornedbyM. Lecoq or evenSherlockHolmes)creates n arena fdeceptiveppearancehared ydetectivesandcrooks. hatWinter's isguisesachievedhere y trickffectn-derscores henarrativizationf trick evice, ather hanforeground-ing t. The film alancesnew scenarioswithestablished echniques,opening hewayfor henewdetective enre.BythetimeFant6maswas broughto thescreenbyGaumont n1913-1914,theprocess fnarrativizationadprogressednd thede-tective ilm's elations othe tricks f he cinemaof ttractions,tillsoevident n tsdirect redecessor,tclair's911-1913Zigomar eries,became morevestigial. ut, s DahlquistandMonicaDall'Astahavenoted,6 he inematicFant6mas srealized ydirectorouisFeuilladeprofoundlyngagedhedialectic fvision ndobscurity.nSouvestreandAllain'snovels,FantOmas's ngraspable ature xpressesmorethan imply isability oevadecapture. hatno onecan ayahandonhimbecomes lmost preternaturaluality,lmostmaking antomasintoa bodiless,nearly mnipresentorce. antomasdissolves nto anear bstraction. ebecomes, sthefamous peninginesof he eriessays,"Nothing... andeverything.. Nobody .. andyetneverthe-lesssomebody "1-the very rinciplefmodern errornd ts nvisi-ble,yet lways ensed, hreat.In thethirty-twoovelsthat omprise heseries, ant6mas akeson numerous alse dentitiesfifty-twoamedones,plus abouttwodozenanonymous iguresythe countofDidierBlonde18).Although

16. Dahlquist, 97-98;MonicaDall'Asta, Ilcostume ero aZigomar Musidora,"in l colore elcinemamuto, d.MonicaDall'Aste,Guglielmo escatore,nd LeonardoQuaresimaBologna:ManoEdizioni, 996), 64-81.17. Pierre ouvestrendMarcelAlain,Fant6masNewYork:WilliamMorrowndCompany, 986), 1.18. DidierBlonde, esvoleurs esvisagesParis:M6taili6, 992).They re isted npages140-44.



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84 YaleFrench tudiesthereader anusually pot hem,he vatars fFant8mas reonly rad-ually recognized yJuve.n theprologues o Feuillade'sFant8masfilms,hese dentitiesre aid bareto theaudiencefromhestart nasequenceofmediumclose-upsdissolving rom he actor Ren6Na-varre)whoplaysFant6mas o eachofhisdisguises.19 hile hisfilmicdevicegives hefigurefFant6mas nderlyinghedisguisesmorevi-sualpresencehanhe has nthenovels, heprologueslsohighlightismostmysteriousisguise,TheMan inBlack,"body ndface overedby blackbodystockingnd hood.As Navarre ullsthehood overhisface, he hotgoesdark,mergingis veiledfigure ith hedarkness ftheframeoend theprologue.TheblackfigurefFant6mas akesonnotonly hetraditionalon-notations fdeathorevil,but also invisibility. s in theZigomar e-ries, heblending fblackcostumeswithdarkunlitbackgroundsl-lowsfiguresither oemerge rom othingnessr toescapeback ntoobscurity.ut heeffectf ctualdisappearancer udden mergence,sowellworked ut nJasset's igomar ilms,ppearsnfrequentlynFeuillade'sFant6mas eries,perhaps ecausethe devicesmacks toomuch ofthetrick ilm.ncontrastoJasset, hoseZigomarusedallthedevices f hetrick enre, euillade elf-consciouslytageshisun-canny ventswithin recognizable orld,making tunningse of o-cationshooting,-theactual streets, rain tations, nd rooftops fParis.WhenFant6mas,nJuve ersus ant6mas, scapesfrom oliceagents olding isarms, is"manteau ruqu," anovercoatwhosefakearms emain nthehandsof hepoliceashesprintsway, xplainshisescape,notthemagicaldevices f inematic ricks.

ThusFeuilladedevisednewscenarios fvisibilityndobscurity,such as themaskedball in Fant6mas ontre ant6mas 1914),whichuses thedeepstaginghatdirectorsikeFeuillade, vgeniiBauer, ndFranzHoferntroducedn thefeatureilms f he arly eens, newvi-sual style uited o thenarrative mbitions fthenewnarrativein-ema.20 nLepolicier pache, he ource fFant6mas ontreFant6mas,19. I havediscussed hedifferentarrativeack aken y hefilmssexemplifiednthisprologuen "ATale ofTwoPrologues: ctorsndRoles,DetectivesndDisguisesinFantomas ilm ndNovel,"The Velvet ight rap 7 1996).20. Discussion ftheuseofdeep tagingn theteens anbefoundn YuriTsivian,"Two Stylists'f heTeens:FranzHofer ndYevgenii auer,"nASecond ife:GermanCinema's FirstDecades, ed. ThomasElsaesser Amsterdam:msterdam niversityPress, 996), 64-76;BenBrewsterndLeaJacobs,heatre oCinema:StagePictorial-ism andtheEarly eature ilm NewYork:Oxford niversityress, 997); nd,dealingspecificallyithFeuillade, avidBordwell, istoryfFilmStyle Cambridge: arvardUniversityress, 997).



