France has seen many accomplishments in their country. Besides their food
and the invention of the beret, France has influenced film history and box
office blockbusters. France is a leading force in international films and
their history amazingly interesting.
The history of French cinema began during the late 19th century. Auguste
and Louis Lumiere (pardon the lack of accents) first created the
cinematographe and showed their first movie, L'Arrivee d'un train en gare de
la Ciotat, in the busy streets of Paris during 1895. The moment they showed
this movie, the attention grabbing baby called cinema was born.
Unlike most newborns, the cinema was a quiet one. The sound accompaniment was
not created until much later.
La Grande Illusion Giclee Print
Lancy, Bernard
I want to learn more about this poster.
Over the next years, many directors began exploring the different ways to
shoot movies and discover techniques that would make the movie more
successful in conveying their messages. Many filmmakers were also trying to
explore their creativity. The French director, Georges Melies, made the
first science fiction film known in the world called Le Voyage dans la Lune
in 1902. With this French pioneer, many international filmmakers caught on
the science fiction train.
There were many French directors which traveled between France and the
United States of America. Bringing French and American culture together in
cinema, directors Alice Guy Blanche and Maurice Tourneur raised earnings in
ticket sales. Directing was a job that appealed to a lot of people. Like
moths drawn to a flame, Sacha Guitry and Jean Renoir began directing in the
1930's.
A Bout de SouffleItalian Poster
I want to see more about this French movie poster.
Sacha Guitry was an actor/playwright turned director in 1935. You could
say that he was a triple threat in those days. He was the one who ushered in
the new wave era to the French audience. Jean Renoir was the son of a
painter who many of us heard of. The child of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Jean
Renoir was an artist in his own right. He directed many cinema film
masterpieces like La Grande Illusion and La Regle du Jeu.
Then World War 2 came too soon. Although France suffered from the
casualties of war and the deficit of their country's money, one of their
films was said to be the century's best French film. Marcel Carne braved the
conditions of the occupation of Nazis and filmed a three hour movie named
Les Enfantes du Paradis in 1945.
Soon French movies had a new situation to worry about. With World War 2
ending, the rise of Cahiers du cinema began. Created by Andre Bazin, this
magazine only focused on criticism of French films in this era. Many movie
critics would gather together on the magazine and converse about the box
office numbers and the French cinema. They would also talk about why a
certain movie would work and click with the audience and why another French
film wouldn't.
This magazine was important because it was the stepping stone for many
famous directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and Claude
Chabrol. After criticizing many movies, these directors took their own steps
and created movies of the France cinema New Wave era. Les Quarte Cent Coups
and A bout de soufflé were a part of this genre.
However, no matter how good French movies are, they are not getting as
much attention than the western hemisphere. We have seen the French movies
Alien, Amelie, and the recent A Very Long Engagement. But these are only a
few of the French movies shown in France. The United States do not import a
lot of foreign movies, which creates a smaller movie market for other
countries.
The French cinema does not have as large a budget to spend on the creation
of movies and films compared to Italy and other countries. That is why they are rarely seen in America. To prevent their
cinema from dying out, the government has fought to protect their movies.
The French government taxes television stations to use for movie productions
and DVDs are not allowed to come out until six months after the first
showing of the movie. Due to these regulations, French cinema has prevailed
and now is growing stronger than ever.
