French cinema consists of the
film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...
and its
film productions, whether made within the nation of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influence also on the creation of national cinemas in Asia.
France continues to have a particularly strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the
French government
The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...
.
In 2013, France was the second largest exporter of films in the world after the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
A study in April 2014 showed that French cinema maintains a positive influence around the world, being the most appreciated by global audiences after that of America.
France currently has the most successful film industry in Europe, in terms of number of films produced per annum, with a record-breaking 300 feature-length films produced in 2015. France is also one of the few countries where non-American productions have the biggest share: American films only represented 44.9% of total admissions in 2014. This is largely due to the commercial strength of domestic productions, which accounted for 44.5% of admissions in 2014 (35.5% in 2015; 35.3% in 2016).
The French film industry is closer to being entirely self-sufficient than any other country in Europe, recovering around 80–90% of costs from revenues generated in the domestic market alone.
Apart from its strong and innovative film tradition, France has also been a leading destination for filmmakers and actors from around the world; consequently, French cinema is sometimes intertwined with the cinema of foreign nations. Directors from nations such as
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
(
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
,
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for '' Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993
–1994 ...
, and
Andrzej Żuławski
Andrzej Żuławski (; 22 November 1940 – 17 February 2016) was a Polish film director and writer. Żuławski often went against mainstream commercialism in his films, and enjoyed success mostly with European art-house audiences.
In the late 1 ...
),
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
(
Gaspar Noé
Gaspar Noé (, ; born 27 December 1963) is an Argentine filmmaker based in Paris, France. He is the son of Argentine painter, writer, and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé.
In the early 1990s, Noé along with his wife Lucile Hadžihalilović were ...
and
Edgardo Cozarinsky
Edgardo Cozarinsky (; born 1939 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a writer and filmmaker. He is best known for his Spanish-language novel ''Vudú urbano''.
Life
Cozarinsky was born to an Argentine family of Ukrainian-Jewish descent. His name reflects ...
),
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
(
Alexandre Alexeieff
Alexandre Alexandrovitch Alexeieff (Russian: Александр Александрович Алексеев;Alternative transcriptions include Alexander Alexeieff or Alexander Alexeïeff or Alexandre Alexieff 18 April 1901 – 9 August 1982) was ...
,
Anatole Litvak
Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...
), Austria (
Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...
), and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
(
Géla Babluani
Géla Babluani ( ka, გელა ბაბლუანი) is a Georgian–French film director.
Babluani was born in Tbilisi, son of prominent director Temur Babluani. At 17 years of age, he and his three siblings were sent to study in France. ...
,
Otar Iosseliani
Otar Iosseliani ( ka, ოთარ იოსელიანი, born 2 February 1934) is a Georgian-born film director. He was born in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi, where he studied at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire and graduated in 1952 ...
) are prominent in the ranks of French cinema. Conversely, French directors have had prolific and influential careers in other countries, such as
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...
,
Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat ...
, or
Francis Veber in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
has the highest density of cinemas in the world, measured by the number of
movie theaters
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
per inhabitant, and that in most "downtown Paris" movie theaters, foreign movies which would be secluded to "art houses" cinemas in other places are shown alongside "mainstream" works. Philippe Binant realized, on 2 February 2000, the first
digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be sh ...
projection in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...
, in Paris.
['']Cahiers du cinéma
''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab, Ge ...
'', n°hors-série, Paris, April 2000, p. 32 (''cf.'' als
''Histoire des communications'', 2011, p. 10.
).[''Cf.'' Binant, " Au cœur de la projection numérique ", ''Actions'', 29, Kodak, Paris, 2007, p. 12.](_blank)
[Claude Forest, « De la pellicule aux pixels : l'anomie des exploitants de salles de cinéma », in Laurent Creton, Kira Kitsopanidou (sous la direction de), ''Les salles de cinéma : enjeux, défis et perspectives'', Armand Colin / Recherche, Paris, 2013, p. 116.](_blank)
Paris also boasts the
Cité du cinéma
The Cité du Cinéma or Studios of Paris is a film studio complex originally supported and founded by the film director and producer Luc Besson, located in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris, in a renovated power plant, commissioned in ...
, a major studio north of the city, and Disney Studio, a theme park devoted to the cinema and the third theme park near the city behind Disneyland and Parc Asterix.
A favorite theme has been the French Revolution, with hundreds of titles.
History
Les frères Lumière released the first projection with the
Cinematograph, in Paris on 28 December 1895. The French film industry in the late
19th century and early 20th century was the world's most important.
Auguste and Louis Lumière
The Lumière brothers (, ; ), Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière (19 October 1862 – 10 April 1954) and Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864 – 6 June 1948), were French manufacturers of photography equipment, best known for their ''Ciném ...
invented the
cinématographe
Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...
and their ''
L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
''L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat'' (translated from French into English as ''The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station'', ''Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat'' (US) and ''The Arrival of the Mail Train'', and in the United Kingdom as ' ...
'' in Paris in 1895 is considered by many historians as the official birth of cinematography. French films during this period catered to a growing middle class and were mostly shown in cafés and traveling fairs.
The early days of the industry, from 1896 to 1902, saw the dominance of four firms:
Pathé Frères
Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...
, the
Gaumont Film Company, the
Georges Méliès company, and
the Lumières.
[The Ciné Goes to Town: French Cinema 1896–1914, Richard Abel] Méliès invented many of the techniques of cinematic grammar, and among his fantastic, surreal short subjects is the first
science fiction film ''
A Trip to the Moon'' (''Le Voyage dans la Lune'') in 1902.
