| Preface | |
| Acknowledgments | |
| Ch. 1 | Introduction: A Compass in the Mist of Poetic Realism | 2 |
| Ch. 2 | Impressionism and Surrealism: The Origins of an Optique | 24 |
| Ch. 3 | Adolescents in an Adolescent Industry | 52 |
| Ch. 4 | French Cinema and the Sonic Boom | 88 |
| Ch. 5 | Theatrical Models for French Films | 114 |
| Ch. 6 | The Literary and Artistic Sources of Poetic Realism | 148 |
| Ch. 7 | Demands of Realism | 194 |
| Ch. 8 | Figures of the Poetic | 232 |
| Ch. 9 | Jean Renoir: Adaptation, Institution, Auteur | 274 |
| Ch. 10 | The Myth of Poetic Realism | 318 |
| Ch. 11 | Epilogue: Le Temps des cerises and the Fruit of Regret | 334 |
| Appendix: Chronology of French Films Mentioned | 351 |
| Notes | 359 |
| Bibliography | 391 |
| Index of Film Titles | 397 |
| General Index | 401 |
