La Fête espagnole was credited by historian Georges Sadoul as the film that launched France’s first cinematographic avant-garde, the Impressionist movement. While most of the film is currently considered lost, this surviving collage of two or three short extracts also employs outdoor settings, naturalistic acting, and, as Jean Epstein noted, a reflection on movement and rhythm, the key features of Dulac’s approach to cinema. In the original film, two male protagonists fight to the death over an attractive, confident, and sensuous heroine, Soledad, who, unaffected by their combat, leaves with a third male. Similar to La Cigarette, this film reflects the post-war crisis in masculinity and the gap between men’s and women’s experience of the war. Soledad’s indifference caps a piercing commentary on women’s liberty and the pursuit of personal pleasure in the wake of a murderous war.

Tami Williams