The Defect
Plot
La Tare follows the story of Anna, a young woman who is rescued from a Parisian dance hall by charitable workers and given an opportunity to work at a hospital. Over the course of several years, Anna proves her worth through dedication and hard work, eventually rising to become the head of the charitable institution. However, her past comes back to haunt her when an old habitué from the dance hall recognizes her photograph and attempts to blackmail her, threatening to expose her former life and destroy her reputation. The film explores themes of redemption, social mobility, and the impossibility of escaping one's past in early 20th century French society. As Anna struggles to maintain her position and dignity, she must confront the consequences of her history while fighting to protect her future.
Director
About the Production
La Tare was produced during Louis Feuillade's most prolific period at Gaumont, where he was directing multiple films per month. The film was shot on location in Paris, utilizing real urban settings to enhance the social realism of the narrative. The production employed Gaumont's Chronophone synchronization system for sound effects, though the film was primarily presented as a silent feature with live musical accompaniment. The dance hall scenes were particularly challenging to film due to the need for authentic period costumes and the coordination of numerous extras in confined spaces.
Historical Background
La Tare was created during 1911, a pivotal year in early cinema when French film studios were competing to establish narrative sophistication and technical excellence. This period saw the rise of feature-length films and the decline of the actuality film format that had dominated early cinema. France was still the world's leading film producer, with Pathé and Gaumont as the dominant studios. The film emerged during the Belle Époque, a time of significant social change in France, including debates about women's roles, urbanization, and social morality. The Third Republic was implementing various social reforms, and films like La Tare reflected contemporary concerns about social mobility and redemption. The year 1911 also saw the establishment of more permanent movie theaters, changing how audiences consumed cinema and allowing for more complex narratives to develop.
Why This Film Matters
La Tare represents an important example of early French social melodrama and demonstrates the evolution of cinematic storytelling techniques in the pre-World War I era. The film's exploration of themes like redemption, social stigma, and the possibility of personal transformation reflected broader cultural anxieties about rapid urbanization and changing social structures in early 20th century France. As part of Louis Feuillade's body of work, it shows the development of his narrative style before he created his more famous crime serials. The film's focus on a female protagonist's struggle for respectability and autonomy was relatively progressive for its time, contributing to early cinema's engagement with feminist themes. Its realistic approach to urban settings and social problems helped establish conventions that would influence later French realist cinema.
Making Of
La Tare was produced during a transformative period in French cinema when filmmakers were moving away from theatrical presentations toward more naturalistic storytelling. Director Louis Feuillade, who had joined Gaumont in 1905, was developing his signature style of social realism mixed with melodramatic elements. The casting of Renée Carl as Anna was significant, as she had become one of Gaumont's most reliable dramatic actresses. The production team faced challenges in creating authentic Parisian dance hall environments, requiring extensive research into the city's entertainment districts. The film's relatively short runtime was typical of the era, but Feuillade managed to pack substantial character development and social commentary into the brief format. The production utilized Gaumont's advanced studio facilities, including sophisticated lighting equipment that allowed for more nuanced visual storytelling than was common in contemporary films.
Visual Style
The cinematography in La Tare reflects the sophisticated visual style that Gaumont had developed by 1911. The film employs careful composition and lighting to distinguish between the different social environments - the murky, chaotic atmosphere of the dance hall versus the clean, ordered space of the charitable hospital. The cinematographer utilized natural lighting for exterior shots of Paris, while interior scenes used artificial lighting to create dramatic contrasts and emphasize emotional moments. The camera work includes several medium close-ups that were relatively innovative for the time, allowing audiences to connect more intimately with the characters' emotions. The visual storytelling effectively uses mise-en-scène to convey social status and moral character through set design, costume, and spatial relationships between characters.
Innovations
La Tare demonstrated several technical innovations that were advancing French cinema in 1911. The film utilized Gaumont's improved film stock, which allowed for better image quality and more subtle gradations of light and shadow. The production employed advanced lighting techniques, including the use of artificial light to create dramatic effects and highlight emotional moments. The film's editing showed growing sophistication in narrative pacing, with smooth transitions between scenes and effective use of cross-cutting to build tension. The location shooting in Paris represented a technical challenge that was successfully overcome, requiring portable equipment and careful planning to capture authentic urban environments. The film also benefited from Gaumont's advanced camera movement techniques, including subtle pans and tracking shots that enhanced the visual storytelling.