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TOM GUNNING 85themaskedballheldbyDuchess Alexandraactually adyBeltham,Fant6mas' over)for outParisprovides n intricate ameofblurredidentities.21andor,heyoung ournalistompanion f nspector uve,decides o attend heballdressedntheblackmaillot ndhoodofFan-t8mas, s doesapolice gent ccompanyingheCommissioner. ottobeoutdone, antOmas imselfppears t theball n his blackgarb.Feuillade ilms heball in a single ong hot, rom somewhat le-vatedanglethat llows thedepth f theballroomwith tscostumeddancers oprovideneye-catchingackground.heDuchesssits ntheforegroundreetinguests. he firstman n black presumablyandor)enters, ows, ndkissesherhand.Anumber fguests, ttractedyhisnovelcostume omeforwardndgawk thim, ctually ickingthisblacksilk.He moves nto hebackground ith hedancers nddisap-pearsfrom iew, wallowed y hemerry-makers.he center f tten-tionreturns otheforegrounds the PoliceCommissionerndcom-panion appear n eighteenth-centuryressand pay respects o theDuchess.They ummon rom ff creen he econdman nblack,pre-sumablyhepolice gent,whoalsopayshisrespects. sheenters,an-dorbecomesvisible mong hedancersnthebackground,pparentlycatching ight fhisdouble.He comesforwardo therightoregroundwhere hetwoblackclad men confrontachother,mirroringctionsas they ow toeachother,henbothdisappears theymergewith hedancers nthebackground.euilladebrieflyutsawayas a thirdmaninblack presumablyant6mas imself) rrivesn a car.Returningothe ameframingsbefore,heCommissionerises romhe hair exttotheDuchess, ndthenewcomer rosses oher,kissesherhand, ndsitsnext o her.One of heotherFant6mases ecomesvisibledancinginmidground. thirdFant6mas ises odancewith heDuchessas theotherFant6mas ances ntoproximity.hemirrorouplescollide nforeground,nd a confrontationakesplace nthecenter f heframeas other ancers atherround hem nd challengeeems obe ssuedbetween hetwomen nblack.Theywalkaway ntothedepth, isap-pearingn the crowd.Afterhey re no longer isible, thirdman nblack we ater ealize t is Fandor) nters rom oreground,earchingfor heothers.Usingthe effectsfdeep stagingdepth fplaying pace,directingattention hroughntrance nd exitsand concealing nd revealingcharactershroughhemovement fextras, ymmetryfcomposi-tion), euillade eadstheviewer'sye hroughcarnival f hiftingen-

21. SouvestrendAllain, epolicier pache Paris: resses ocket, 973), 47-62.



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86 YaleFrench tudiesters f ttention hatparallel heconfusionsf dentitieshat urkbe-neath theplayfulmultiplication fmen in black.Whilehardly sbaroque s theconfrontationhat akesplace n the Duchess'wintergarden uringhemasked all n thenovel with eflectionsf rue ndfalseFant6masesmultipliedntheglasspanesof heconservatory)Lepolicier pache,259-60),Feuillade's table ramingrounds shiftingplayof dentity.cenesofvisualambiguitynteractwithFeuillade'suse of lose-ups oreveal hemethods f rime,vidence f vildeeds,orclues of dentitythemonogram inGurn'shat nFant6mas; hehollowbottle hrough hichFantOmas reathes nderwater nJuvecontreFant6mas;Elizabeth oncealing henote nthedeskblotternLemort ui tue;Fant8mas urningnthedeadly as nLefauxmagis-trat).Thehyper-visualityfonesuch clueprovides reductio d absur-dumoftherevelatoryowerofthecinema. n Le mort ui tue, fterPrincess onia'spearlnecklacehas beenstolen, fingerprintnherneck sshown nclose-up, policeagent's ingerntheframe ointingto the mpression. his incriminatingvidence s thenphotographedand thephotographlsoappearsnclose-up sFandor xaminest.Po-liceagent ertillonxamines hephotographndcomesupwith n"in-falliblematch"for hefingerprint.his identificationiche, ontain-ingphotographsnd fingerprints,lso appears n close-up.Buttheidentificationoints oJacques ollon whowas murderedn his cellearlynthefilm. ntypical rand uignolesquemanner, e learn hatFant6masmadeglovesof skinstripped rom ollon's hand, herebyleaving hefingerprintsfa deadman. When he Stateprocesses ndcatalogues odiestosupplynfallibleignsof dentity,hen hebodycan alsobere-processed,ot n thecarnivalesquemanner fSlipperyJim,utthroughhe cientificrocesses f urgery.Celebratinghecriminal's vasionofcapture, lurringf dentity,and the mbiguityfvision n thedetective enre s signs f radicalresistanceoregimes f ontrolmaydonothingmore han alorize herulesof hegame.But gnoringhecomplex antasies,ncludinghoseofresistance,nherentnthepush/pull f hegenre enderstsappealincomprehensible.he processes f detailed nvestigationnFrenchdetective tories nd filmsfinds heirreversedmage n thefeuil-letonesque scapes, hefts,ndmurders erformedycriminals. so-lating ither spectultimately mpoverishesur viewof thegenre.Modern echniquesfdetailed bservationndprocessingf vidence,while constantlypressingagainst barriersofopacitywith new tech-



