Le(s) Visage(s) de Garbo: Negotiating Discourses of Authorship and Stardom in Jacques Feyder's The Kiss (1929)

Abstract

This article examines The Kiss, émigré director Jacques Feyder's first Hollywood film, with two goals in mind. First, it considers the production and reception of the film, drawing on contemporary periodicals to illustrate Feyder's contribution to the film; second, drawing on Gilles Deleuze's conceptualisation of mirror images in cinema, it argues that The Kiss constitutes an important turning-point within Feyder's output as well as a key illustration of his authorial signature, looking towards the complex portrayals of women which feature in his most famous French films of the 1930s. Key to this analysis is how Feyder mobilizes mirrors to confront spectators with their own collusion in the construction of Greta Garbo's star persona in her films and portraits, and to open broader debates regarding the intersection between authorship and star personae.