In 1902,
the Lumières abandoned everything but the production of film stock, leaving Méliès as the weakest player of the remaining three. (He would retire in 1914.) From 1904 to 1911, the
Pathé Frères
Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...
company led the world in film production and distribution.
At Gaumont, pioneer
Alice Guy-Blaché
Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché (née Guy; ; 1 July 1873 – 24 March 1968) was a French pioneer filmmaker. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, s ...
(M. Gaumont's former secretary) was made head of production and oversaw about 400 films, from her first, ''
La Fée aux Choux
The 1896 version of ''La Fée aux Choux'' (''The Fairy of the Cabbages'') is a lost film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (then known as Alice Guy) that, according to her, featured a honeymoon couple, a farmer, pictures of babies glued to cardboard, ...
'', in 1896, through 1906. She then continued her career in the United States, as did
Maurice Tourneur and
Léonce Perret
Léonce Joseph Perret (14 March 1880 – 12 August 1935) was a prolific and innovative French film actor, director and producer.The Museum of Modern Art(retrieved 7 June 2007) He also worked as a stage actor and director. Often described as avant ...
after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
In 1907, Gaumont owned and operated the biggest movie studio in the world, and along with the boom in construction of "luxury cinemas" like the
Gaumont-Palace
The Gaumont-Palace was a cinema located on Rue Caulaincourt in the French capital Paris. Originally constructed between 1898 and 1900 as the Hippodrome de Montmartre, it staged equestrian shows during its early years. It was originally built with ...
and the Pathé-Palace (both 1911), cinema became an economic challenger to theater by 1914.
After World War I
After World War I, the French film industry suffered because of a lack of capital, and film production decreased as it did in most other European countries. This allowed the United States film industry to enter the European cinema market, because American films could be sold more cheaply than European productions, since the studios already had recouped their costs in the home market. When film studios in Europe began to fail, many European countries began to set import barriers. France installed an import quota of 1:7, meaning for every seven foreign films imported to France, one French film was to be produced and shown in French cinemas.
During the period between World War I and World War II,
Jacques Feyder
Jacques Feyder (; 21 July 1885 – 24 May 1948) was a Belgian actor, screenwriter and film director who worked principally in France, but also in the US, Britain and Germany. He was a director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 1930 ...
and
Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo (; 26 April 1905 – 5 October 1934) was a French film director who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s. His work influenced French New Wave cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Vigo was born to ...
became two of the founders of
poetic realism
Poetic realism was a film movement in France of the 1930s. More a tendency than a movement, poetic realism is not strongly unified like Soviet montage or French Impressionism but were individuals who created this lyrical style. Its leading filmm ...
in French cinema. They also dominated
French impressionist cinema
French impressionist cinema (first avant-garde or narrative avant-garde) refers to a group of French films and filmmakers of the 1920s.
Film scholars have had much difficulty in defining this movement or for that matter deciding whether it should ...
, along with
Abel Gance,
Germaine Dulac
Germaine Dulac (; born Charlotte Elisabeth Germaine Saisset-Schneider; 17 November 1882 – 20 July 1942)Flitterman-Lewis 1996 was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early chil ...
and
Jean Epstein.
In 1931,
Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Paul Pagnol (; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Although his work is less fashionabl ...
filmed the first of his great trilogy ''
Marius'', ''Fanny'', and ''César''. He followed this with other films including ''
The Baker's Wife
''The Baker's Wife'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Joseph Stein, based on the 1938 French film of the same name by Marcel Pagnol and Jean Giono. The musical premiered in the West End in 1989 for a shor ...
''. Other notable films of the 1930s included
René Clair
René Clair (11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He wen ...
's ''
Under the Roofs of Paris
''Under the Roofs of Paris'' (french: Sous les toits de Paris) is a 1930 French film directed by René Clair. The film was probably the earliest French example of a filmed musical-comedy, although its often dark tone differentiates it from othe ...
'' (1930), Jean Vigo's ''
L'Atalante
''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon.
After the difficult release of his controversial ...
'' (1934), Jacques Feyder's ''
Carnival in Flanders'' (1935), and
Julien Duvivier's ''La belle equipe'' (1936). In 1935, renowned playwright and actor
Sacha Guitry directed his first film and went on to make more than 30 films that were precursors to the
New Wave era. In 1937,
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
, the son of painter
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, directed ''
La Grande Illusion
''La Grande Illusion'' (also known as ''The Grand Illusion'') is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who ar ...
'' (''The Grand Illusion''). In 1939, Renoir directed ''
La Règle du Jeu
''The Rules of the Game'' (original French title: ''La règle du jeu'') is a 1939 French satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jean Renoir. The ensemble cast includes Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien Car ...
'' (''The Rules of the Game''). Several critics have cited this film as one of the
greatest of all-time, particularly for its innovative camerawork, cinematography and sound editing.
Marcel Carné'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
Nazi occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
. Set in Paris in 1828, it 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
![Stevan Kragujevic, Alain Delon in Belgrade, 1962 (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Stevan_Kragujevic%2C_Alain_Delon_in_Belgrade%2C_1962_%281%29.JPG)
In the magazine ''
Cahiers du cinéma
''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab, Ge ...
'', founded by
André Bazin
André Bazin (; 18 April 1918 – 11 November 1958) was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist.
Bazin started to write about film in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine ''Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951, ...
and two other writers in 1951, film critics raised the level of discussion of the cinema, providing a platform for the birth of modern
film theory. Several of the ''Cahiers'' critics, including
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
,
François Truffaut,
Claude Chabrol,
Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'amour f ...
and
Éric Rohmer
Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher.
