The Postgraduate Networking Project

Sachiko Shikoda Institute of Film & Television Studies The School of American and Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham Nationality: Japanese Funded Full-Time Registration (directly as PhD): October 1998 Completion: July 2003 Director of Studies: Prof.Mark Jancovich Second Supervisor: Dr.Russell King The aim of the PhD To address a subject that seemed to have received curiously insufficient attention in film studies, i.e., Truffaut's five adaptations based on American crime thriller novels. In other words, to shed light on an aspect of the films as products of a complex and dynamic cross-cultural and cross-medium practice involving a shift between countries, societies, cultures and languages. Experience in stages towards the PhD Following my supervisor's advice, I began with building up bibliography (literature research) as soon as I got a rough research design and identified relevant areas of study and key books in each field. As I got to know the subject better, I was able to redesign and redefine my research plan in more precise terms. Thus I did not worry about doing the "literature review" first, and then proceed to write up, which seems to be a traditional way to work, but it suited me well. Field work was made easy due to the presence of "interlibrary loan" facility: to access materials from the US and sometimes from France. Writing up required quite a bit of perseverance: I was lucky to be able to stay on campus as a resident tutor in one of the Halls of Residence. This allowed me an easy access to the library and also helped lighten the sense of isolation during this otherwise very lonely period of time. Support My university supported my study by granting me their full-tuition fee research scholarship and funded me for a conference trip to Paris. My supervisors were very generous with their time and gave me plenty of advice. They also provided me with moral support when things were not very easy. The Institute of Film Studies organised weekly research seminars for postgraduates to present their "work-in-progress": this not only prepared me to present my work in public but also provided me with lots of feedback from peers. The Institute also organised talks by leading academics from both UK and overseas. These occasions were often followed by friendly drinks.  I also got small postgraduate conference funds from University of Southampton, in 2001 and the Institute of Romance Studies, University of London, in 2002. University of Nottingham also provides its students with counselling service for free of charge which I really appreciated. Mostly fellow students at the school supported each other: we organised something like working groups (I cannot remember the exact name): we would meet once a week or so to discuss smaller issues that we were not sure to raise during the official departmental seminars. It was a good occasion to try out ideas in a non-threatening environment. Also, for me as a non-native speaker of English, finding a proof reader was a sheer nightmare. I was really lucky to have two of my friends in the department who were generous to check my English before submission of my manuscript and final copy. What you would suggest to a new PhD student... Personally, I found it was rather important: to keep my audience in mind; to keep my sense of perspective; as well as to take regular exercise (I swam, practiced yoga and tennis). And a good timemanagement, of course. Abstract of the Thesis: Adaptation, Auteurism, Intertextuality:  Truffaut's Crime Thriller Adaptations This thesis intends to address the subject that has often been overlooked in film studies and Truffaut criticism: François Truffaut's five crime thriller films based on American novels, namely, Shoot the Piano Player (1960), The Bride Wore Black (1967), Mississippi Mermaid (1969), Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me (1973) and Finally Sunday! (1983). As evident in a common critical remark such as 'the auteur's sophisticated visualisation of pulp novel,' this subject is redolent with references to numerous binary oppositions, which will be examined in the thesis, such as: novels versus films; the French auteur's films in opposition to mainstream American genre fiction; and 'popular' against 'high' culture and so forth. The first four chapters contextualise this project. Chapter 1 seeks to present an alternative account of the relationship between literature and film that has frequently been imagined as a binary conflict reproducing a cultural hierarchy. Chapter 2 problematises the ambivalent relationship between the French auteurists and the notion of the 'popular.' Chapter 3 addresses the implications of American popular culture - popular novels and Hollywood films in particular - within a postwar French context. Chapter 4 insists on a departure from close textual analyses and suggests a new hybridised approach to the filmmaker. This chapter also emphasises the significance of adaptation within Truffaut's oeuvre as products of a complex cross-cultural and cross-medium practice.   Chapters 5 to Chapter 9 consist of case studies that develop my arguments further and in a more concrete manner. Each chapter is devoted to the analysis of an individual case of adaptation, providing analyses of the five films together with their source texts drawing attention to various aspects of their textual and contextual creation. The chapters highlight the complexity of the process and address any patterns and diversity involved in adaptation. In the process these chapters also challenge a monolithic view of Truffaut and draw a more intricate portrayal of the director and his filmmaking practice.  Publications and Papers Adaptation as filmed homage: Truffaut, Une belle fille comme moi (1973), article to be included in Studies in French Cinema 2006. Nostalgia, Hollywood and Monochrome Style in Truffaut`s Finally Sunday! (1983), book chapter under consideration to be included in Translation and the Development of Detective Story, ed. Terry Hale, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters (forthcoming). Translating Crime: Truffaut, Cinematic Adaptation, and American Pulp Fiction, book proposal under consideration at various publishers in UK and US. Translation The Menace From the South Seas: Honda Ishiro's Godzilla (1954) by Inuhiko Yomota in Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts, Alastair Phillips and Julian Stringer, eds. Routledge: 2005) Book and Film Reviews: French National Cinema by Susan Hayward, Scope, February 2000. A Passion for Films: Henri Langlois and Cinematheque francaise by Richard Roud, Scope, August 2001 Day for Night, dir. Francois Truffaut, Scope, Special Edition: Portals: Exploring Films within Films, February 2001.   Princess Mononoke, dir. Hayao Miyazaki¡ and Across a Gold Prairie, dir. Isshin Inudo, Scope, Special Edition on Asian Cinema, August 2002. Current Job Currently teaching English and Film modules at the University of Tokyo, and Tokyo Metropolitan University. Contact details Department of English Studies, Tokyo Metropolitan University 1-1 Minami Osawa, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0397 Japan