Cinema of France

France has been influential in the development of film as a mass medium and as an art form.

History

Late 19th century to early 20th century

In the late 19th century, during the early years of cinema, France produced several important pioneers. Auguste and Louis Lumiere invented the cinematographe and their screening of L’Arrivee d’un train en gare de la Ciotat in Paris in 1895 is marked by many historians as the official birth of cinema. During the next few years, filmmakers all over the world started experimenting with this new medium, and France’s Georges Melies was influential. He invented many of the techniques now common in the cinematic language, and made the first ever science fiction film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune, 1902).

Other early individuals and organizations of this period included Gaumont Pictures and Pathe Freres. Alice Guy Blache was one of the first pioneers in cinema. She made her first film in 1896, La Fee aux Choux, and was head of production at Gaumont 1897-1906, where she made in total about 400 films. Her career continued in the United States. Another pioneer who worked in France and in the United States was Maurice Tourneur.

During the period between World War I and World War II, Jacques Feyder became one of the founders of poetic realism in French cinema.

Beginning in 1935, renowned playwright and actor Sacha Guitry directed his first film. He made more than 30 films that are seen as the precursor to the new wave era.

In 1937 Jean Renoir, the son of famous painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, directed what many see as his first masterpiece, La Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion). In 1939 Renoir directed La Regle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game). Several movie critic’s have cited this film as one of the greatest of all-time.

Marcel Carne’s Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) was filmed during World War II and released in 1945. The three hour film was extremely difficult to make due to the conditions during the Nazi occupation. Set in Paris in 1828, the film was voted “Best French Film of the Century” in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in the late 1990s.

Post-World War II: 1940s-1970s

In the critical magazine Cahiers du cinema founded by Andre Bazin, critics and lovers of film would discuss film and why it worked. Modern film theory was born there. Additionally, Cahiers critics such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, etc. went on to make films themselves, creating what was to become known as the French New Wave. Some of the first movies of this new genre was Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cent Coups, 1959) starring Jean-Pierre Leaud and Godard’s Breathless (À bout de souffle, 1960), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Personalities from this period

Andre Bazin Editor of Cahiers de cinema
Brigitte Bardot (actor)
Jacques Becker Director
Sarah Bernhardt
Robert Bresson Director
Rene Clement Director
Claude Chabrol Director
Maurice Chevalier
Henri-Georges ClouzotDirector
Jean Cocteau
Anatole Dauman Producer
Henri Decae Cinematographer
Jacques Demy Director
Jean Eustache Director
Jean-Luc Godard Director
Henri Langlois
Claude Lelouch Director
Louis Malle Director
Marcel Marceau
Chris Marker Director
Jeanne Moreau Actor
Michel Piccoli Actor
Guy Debord Critic
Jean Renoir Director
Alain ResnaisDirector
Jacques Rivette
Eric Rohmer Director
Viviane Romance
Jacques Tati (actor, comedian)
Jean-Louis Trintignant (actor)
François Truffaut Director
Roger Vadim (director)
Agnes Varda Director
Jean Vigo Director

1980s

When Jean-Jacques Beineix made Diva (1981) it sparked the beginning of the 80s wave of French cinema. Movies which followed in its wake included Betty Blue (37°2 le matin, 1986) by Beineix, The Big Blue (Le Grand bleu, 1988) by Luc Besson and The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, 1991) by Leos Carax.

1990s

In 1991, Jean-Pierre Jeunet made Delicatessen, followed by the 1995 The City of Lost Children (La Cite des enfants perdus). Both films featured a distinctly fantastic style.

In the mid-1990s, Krzysztof Kieslowski released his Three colors trilogy, Blue, White and Red. Mathieu Kassovitz’s film Hate (La Haine, 1995) made Vincent Cassel into a star.

In 2001 after a brief stint in Hollywood with the fourth Alien film (Alien: Resurrection), Jeunet returned to France with Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain) starring Audrey Tautou and Kassovitz.

Current situation

As the advent of television threatened the life of cinema itself, countries were faced with the problem of reviving cinema-going. The French cinema market, and more generally the French-speaking market, is smaller than the English-speaking market, one reason being that some major markets such as the United States are fairly reluctant to import foreign movies. As a consequence, French movies have to be amortized on a relatively small market and thus generally have budgets far lower than their American counterparts, ruling out expensive settings and special effects. Interestingly, the once prospering filmmaking industry of countries such as Italy has now largely been eliminated. The French government has therefore implemented various measures aimed at supporting local film production and movie theaters, including:
the Canal Plus TV channel has a broadcast license imposing that it should support the production of movies;
some taxes are levied on movies and TV channels for use as subsidies for movie production;
some tax breaks are given for investment in movie productions;
the sale of DVDs and videocassettes of movies shown in theaters is prohibited for six months after the showing in theaters, so as to ensure some revenue for movie theaters.

Notable contemporary French cinema personalities

Actors
Isabelle Adjani
Renee Adoree
Anouk Aimee
Mathieu Amalric
Fanny Ardant
Jean-Pierre Aumont
Daniel Auteuil
Charles Aznavour
Emmanuelle Beart
Monica Bellucci
Juliette Binoche - Academy Award winner for her role in The English Patient
Bernard Blier
Bourvil
Charles Boyer
Capucine
Leslie Caron
Vincent Cassel
Aurore Clement
Claudette Colbert
Valerie Crunchant
Alain Delon
Julie Delpy
Catherine Deneuve
Gerard Depardieu
Jeremie Elkaïm
Fernandel
Louis de Funes
Judith Godreche
Eva Green
Isabelle Huppert
Irene Jacob
Virginie Ledoyen
Sophie Marceau, Princess Isabelle in Braveheart, a Bond girl
Jean Marais
Mistinguett
Jean Reno
Stephane Rideau
Ludivine Sagnier
Emmanuelle Seigner
Simone Signoret
Audrey Tautou
Marie Trintignant
Michael Vartan
Herve Villechaize

Directors
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Olivier Assayas
Luc Besson
Bertrand Blier
Catherine Breillat
Robert Bresson
Leos Carax
Yves Caumon
Jean-Paul Civeyrac
Arnaud Desplechin
Jean Eustache
Abel Gance
Michel Gondry
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Mathieu Kassovitz
Jan Kounen
Patrice Leconte
Louis Malle
Andre Malraux
Gaspar Noe
François Ozon
Maurice Pialat
Agnes Varda