Rohmer was the last of the post-World ...
, went on to make films themselves, creating what was to become known as the
French New Wave
French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...
. Some of the first films of this new movement were Godard's ''
Breathless'' (''À bout de souffle'', 1960), starring
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
, Rivette's ''
Paris Belongs to Us
''Paris Belongs to Us'' (french: Paris nous appartient, sometimes translated as ''Paris Is Ours'') is a 1961 French mystery film directed by Jacques Rivette. Set in Paris in 1957 and often referencing Shakespeare's play ''Pericles'', the title i ...
'' (''Paris nous appartient'', 1958 – distributed in 1961), starring
Jean-Claude Brialy and Truffaut's ''
The 400 Blows
''The 400 Blows'' (french: Les Quatre Cents Coups) is a 1959 French coming-of-age drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut. The film, shot in DyaliScope, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. One of ...
'' (''Les Quatre Cent Coups'', 1959) starring
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc ...
. Later works are ''
Contempt
Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger.
The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...
'' (1963) by Godard starring
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
and
Michel Piccoli
Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...
and ''
Stolen Kisses
''Stolen Kisses'' (french: Baisers volés) is a 1968 French romantic comedy-drama film directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Delphine Seyrig and Claude Jade. It continues the story of the character Antoine Doinel, whom Tr ...
'' starring Léaud and
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Christine in François Truffaut's three films '' Stolen Kisses'' (1968), '' Bed and Board'' (1970) and '' Love on th ...
. Because Truffaut followed the hero of his screen debut,
Antoine Doinel
Antoine Doinel () is a fictional character created by François Truffaut and portrayed by actor Jean-Pierre Léaud in five films directed by Truffaut. Doinel is to a great extent an alter ego for Truffaut; they share many of the same childhood ex ...
, for twenty years, the last post-New-Wave-film is ''
Love on the Run'' in which his heroes Antoine (Léaud) and Christine (Jade) get divorced.
Many contemporaries of Godard and Truffaut followed suit, or achieved international critical acclaim with styles of their own, such as the
minimalist
In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
films of
Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director.
Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have l ...
and
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), '' Bob le flambeur'' (1956), ''Le Doulos'' (1962), '' Le Samouraï'' (19 ...
, the Hitchcockian-like thrillers of
Henri-Georges Clouzot, and other New Wave films by
Agnès Varda and
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...
. The movement, while an inspiration to other national cinemas and unmistakably a direct influence on the future
New Hollywood
The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence.
They influenced the types o ...
directors, slowly faded by the end of the 1960s.
![Brigitte Bardot - 1962](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Brigitte_Bardot_-_1962.jpg)
During this period, French commercial film also made a name for itself. Immensely popular French comedies with
Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...
topped the French box office. The war comedy ''
La Grande Vadrouille
''La Grande Vadrouille'' (; literally "The Great Stroll"; originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!'') is a 1966 French-British comedy film set in 1942 about French civilians who help the crew of a Royal ...
'' (1966), from
Gérard Oury with
Bourvil
André Robert Raimbourg (; 27 July 1917 – 23 September 1970), better known as André Bourvil (), and mononymously as Bourvil, was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy films, most notably in his collaboration with Louis ...
and
Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...
, was the most successful film in French theaters for more than 30 years. Another example was ''
La Folie des grandeurs'' with
Yves Montand
Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer.
Early life
Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held stron ...
. French cinema also was the birthplace for many subgenres of the
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
, most notably the modern
caper film
The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery.
One of the early defining heist films was ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "almo ...
, starting with 1955's ''
Rififi
''Rififi'' (french: Du rififi chez les hommes) is a 1955 French crime film adaptation of Auguste Le Breton's novel of the same name. Directed by American blacklisted filmmaker Jules Dassin, the film stars Jean Servais as the aging gangster To ...
'' by American-born director
Jules Dassin
Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, whe ...
and followed by a large number of serious, noirish heist dramas as well as playful caper comedies throughout the sixties, and the "polar," a typical French blend of
film noir and
detective fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
.
In addition, French movie stars began to claim fame abroad as well as at home. Popular actors of the period included
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
,
Alain Delon,
Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider (; born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; 23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was a German-French actress. She began her career in the German genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. From 1955 to 1957, she played the central chara ...
,
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...
,
Jeanne Moreau,
Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a ...
,
Yves Montand
Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer.
Early life
Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held stron ...
,
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
and still
Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976) was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including ''Pépé le Moko'' (1937), '' La grande illusion'' (1937), ''Le Quai des brumes'' ...
.
Since the Sixties and the early Seventies they are completed and followed by
Michel Piccoli
Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...
and
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor.
Life and career
Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...
as character actors,
Annie Girardot
Annie Suzanne Girardot (25 October 193128 February 2011) was a French actress. She often played strong-willed, independent, hard-working, and often lonely women, imbuing her characters with an earthiness and reality that endeared her to women und ...
,
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...
,
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM (; born 28 May 1944) is a French actor, known for playing Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut's series of films about that character, beginning with ''The 400 Blows'' (1959). He also worked several times with Jean-Luc ...
,
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Christine in François Truffaut's three films '' Stolen Kisses'' (1968), '' Bed and Board'' (1970) and '' Love on th ...
,
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...
,
Anny Duperey
Anny Duperey (born Annie Legras; 28 June 1947) is a French actress, published photographer and best-selling author with a career spanning almost six decades as of 2021 and more than eighty cinema or television credits, around thirty theatre pr ...
,
Gérard Depardieu,
Patrick Dewaere
Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, he was the son of French actress Mado Maurin. Actor from a young age, his career lasted more than 21 years, until his suicide in ...
