The Film As a "Warning Device". Sociological Notes

The aim of this paper is to explore the notion of "warning device" (dispositif d’alerte), that appeared in an article written by Jean Cayrol in 1956 and whose subject was the film Night and fog (Nuit et brouillard, directed by Alain Resnais, France, 1956), a film for which Cayrol himself had written the text that has been read during the film. The intention is to discuss the possible conections between this notion mentioned above and Muriel, or the time of return (Muriel ou le temps d’un retour, France and Italy, 1963), a film in which both, Resnais and Cayrol, worked together again. The main methodological procedure is, first, viewing the films and, starting from them, to make a sociological analysis taking in account its expressive elements.