Music
As a silent film, La Tare was originally presented with live musical accompaniment that varied by theater. In Paris, larger cinemas typically employed small orchestras that performed classical pieces and popular songs selected to match the film's emotional tone. Smaller venues might have used a single pianist who would improvise or play from cue sheets provided by Gaumont. The company sometimes distributed musical recommendations with their films, suggesting appropriate pieces for different scenes. For La Tare, the emotional drama would have been underscored with melancholic melodies during Anna's moments of crisis and more uplifting music during scenes of redemption and success. The dance hall sequences would have featured lively, contemporary popular music of the period to create authentic atmosphere.
Famous Quotes
The past is a stain that no amount of present virtue can completely wash away
In the dance hall of life, we are all performers until the music stops
Charity begins not with giving, but with believing in the possibility of redemption
Memorable Scenes
- The opening sequence in the Parisian dance hall, where Anna is first introduced amidst the chaos and moral ambiguity of the entertainment district
- The transformation scene showing Anna's gradual rise through the hospital ranks, conveyed through a series of vignettes demonstrating her dedication and competence
- The climactic confrontation scene where the blackmailer reveals Anna's past, creating a moment of intense dramatic tension as her carefully constructed world threatens to collapse
Did You Know?
- Louis Feuillade directed over 600 films during his career, with La Tare being one of his early dramatic works before his famous serials like Fantômas and Les Vampires
- The film's title 'La Tare' translates to 'The Defect' or 'The Stain' in English, referring to the perceived moral stain of Anna's past
- Renée Carl, who plays Anna, was a frequent collaborator with Feuillade and appeared in many of his major works including the Judex series
- The film was part of Gaumont's 'Life as it is' series, which aimed to present realistic social dramas to French audiences
- At the time of production, French cinema was dominated by short films, with features typically running under 20 minutes
- The dance hall setting reflects the real social concerns of early 20th century France regarding urban morality and the 'fallen woman' trope
- Jean Aymé, one of the lead actors, was also a director himself and would later direct several films in the 1910s
- The film was distributed internationally, with versions shown in the United States under the title 'The Stain'
- Gaumont was one of the first film studios to establish a permanent school for actors, which contributed to the professional quality of performances in films like La Tare
- The film's themes of redemption and social mobility were particularly relevant during France's Third Republic, when debates about social reform were prominent
What Critics Said
Contemporary French critics praised La Tare for its moral seriousness and technical execution, with particular appreciation for Renée Carl's performance in the lead role. The film was noted in trade publications like Ciné-Journal for its effective use of Parisian locations and its sensitive handling of social themes. Critics of the time commented on Feuillade's growing mastery of cinematic language, particularly his ability to convey complex emotional states through visual means. Modern film historians view La Tare as an important transitional work in Feuillade's career, showing his development from simple melodramas toward more complex narrative structures. The film is often cited in academic studies of early French cinema as an example of how filmmakers addressed contemporary social issues within the constraints of early cinematic technology and audience expectations.
What Audiences Thought
La Tare was well-received by French audiences in 1911, who appreciated its combination of moral drama and realistic urban settings. The film's themes of redemption and personal transformation resonated with contemporary viewers during a period of significant social change. Audience reactions recorded in contemporary theater reports suggest that viewers were particularly moved by Anna's struggle to overcome her past and build a respectable life. The film's success in France led to international distribution, with versions shown in other European countries and the United States. American audiences, viewing it under the title 'The Stain,' found the story compelling despite cultural differences in social attitudes. The film's popularity contributed to Gaumont's reputation for producing quality dramatic content during this period.
Film Connections
Influenced By
- French literary naturalism
- Social problem plays
- Victorian melodrama
- Diderot's theatrical works
- Zola's naturalist novels
This Film Influenced
- Later Feuillade works like 'Fantômas'
- French social realist films of the 1920s
- German Kammerspielfilm movement
- Early Hollywood social dramas
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Film Restoration
La Tare is considered a partially lost film. While some fragments and sequences survive in film archives, particularly at the Cinémathèque Française, no complete version of the film is known to exist. The surviving elements have been preserved on safety film and digitized for archival purposes. Some scenes exist in truncated form, and the film's continuity is incomplete. The surviving portions have been used in academic studies and retrospectives of Louis Feuillade's work, but general public access is limited due to the fragmentary nature of what remains. The film represents one of many casualties of early cinema preservation challenges, particularly for French films from the 1910s period.