,
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor.
Early life
Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera sin ...
,
Miou-Miou
Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film ''Memoirs of a French Whore''. Her other films incl ...
,
Brigitte Fossey
Brigitte Florence Fossey (; born 15 June 1946) is a French actress.
Early years
The daughter of a schoolteacher, Fossey was five years old when she was cast by director René Clément to star in his film, '' Forbidden Games''.[Stéphane Audran
Stéphane Audran (born Colette Suzanne Dacheville; 8 November 1932 – 27 March 2018) was a French actress. She was known for her performances in award-winning films such as ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' (1972) and ''Babette's Feast'' ...]
and
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Yasmina Adjani ; born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She is the only performer in history to win five César Awards for acting; she won the Best Actress award for '' Possession'' (1981), '' ...
. During the Eightees they are added by a new generation including
Sophie Marceau,
Emmanuelle Béart
Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...
,
Jean-Hugues Anglade
Jean-Hugues Anglade (born 29 July 1955) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, known for his roles as Eric in ''Killing Zoe'', Zorg in ''Betty Blue'' and Marco, the boyfriend of Nikita in '' Nikita''.
Personal life
Anglade was born ...
,
Sabine Azema
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Aniene, Anio before the founding of Ro ...
,
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
and
Daniel Auteuil
Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...
.
The 1979 film ''
La Cage aux Folles'' ran for well over a year at the
Paris Theatre
The Paris Theatre (also known as the Paris Studios) was originally a cinema located at 12 Lower Regent Street in central London which was converted into a studio by the BBC for radio broadcasts requiring an audience. It was used for severa ...
, an
arthouse cinema in New York City, and was a commercial success at theaters throughout the country, in both urban and rural areas. It won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...
, and for years it remained the most successful foreign film to be released in the United States.
1980s
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix (; 8 October 1946 – 13 January 2022) was a French film director best known for the films ''Diva'' and ''Betty Blue''. His work is regarded as a prime example of the ''cinéma du look'' film movement in France.
Early life ...
's ''
Diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
'' (1981) sparked the beginning of the 1980s wave of French cinema. Movies which followed in its wake included ''
Betty Blue'' (''37°2 le matin'', 1986) by Beineix, ''
The Big Blue
''The Big Blue'' (released in some countries under the French title ''Le Grand Bleu'') is a 1988 film in the French ''Cinéma du look'' visual style, made by French director Luc Besson. It is a heavily fictionalized and dramatized story of th ...
'' (''Le Grand bleu'', 1988) by
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...
, and ''
The Lovers on the Bridge'' (''Les Amants du Pont-Neuf'', 1991) by
Léos Carax. These films, made with a slick commercial style and emphasizing the alienation of their main characters, was known as
Cinema du look
Cinema may refer to:
Film
* Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography
* Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image
** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking
* ...
.
''
Camille Claudel
Camille Rosalie Claudel (; 8 December 1864 19 October 1943) was a French sculptor known for her figurative works in bronze and marble. She died in relative obscurity, but later gained recognition for the originality and quality of her work. The ...
'', directed by newcomer
Bruno Nuytten
Bruno Nuytten (born 28 August 1945) is a French cinematographer turned director.
''Camille Claudel'' which was Nuytten's first directorial and screenwriting effort, won the César Award for Best film in 1989. The film starred and was co-produced ...
and starring
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Yasmina Adjani ; born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She is the only performer in history to win five César Awards for acting; she won the Best Actress award for '' Possession'' (1981), '' ...
and
Gérard Depardieu, was a major commercial success in 1988, earning Adjani, who was also the film's co-producer, a
César Award for best actress. The
historical drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
film ''
Jean de Florette'' (1986) and its sequel ''
Manon des Sources'' (1986) were among the highest grossing French films in history and brought Daniel Auteuil international recognition.
According to
Raphaël Bassan
Raphaël Bassan (born 1948) is a French film critic and journalist, who has specialized in experimental film and the history of cinema. He has also made three short movies.
Biography
Bassan was born in Burgas, Bulgaria, of French nationality, ...
, in his article «''
The Angel'': Un météore dans le ciel de l'animation,» ''La Revue du cinéma'', n° 393, avril 1984. ,
Patrick Bokanowski
Patrick Bokanowski (born 23 June 1943 in Algiers, French Algeria) is a French filmmaker who makes experimental and animated films.
Career
The film '' The Angel'' (1982) is his most prominent work. It is accompanied by a soundtrack made by his wi ...
's ''
The Angel'', shown in
1982 at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, can be considered the beginnings of contemporary animation. The masks erase all human personality in the characters.
Patrick Bokanowski
Patrick Bokanowski (born 23 June 1943 in Algiers, French Algeria) is a French filmmaker who makes experimental and animated films.
Career
The film '' The Angel'' (1982) is his most prominent work. It is accompanied by a soundtrack made by his wi ...
would thus have total control over the "matter" of the image and its optical composition. This is especially noticeable throughout the film, with images taken through distorted objectives or a plastic work on the sets and costumes, for example in the scene of the designer.
Patrick Bokanowski
Patrick Bokanowski (born 23 June 1943 in Algiers, French Algeria) is a French filmmaker who makes experimental and animated films.
Career
The film '' The Angel'' (1982) is his most prominent work. It is accompanied by a soundtrack made by his wi ...
creates his own universe and obeys his own aesthetic logic. It takes us through a series of distorted areas, obscure visions, metamorphoses and synthetic objects. Indeed, in the film, the human may be viewed as a fetish object (for example, the doll hanging by a thread), with reference to
Kafkaesque
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typi ...
and
Freudian
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
theories on
automata
An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...
and the fear of man faced with something as complex as him. The ascent of the stairs would be the liberation of the ideas of death, culture, and sex that makes us reach the emblematic figure of the angel.
