A Scapegoat and a Flawless Man: The Dreyfus Affair in Roman Polański’s Film “An Officer and a Spy” and Selected Problems of Its Reception
Łucja Demby
lucja.demby@uj.edu.plJagiellonian University (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8786-9849
Abstract
The article concerns Roman Polański’s film An Officer and a Spy, whose plot is based on the story of one of the most famous trials, known as the Dreyfus affair. The author analyses the attitudes of the film protagonists in the context of the well-known “scapegoat theory”, proposed by Rene Girard. Here, the notion of a scapegoat refers to Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew accused and unjustly sentenced to exile as an alleged German spy. The sentence is challenged by lieutenant colonel Picquart, who is defined in the film as a “flawless man”. The problem of “flaw” in relation to him and other characters and the world presented is much more complex, and indifference turns out to be the greatest flaw of the human nature.
Keywords:
Dreyfus affair, scapegoat, Roman Polanski, anti-SemitismReferences
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Authors
Łucja Dembylucja.demby@uj.edu.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8786-9849
Associate Professor in the Institute of Audiovisual Arts at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She specialises in film theory and analysis, and research combining theatre, music, and film studies. She is an author of the book Poza rzeczywistością. Spór o wrażenie realności w historii francuskiej myśli filmowej [The Concept of the ‘Impression of the Reality’ in French Film Theory] (2002), numerous journal articles and book chapters. Her book Harmonia świata. Twórczość filmowa Nikity Michałkowa [Harmony of the World: Nikita Mikhalkov’s Film Work] (2009) was the first research monograph on the films of the Russian director. Recently she has been interested also in Polish television series.
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