Laborderie, Pascal
Violence in the cinema: a debate in the networks of denominational and secular film clubs (France, 1946-1953)
- 2018.
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After the Second World War, debates in film club federations and publications focus on cinema’s influence on youth and the issue of violence. The debates are organized according to a main division between secular and religious journals, Catholic and Protestant publications, but other divisions also emerge. Indeed against the backdrop of the Cold War and anti-Americanism, in a general context of offensive secularism, the dividing lines and criteria (political, moral, intellectual) are mobile. The authors study more closely three journals (over the period 1946-1953) from the note cards, the grading or rating tables they offer to their readers, as well as three films that gave rise to very contrasting judgments.