1990s
![Palmed'or](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Palmed%27or.jpg)
Jean-Paul Rappeneau's ''
Cyrano de Bergerac
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...
'' was a major box-office success in 1990, earning several
César Awards, including best actor for
Gérard Depardieu, as well as an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination for best foreign picture.
Luc Besson
Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...
made ''
La Femme Nikita'' in 1990, a movie that inspired remakes in both United States and in Hong Kong. In 1994, he also made ''
Léon
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
'' (starring
Jean Reno
Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission ...
and a young
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
), and in 1997 ''
The Fifth Element
''The Fifth Element'' is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, as well as co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker, and Milla ...
'', which became a cult favorite and launched the career of
Milla Jovovich.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet made ''
Delicatessen
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
'' and ''
The City of Lost Children
''The City of Lost Children'' (french: La Cité des enfants perdus) is a 1995 science fantasy film directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Jeunet and Gilles Adrien, and starring Ron Perlman. An international co-production of ...
'' (''La Cité des enfants perdus''), both of which featured a distinctly fantastical style.
In 1992,
Claude Sautet
Claude Sautet (23 February 1924 – 22 July 2000) was a French film director and screenwriter.
He was a chronicler of post-war French society. He made a total of five films with his favorite actress Romy Schneider.
Biography
Born in Montrou ...
co-wrote (with Jacques Fieschi) and directed ''
Un Coeur en Hiver
''A Heart in Winter'' (french: Un cœur en hiver) is a French film which was released in 1992. It stars Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil and André Dussollier. It was chosen to compete at the 49th Venice International Film Festival, where it wo ...
'', considered by many to be a masterpiece.
Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film ''Hate'' (''
La Haine
''La Haine'' (, ; released in the United States as ''Hate'') is a 1995 French crime drama film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, the film chronicles a day and nig ...
'') received critical praise and made
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor.
He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film '' La Haine (Hate)'', for which he received two César Award ...
a star, and in 1997,
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''
The English Patient
''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...
''.
The success of
Michel Ocelot's ''
Kirikou and the Sorceress
''Kirikou and the Sorceress'' (french: Kirikou et la Sorcière, ) is a 1998 traditional animation feature film written and directed by Michel Ocelot. Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves h ...
'' in 1998 rejuvenated the production of original feature-length animated films by such filmmakers as
Jean-François Laguionie
Jean-François Laguionie (born 10 October 1939 in Besançon) is a French animator, film director and producer of animation.
Biography
Laguionie was originally interested in theatre but his encounter with Paul Grimault gave him the opportunity to ...
and
Sylvain Chomet
Sylvain Chomet (; born 10 November 1963) is a French comic writer, animator and film director.
Early career
Born in Maisons-Laffitte, Seine-et-Oise (now Yvelines), near Paris, he studied art at high school until he graduated in 1982. Chomet ...
.
2000s
![Texas Instruments, DLP Cinema Prototype System, Mark V, Paris, 2000 - Philippe Binant Archives](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Texas_Instruments%2C_DLP_Cinema_Prototype_System%2C_Mark_V%2C_Paris%2C_2000_-_Philippe_Binant_Archives.jpg)
In 2000, Philippe Binant realized the first
digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to adoption of digital technology within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be sh ...
projection in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed by
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...
, in Paris.
In 2001, after a brief stint in Hollywood,
Jean-Pierre Jeunet returned to France with ''
Amélie
''Amélie'' (also known as ''Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain''; ; en, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, italic=yes) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume La ...
'' (''Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain'') starring
Audrey Tautou. It became the highest-grossing French-language film ever released in the United States. The following year, ''
Brotherhood of the Wolf
''Brotherhood of the Wolf'' (french: Le Pacte des loups) is a 2001 French period action horror film directed by Christophe Gans, co-written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel, and starring Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Émilie Dequenne, Monica Bel ...
'' became the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980 and went on to gross more than $70 million worldwide.
In 2008,
Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress, film producer, singer, and environmentalist who is widely known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions.
She has received ...
won the
Academy Award for Best Actress
The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...
and the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of legendary French singer
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars.
Pia ...
in ''
La Vie en Rose'', the first French-language performance to be so honored. The film won two Oscars and four
BAFTAs and became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980. Cotillard was the first female and second person to win both an Academy Award and
César Award for the same performance.
At the 2008
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, ''
Entre les murs'' (''The Class'') won the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
, the 6th French victory at the festival. The 2000s also saw an increase in the number of individual competitive awards won by French artists at the Cannes Festival, for
direction (
Tony Gatlif
Tony Gatlif (born as Michel Dahmani on 10 September 1948 in Algiers) is a French film director of Romani ethnicity who also works as a screenwriter, composer, actor, and producer.
Personal
Gatlif was born in Algeria of Pied noir ancestry. A ...
, ''
Exils
''Exiles'' is a 2004 French film by Tony Gatlif. The film follows two young bohemians, Zano and Naima. After having sex, the two spontaneously decide that they will travel to Algeria, where Naima's parents come from, and where Zano's (Romain Duri ...
'', 2004),
screenplay (
Agnès Jaoui
Agnès Jaoui (born 19 October 1964) is a French actress, screenwriter, film director and singer.
She frequently worked in collaboration with her former partner Jean-Pierre Bacri.
