In the Thick of Things: Rouch and Morin's Chronique d'un été Reconsidered

Argues for the relevance and contemporaneity of a film all too often reduced to passing mention as a prime example of postwar "cinema verite" documentary film. More than this, Rouch and Morin's "Chronique d'un ete" contributes to critical understanding of Paris in the summer of 1960 and France at the start of the Fifth Republic. Locates the film with reference to filmed ethnography and Rouch's early fieldwork in Africa, and shows how three sequences midway through the film trace a shift towards historical concerns related to decolonisation and the Occupation. Breakdown and summaries of these sequences are given in an appendix.