ABSTRACT
This chapter continues the exploration of origin by turning to consider the 1965 adaptation of La Curee made by Roger Vadim. Roger Vadim's place in the annals of cinema history is a disputed one. Vadim's film claims in its opening images to be inspire du roman d'Emile Zola. However, critics seeking fidelity to Zola's text have, by and large, pronounced themselves disappointed by Vadim's 'bad copy'. The chapter seeks to underline the hunt for and problematization of authorial origin that takes place in these works by Vadim and Zola. Both Zola's novel and Vadim's film are bound together, as their shared title suggests, by images of the hunt. The prevalence of hunting is clear in Zola's novel. Vadim's film pays homage to Zola's act of authorship by recreating the author's study of his characters' authorship of, or agency over their life.