Life and career
Jaoui was born in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, and is ...
and
Jean-Pierre Bacri
Jean-Pierre Bacri (24 May 1951 – 18 January 2021) was a French actor and screenwriter.
He frequently worked in collaboration with Agnès Jaoui.
Life and career
One of Bacri's earliest film appearances was ''Subway''. He co-wrote with Jaoui ...
, ''
Look at Me'', 2004),
female acting (
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...
, ''
The Piano Teacher'', 2001;
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song " Lemo ...
, ''
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...
'', 2009) and male acting (
Jamel Debbouze
Jamel Debbouze (; ar, جمال دبوز, Jamāl Dabūz; born 18 June 1975) is a French-Moroccan actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer and director. Best known for his stand-up comedy sketches, he also worked with director Alain Chabat in ...
,
Samy Naceri
Saïd Naceri ( ar, سعيد ناصري, link=no; born 2 July 1961), known as Samy Naceri (), is a French actor known for his work in the four ''Taxi'' films and '' The Code'' (''La Mentale'').
Early life and career
Naceri was born to an Algerian ...
,
Roschdy Zem
Roschdy Zem (born 27 September 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker of Moroccan descent. He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in the film '' Days of Glory'' at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Career
Versatile and determined to not ...
,
Sami Bouajila
Sami Bouajila (born 26 May 1966) is a French actor who has won two César Awards. Bouajila has worked and acted in two Oscar nominated films ('' Days of Glory'' and '' Outside the Law''), both directed by director Rachid Bouchareb.
Early life
B ...
and
Bernard Blancan
Bernard Blancan (born 9 September 1958) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 85 films and television shows since 1989. He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in '' Days of Glory'' at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 59th Ca ...
, ''
Days of Glory'', 2006).
The 2008 rural comedy ''
Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis'' drew an audience of more than 20 million, the first French film to do so. Its $193 million gross in France puts it just behind ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'' as the most successful film of all time in French theaters.
In the 2000s, several French directors made international productions, often in the action genre. These include
Gérard Pirès
Gérard Pirès (born 31 August 1942) is a French film director and writer.
Filmography
* '' Guo bao zong dong yuan'' (''Adventures in the NPM'') (2007)
* '' Les Chevaliers du ciel'' (''Sky Fighters'') (2005)
* '' Double zéro'' (2004)
* ''Steal' ...
(''
Riders'', 2002),
Pitof
Jean-Christophe "Pitof" Comar (born 4 July 1957) is a retired French visual effects supervisor and director notable for '' Vidocq'' and ''Catwoman''.
Early life
Pitof was born Jean-Christophe Comar on 4 July 1957 in Paris. From an early age, h ...
(''
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she is ...
'', 2004),
Jean-François Richet
Jean-François Richet (born 1966) is a French screenwriter, director, and producer. He grew up in Meaux, a suburb east of Paris.
Select filmography
* ''Inner City (film), Inner City'' (1995) – named at the César Awards 1996 in the Best Debut ...
(''
Assault on Precinct 13'', 2005),
Florent Emilio Siri
Florent-Emilio Siri (born 2 March 1965) is a French film director and screenwriter born in Lorraine. Siri studied cinema at the Sorbonne University and ESRA in Paris. Siri is a music video director. He has worked with such bands as IAM, Allian ...
(''
Hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...
'', 2005),
Christophe Gans (''
Silent Hill
is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...
'', 2006),
Mathieu Kassovitz (''
Babylon A.D.'', 2008),
Louis Leterrier
Louis Leterrier (; born 17 June 1973) is a French film director and producer. Best known for his work in action films, he directed the first two '' Transporter'' films (2002–2005), '' Unleashed'' (2005), '' The Incredible Hulk'' (2008), ''Clas ...
(''
The Transporter
''The Transporter'' (French: ''Le Transporteur'') is a 2002 action-thriller film directed by Corey Yuen and Louis Leterrier (who is credited as artistic director on the film), and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' ''The Hir ...
'', 2002; ''
Transporter 2
''Transporter 2'' (French: ''Le Transporteur 2'') is an English-language French 2005 action-thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. Written by Robert Mark Kamen and co-producer Luc Besson, it is the sequel to '' The Transporter'' (2002), as w ...
'', 2005;
Olivier Megaton
Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to:
* Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Olivier (surname), a list of people
* Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery
*Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...
directed ''
Transporter 3
''Transporter 3'' (French: ''Le Transporteur 3'') is a 2008 English-language French action-thriller film. It is the third and final installment in the original trilogy of the '' Transporter'' franchise. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand ...
'', 2008),
Alexandre Aja (''
Mirrors
A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the ima ...
'', 2008), and
Pierre Morel
Pierre Morel (born 12 May 1964) is a French film director and cinematographer. His work includes '' District 13'', '' From Paris with Love'', and '' Taken.''
Career
After spending his formative years in cinema school, Morel debuted in 2000 as ...
(''
Taken'', 2009).
Surveying the entire range of French filmmaking today, Tim Palmer calls contemporary cinema in France a kind of eco-system, in which commercial cinema co-exists with artistic radicalism, first-time directors (who make up about 40% of all France's directors each year) mingle with veterans, and there even occasionally emerges a fascinating pop-art hybridity, in which the features of intellectual and mass cinemas are interrelated (as in filmmakers like Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Olivier Assayas, Maïwenn, Sophie Fillières, Serge Bozon, and others).
