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Mondial -- another presentation

From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 17:27:53 -0400 (EDT)
To: maison~at~jules-verne.net
Cc: dekiss~at~jules-verne.net, Jean-Michel Margot <jmmargot~at~mindspring.com>, jvforum <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>

Following Terry Harpold's lead, as a fellow member of the North American
Jules Verne Society I would like to present the following paper at the
Mondial:

RE-WRITING THE FATHER: THE NOVELS AND REDISCOVERED FILMS OF MICHEL
(JULES) VERNE


        To early filmmakers, Jules Verne was a contemporary author of
international repute, and for a decade after his death in 1905, one or two
new Verne books continued to be published annually. Recent scholarship
has proven that these were rewritten, and in a few cases even originated,
by Verne's son, Michel. After eight such books, in 1913 Michel turned to
the potentially more lucrative outlet of the cinema. He began a series
known as "Les Films Jules-Verne" for the French distributor Eclair from
1914-1919, producing five features, four of which he also wrote and
directed himself. As with the posthumous books, in the films Michel Verne
engaged in an act of filial piety, while simultaneously subverting his
father's work by continuing the rewriting of it, this time through a
process of adaptation to a new medium. Even while his father was still
alive, Michel Verne had promoted the conflation of their identity,
reconstructing his name as Michel Jules-Verne, or M. Jules Verne, so that
publishers would confuse him with his father. Although initially Michel
believed he would have the necessary budgets for elaborate productions
shot in locations around the world, he learned the problematic position of
the independent filmmaker. He discovered that his father had already
become a major screen presence in the cinema of many different countries,
and Michel's copyrights were not able to control films made in such
countries as the United States. For instance, two German films of Le Tour
de monde en 80 jours were released internationally during these years, and
Michel's announcement of a forthcoming production of Vingt Mille lieues
sous les mers was overwhelmed by Universal's decision to make TWENTY
THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA in 1916. As a result, Michel decided to
film some of his father's least-known stories, a disastrous choice
that
eliminated the potentially unique aspects of his narratives and doomed his
films to financial failure. This presentation will focus on these issues
of the independent filmmaker within the unique position of trying to
create authorized, familial adaptations, examining the historical, legal,
and psychological issues involved in Michel's endeavor and the larger
conclusions that can be drawn from his experience. With the 1997 discovery
and preservation by the Société Jules Verne of the second surviving film
of Michel's, LA DESTINEE DE JEAN MORENAS (itself derived from one of his
father's stories that he had rewritten and which was only published in its
original form in 1988), a comparison is possible with Michel's first film,
LES ENFANTS DU CAPITAINE GRANT, preserved at the Nederlands Filmmuseum,
and based on one of Jules Verne's most famous early novels.


Brian Taves
Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540-4692
Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax)
Email: btav~at~loc.gov


Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.
Received on Thu 21 Oct 2004 - 23:40:28 IST

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