L'Invitation au voyage (Invitation to a Journey)

L'Invitation au voyage / Invitation to a Journey is referred to as a “melody of images” by Dulac, and composed in response to the literary and theatrical cinema of the time. Titled after a symbolist poem by Baudelaire and a melody by Duparc, it is one of the best examples of the director's cinema of suggestion, as it seeks to capture the slightest nuances of the evolving sentiments between a young officer and a married woman who meet at a night-time cabaret. The film's movement, rhythm, and recurring circular motifs (props, setting and cinematography), which express the emancipation of the female protagonist and the general mobility of sexual roles, can also be seen to anticipate her “pure” films, such as Disque 957 (1929).
Tami Williams

Maud Nelissen & Finn Möricke (glasba)
Maud Nelissen: kompozicija, klavir; Finn Möricke: violina

Directed by: Germaine Dulac; based on a poem by: Charles Baudelaire; screenplay: Germaine Dulac; cinematographers: Paul Guichard, Lucien Bellavoine; assistant director: Marie-Anne Malleville; cast: Emma Gynt, Raymond Dubreuil, Robert Mirfeuil, Paul Lorbert, Tania Daleyme, Djemil Anik, Lucien Bataille; production: Germaine Dulac (Natan Productions)

Thanks to: Marleen Labijt, Mark-Paul Meyer (Nederlands Filmmuseum, Amsterdam), A.W.P. Agotha, Sandra Peršak (Royal Netherlands Embassy, Ljubljana), Staš Ravter (Slovenska kinoteka, Ljubljana), Bojan Bajšič, Andrej Goričar, Koen van Daele (Otok, Ljubljana-Izola), Tami Williams, Il Cinema Ritrovato & Cineteca Bologna
Special thanks to: Jean-Michel Mareau

Organisation: City of Women
In collaboration with: Cankarjev dom
With the support of: Royal Netherlands Embassy Ljubljana (Focus 06)