2010s
![Léa Seydoux Cannes 2014 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/L%C3%A9a_Seydoux_Cannes_2014_2.jpg)
One of the most noticed and best reviewed films of 2010 was the drama ''
Of Gods and Men'' (''Des hommes et des dieux''), about the
assassination of seven monks in Tibhirine, Algeria. 2011 saw the release of ''
The Artist'', a silent film shot in black and white by
Michel Hazanavicius
Michel Hazanavicius ( lt, Hazanavičius; born 29 March 1967) is a French film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. He is best known for his 2011 film, '' The Artist'', which won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 84th Academy Aw ...
that reflected on the end of Hollywood's
silent era.
![Stéphane Brizé in Buenos Aires in 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/St%C3%A9phane_Briz%C3%A9_in_Buenos_Aires_in_2019.jpg)
French cinema continued its upward trend of earning awards at the Cannes Festival, including the prestigious
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
for ''Of Gods and Men'' (2010) and the
Jury Prize
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
Juries developed in England duri ...
for
Poliss
''Polisse'' (released at some film festivals as ''Poliss'', ) is a 2011 French crime drama film written, directed by and starring Maïwenn. It also stars Joeystarr, Karin Viard, Marina Foïs, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Emmanuelle Bercot and Riccardo ...
(2011); the
Best Director Award for
Mathieu Amalric
Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his roles in the James Bond film '' Quantum of Solace'', in which he played the lead villain, Steven Spielberg's ''Munich'', Wes An ...
(''
On Tour'', 2010); the
Best Actress Award for
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
(''
Certified Copy
A certified copy is a copy (often a photocopy) of a primary document that has on it an endorsement or certificate that it is a true copy of the primary document. It does not certify that the primary document is genuine, only that it is a true c ...
'', 2010); and the
Best Actor Award for
Jean Dujardin
Jean Edmond Dujardin (; born 19 June 1972) is a French actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Paris before guest starring in comedic television programmes and films. He first came to prominence with the cult TV series ...
(''The Artist'', 2011).
In 2011, the film ''
Intouchables'' became the most watched film in France (including the foreign films). After ten weeks nearly 17.5 million people had seen the film in France, Intouchables was the second most-seen French movie of all-time in France, and the third including foreign movies.
In 2012, with 226 million admissions (US$1,900 million) in the world for French films (582 films released in 84 countries), including 82 million admissions in France (US$700 million), 2012 was the fourth best year since 1985. With 144 million admissions outside France (US$1,200 million), 2012 was the best year since at least 1994 (since
Unifrance collects data), and the French cinema reached a market share of 2.95% of worldwide admissions and of 4.86% of worldwide sales. Three films particularly contributed to this record year: ''
Taken 2
''Taken 2'' is a 2012 English-language French action-thriller film directed by Olivier Megaton and starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Šerbedžija, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, D.B. Sweeney and Luke Grimes. It follows Bryan ...
'', ''
The Intouchables
''The Intouchables'' (french: Intouchables, ), also known as ''Untouchable'' in the UK and Ireland, is a 2011 French buddy comedy-drama film written and directed by Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano. It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. Nine w ...
'' and ''
The Artist''. In 2012, films shot in French ranked 4th in admissions (145 million) behind films shot in English (more than a billion admissions in the US alone), Hindi (?: no accurate data but estimated at 3 billion for the whole India/Indian languages) and Chinese (275 million in China plus a few million abroad), but above films shot in Korean (115 million admissions in South Korea plus a few millions abroad) and Japanese (102 million admissions in Japan plus a few million abroad, a record since 1973 et its 104 million admissions). French-language movies ranked 2nd in export (outside of French-speaking countries) after films in English. 2012 was also the year French animation studio
Mac Guff
Mac Guff (also known as Mac Guff Ligne) is a French visual effects company based in both Los Angeles, United States and Paris, France, where it is headquartered. Mac Guff specializes in the creation of computer graphics for commercials, music vid ...
was acquired by an American studio,
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
, through its
Illumination Entertainment
Illumination (formerly known as Illumination Entertainment) is an American computer animation studio, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. Illumination is owned by Meledandri and the Illumination brand is co-owned by Universal Pictures, a divisi ...
subsidiary. Illumination Mac Guff became the animation studio for some of the top English-language animated movies of the 2010s, including ''
The Lorax
''The Lorax'' is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the titular character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who cause ...
'' and the ''
Despicable Me'' franchise.
In 2015 French cinema sold 106 million tickets and grossed €600 million outside of the country. The highest-grossing film was ''
Taken 3
''Taken 3'' (sometimes stylized as ''TAK3N'') is a 2014 English-language French action-thriller film directed by Olivier Megaton and written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It is the third and final installment in the ''Taken'' trilogy. ...
'' (€261.7 million) and the largest territory in admissions was China (14.7 million).
Government support
As the advent of television threatened the success of cinema, countries were faced with the problem of reviving movie-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, including prominently the United States, are reluctant to generally accept foreign films, especially foreign-language and subtitled productions. 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.
The French government has implemented various measures aimed at supporting local film production and movie theaters. The
Canal+
Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
TV channel has a broadcast license requiring it to 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, as is common elsewhere
including in the United States. The sale of DVDs is prohibited for four months after the showing in theaters, so as to ensure some revenue for movie theaters.
Co-production
The French national and regional governments involve themselves in film production. For example, the award-winning documentary ''
In the Land of the Deaf
''In the Land of the Deaf'' (French title ''Le Pays Des Sourds'') is a French documentary created and produced by Nicolas Philibert in 1992.France Diplomatie''In the Land of the Deaf. The film is presented French Sign Language ( FSL) and French, w ...
'' (''Le Pays des sourds'') was created by
Nicolas Philibert
Nicolas Philibert (; born 10 January 1951) is a French film director and actor.