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TOM GUNNING 87nologiesof enhancedvision and morenuancedprocesses fcatego-rization,lsospawnnew methods f vasion, uchas Fantimas's alsefingerprints.heinversemirroringf he awbytheoutlawrehearsedin theseadventuresmay merely xpress modern bsessional om-pulsion, atherhan radical lternativeo thepanoptical ociety. ut,evenas mere ymptoms,uchambiguities resent t leasta reactionto,notsimply n application f,regimes fcontrol. ortheculturalcritic,uch ncidentsmustbecome lues, vidence f tangled istoryofboth ffortstcontrol nd fantasies frevolt.Twoexamples,worthyfmore omplete nalysis,might erve s aconclusion: euillade's1913filmUne erreurragiquendJules lare-tie's1897novelL'accusateur.22nboth, vidence f crime eemstobeproduced ynewtechnologicalmeans. nFeuillade'sfilm, inemabecomes nunwitting itness s a manviewing Gaumont omedyfilm hot n the treetsfParis eeshiswife assby nthebackgroundof shot, rm narmwith notherman.Hebuys print f hefilm ndin close-up crutinizes he frames e believesshowevidenceof hiswife's dultery. bsessed,heplotsherdeath, nly o discoverhemanpictureds herbrotherustreturned rom broad.Claretie'snoveladopts hepseudoscience f he ptogramme,hereputedrace f lastvision eft n theretina f corpse. xaminationf heretina f mur-der ictim ields man's mage, resumablyhemurdererhoslashedthevictim's hroat.23he detective dentifiesheimageas a closefriend fthevictim.Theman s arrested,uteventuallyt is discov-ered hat he magedoesnotpicture hemurderer,uta portraithevictimhad ofhisfriend,he astthing egazedon ashe died.

Inboth f heseworks,heplotturns nrevealingheunreliabilityofvisualevidence, venwhenrelyingn newscientificechnologyocapture hings oteasily een.They stage heoscillation etween i-sionandobscurityhat ules he detective enre. he detectivetory,especiallyspracticednFrance t the urn f he entury,articipatesina modern isualculture wareof he ttractionsfhiding swellasseeking, f thefailure f nsight s well as itssuccesses.Within his22. TranslatedsTheCrime f heBoulevardNewYork:Arno ress, 976)Reprint).OliverGayckin roughthisnovel tomyattention nd havealso profitedrom isthoughtfuliscussion f he cientificndvisual spect f heFantomas ilms.23. Thehistoryf heoptogrammesdiscussednPhilippe ubois, Le corps t sesfant6mes: otes surquelquefictionshotographiquesans 'iconographiecientifiquede la secondemoiti du XIXsi.cle," inL'actephotographiquet autres ssais (Paris:Nathan, 991), 12-16.



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88 Yale French tudiesgenre, ight nd ts magecan never e takenfor ranted. o quoteamotto rom ean ucGodard'sHistoire ucinema whichncludes ef-erence o Uneerreurragique): This isnota just mage, t is justanimage.""24 hevacillation etween he earchingorhe ust mage ndthe ureof"justan image"defines hecritical nergyfthedetectivegenrenpopulariteraturend n film.

24. "Pas une mage uste, usteune mage."Godard uoted nGodard on+ Image1974-1991, d.ColinMcCabe andMary ea BandyNewYork:Harry brams,992), 5.

lynx eyed detective and shadow bandits: visuality and eclipse in french detective stories and films...

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