The French love films (and so do I)
I always feel at home inside a French cinema
The French New Wave, or La Nouvelle Vague.
Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer. Varda, Remy, Chabrol.
These are the heroes of French cinema and the cinéastes who took French film to the next level from the end of the 1950s until the end of the 1960s.
I have a confession to make: I don’t love The French New Wave. But I do love going to the movies and so do French people.
I’ve been to the movies a few times in the US over the last few years. Major theater chains have struggled because Americans are streaming more and going out less. Also, the pandemic. The figures today show that the number of American moviegoers remains much lower than before the pandemic. As a result, theaters have upped the ante with stadium seating featuring recliners and deliver-to-your seat meals, at least in cities.
But in France, that’s not the case. There’s no fancy seating here, no recliners. Because that’s not the point. Wherever I’ve been, whether it’s in the south of France or in Paris, I’ve seen how French people put a high value on moviegoing as a pastime. Within the last two weeks, I went to see the film ‘A Life’ with Anthony Hopkins here in Paris, and the salle was packed with people chattering away before the movie started.
Paris has terrific cinemas. There are several chains like Gaumont and UGC. But there are also some amazing classic movie theaters that feature old classics or new, independent films. The Champo and Reflet Médicis, for example.
I discovered a terrific magazine dedicated to film called Cahiers du Cinéma. It’s a magazine for anyone who likes cinema, not just industry folks. I stumbled across it for the first time after someone left a copy in a public place somewhere (I can’t remember). I started reading it while on a long-distance train and loved it. There were articles about specific directors, actors, movie reviews, all the things I love to read. (Confession: my favorite part of “The New Yorker” magazine is the film reviews, so having an entire magazine devoted to film really floated my boat.)
Cahiers du Cinéma has been in print since 1951 and is published weekly. In fact, some of the famous filmmakers I mention at the top of this article wrote for the magazine. However, it’s only published in French, which has been a great way for me to improve my reading comprehension.
I have a little story to tell.
I studied in London during my junior year of college. I would go to the movies often - because London is a great place to see new and old films on the big screen. (And I got a student discount.)
I lived in a student residence, sharing a floor with people from England, Germany, France, and Greece to name a few. One day, I went to see ‘Jerry Maguire’ — you know the one where Tom Cruise plays a single guy who can’t commit to relationships but ends up in one with his single-mother assistant?
Anyway. I got back to my student residence afterwards and told one of German students, “Oh my god, I just saw Jerry Maguire and I loved it!” And he said to me, “It’s such a typical American movie. The guy gets everything in the end. American movies always have a happy ending.”
My buzz was killed.
I was taken aback. It was a great movie! What did he mean?! But that was 25 years ago, and I’ve traveled far and wide since then. Now I understand what he meant. American movies represent a dream or a fantasy. They are often very positive with happy endings; it’s just what appeals to us. (Of course, plenty of movies do not represent happiness, but in the end, there usually is a twist that makes you smile or cry from relief that the protagonist is going to be okay in the end.)
With more international exploration, I’ve come to prefer European-style movies because they are raw, sometimes dark, often without happy endings, or the ending leaves you wondering because it doesn’t have a conclusion!
I want to share with you two of my favorite filmmakers in francophone film: the Dardenne brothers. They are actually not French, they’re Belgian, and their movies are fantastic. They focus a lot on the underbelly of Belgian society - the people who struggle to make ends meet, who find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Their films remind me of those of Ken Loach, another filmmaker whom I love. Some of their films have won the coveted Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
I was first introduced by the Frères Dardenne when I was in French class. As it turned out, one of my French teachers was a cinéfile and had written his own screenplay. One day, to teach us new vocabulary, he showed us a clip from the film ‘Rosetta’, about a girl who lives in a caravan park with her alcoholic mother and tries to get by in life. I had to go home and watch the whole film. Their most recent film, ‘Tori & Lokita’, is streaming on The Criterion Channel (if you don’t know about this streaming service and you love film, this is the one for you). It left me heartbroken.
This may not be my only article I write about France and cinema. There is so much more to say about this medium that is so heartily embraced by French society. It’s one of the things I have come to love about being back in Paris. So stay tuned…
great post Jenn! thank you
There are quite a few French films I love - Three Colors Red, L’Enfer (the 1994 Chabrol film, not the more recent one), La Femme Nikita, La fille de d'Artagnan starring Sophie Marceau, and La Reine Margot. Not many of them have happy endings :)