Biography
Philibert's father was a film lecturer and he attended his talks in his youth. This encouraged him to embark on a film career. He started this with Ren ...
in 1992. The film was co-produced by multinational partners, which reduced the financial risks inherent in the project; and co-production also ensured enhanced distribution opportunities.
[Cine-Regio]
Co-production
*
Les Films d'Ici.
[ "In the Land of the Deaf (1993),"](_blank)
''New York Times.''
*
La Sept
La Sept was a French free-to-air television network and production company created on 23 February 1986 to develop cultural and educational programming for transmission via the TDF 1 satellite. In French, the word "sept" means the number seven; ...
-cinéma.
*
Rhône-Alpes European Cinematographic Centre
Rhône-Alpes () was an regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after ...
.
[ Rhône-Alpes Cinéma](_blank)
''Le pays des sourds.''
*
Canal+
Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
.
*
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...
région.
*
Centre National de la Cinématographie
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...
.
[France Diplomatie]
''In the Land of the Deaf
.
*
Fondation de France
The Fondation de France ("Foundation of France") is an independent administrative agency which was established by the French government in an effort to stimulate and foster the growth of private philanthropy and private foundations in France.Fon ...
.
*
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (France)
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian mi ...
.
*
Rai 3
Rai 3 (formerly Rete 3) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural and ...
.
*
BBC Television.
*
Télévision Suisse Romande
Télévision Suisse Romande ("Swiss Television Romandy") was a TV network with two channels: TSR 1 and TSR 2 (the two channels became RTS Un and RTS Deux after 2012). They were the main French language channels in Switzerland, part of SRG ...
.
In Anglophone distribution, ''In the Land of the Deaf'' was presented in
French Sign Language
French Sign Language (french: langue des signes française, LSF) is the sign language of the deaf in France and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. According to ''Ethnologue'', it has 100,000 native signers.
French Sign Language is relate ...
(
FSL) and French, with English subtitles and closed captions.
[Library Media Project]
''In the Land of the Deaf.''
Festivals
Film distribution and production companies
Notable French film distribution and/or production companies include:
* Ad Vitam
* Alfama Films
* ARP Sélection
* Bac Films
* Diaphana Films
*
EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...
*
Gaumont
* Haut et Court
* KMBO
* Le Pacte
*
Les Films du Losange
Les films du losange is a film production company founded by Barbet Schroeder and Éric Rohmer in 1962. The company funds and distributes many films from the French nouvelle vague era, directed by Rohmer, Schroeder, Roger Planchon, Jacques Rivett ...
* Mars Films
*
MK2
*
Pan-Européenne
Pan-Européenne is a French film production and publishing company. Originally only distribution company, in 1992 it began also a production company, producing ''Beau fixe''. It has produced various films, including Jaco Van Dormael's '' The Eigh ...
*
Pathé
* Pyramide Distribution
* Rezo Films
*
SND Films
Metropole Télévision SA, commonly known as Groupe M6 ( en, M6 Group), is a French media holding company. It was formed around the Public television channel M6, launched in March 1987 by the CLT (RTL Télévision) and La Lyonnaise des Eaux.
...
*
StudioCanal
StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...
*
UGC
*
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang, or the Oklahombres, were a gang of American outlaws based in the Indian Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were active in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Terr ...
See also
*
List of French actors
This is a list of notable actors and actresses from France.
''(Persons are listed alphabetically according to their surname.)''
A
* Kev Adams
* Isabelle Adjani
* Fatima Adoum
* Renée Adorée
* Anouk Aimée
* Madame Albert
* Catherine A ...
*
List of French directors
*
List of French-language films
The following is a list of French-language films, films mostly spoken in the French language.
1900s
1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
See also
* List of French films
* List of Quebe ...
*
French comedy films
*
List of highest-grossing films in France
The following is a list of the films with the most cinema admissions in France, as of 31 July 2022.
:''Background colour indicates films currently in cinemas
The website for the above table lists ''La Grande Illusion'' (1937) with an estimated ...
*
French film awards
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
*
New French Extremity
New French Extremity (New French Extremism or, informally, New French Extreme) is a term coined by ''Artforum'' critic James Quandt for a collection of transgressive films by French directors at the turn of the 21st century. Also available othe ...
*
Cinema of the world
This is a list of cinema of the world by continent and country.
By continent
* Cinema of Africa
*Cinema of Asia
**South Asian cinema
**Southeast Asian cinema
* Cinema of North America
* Cinema of Latin America
*Cinema of Europe
* Cinema of Oceani ...
References
Further reading
* Austin, Guy. ''Contemporary French cinema: an introduction'' (2nd ed. 2008
excerpt* Harison, Casey. "The French Revolution on Film: American and French Perspectives."'' The History Teacher'' 38.3 (2005): 299-324
online* Hayward, Susan. ''French national cinema'' (Routledge, 2004).
* Lanzoni, Rémi Fournier. ''French cinema: from its beginnings to the present'' (A&C Black, 2004).
* Morrey, Douglas. ''The legacy of the new wave in French cinema'' (Bloomsbury Academic, 2018).
* Palmer, Tim and Charlie Michael (eds.) (2013). ''Directory of World Cinema: France'', Intellect/University of Chicago Press, London & Chicago. .
*
* Powrie, Phil. ''French Cinema in the 1980s: Nostalgia and the Crisis of Masculinity'' (Oxford University Press, 1997).
External links
Unifrance.orgSacramento French Film FestivalList of French MoviesFrench Directors
{{Europe in topic, Cinema of
Industry in France
Cultural history of France