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Cinema in France
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The French and cinema...
- Cinema is alive and well
in France ! Production, number of viewers, proportion of
French films, exports, young talented directors, etc... : all
indicators have maintained at rather satisfactory levels. Although
nobody contests the importance and the quality of the American
film industry, French films continue to hold their own (since
the invention of cinema in 1895 !).
- Caricaturally
speaking, and with no value judgement whatsoever : contrary to
the USA where a movie is seen as an entertainment and its success
is measured in $, in France a movie is considered a message
sent by a director for our reflection ; its success is measured
by the number of viewers. As French director Bertrand Tavernier
said to Stanford students (Le Figaro, Nov.21, 2005) "...films
are massive construction weapons...".
- The number of
Art Houses in France is much higher than anywhere else
in the world and there is not only Cannes, but there are several
very interesting festivals which illustrate the
interest of the French for cinema (Deauville and its Festival
of American Cinema, Nantes and its Festival of African, Asian
and Latin-American Cinema, etc...).
- The French equivalent
of the Oscars Awards is called "les Césars"
and the ceremony takes place in February too.
- With 5,366 movie
theaters, France enjoys the highest number of screens/million
inhabitants : 89 (vs. 60 in Germany, 56 in UK and 24 in Japan).
- To be developed
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Historical milestones....
- The first public projection
of a film in the world took place in Paris in the Grand Café,
boulevard des Capucines on December 28, 1895, by inventors
Lumière brothers (who gave it the name "cinématographe"
which became "cinema"). The film was "l'entrée
du train en gare de la Ciotat".
- Georges Méliès
(1861-1938) may be considered the first director and the man
who invented scenarios and special effects.
- More to come
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| Read about the French policy for movie : "l'exception culturelle" |
Gérard
Depardieu, as Cyrano
de Bergerac (credit) |
The "new France" resulting from
immigration is
not only represented by suburban riots. Thanks to ethnic diversity,
there is an incredibly rich new generation of young singers,
movie-makers and writers.
For instance :
- Abdellatif Kechiche :La graine
et le mulet" (2007, 3 Awards in Venice) or L'esquive
(2005, 4 Césars -the French Oscars-)
- More to come....
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USEFUL
TIPS.....Paris is a great city for cinema-lovers : many
movie-theaters (over 300 movies every week), films in English
and old movies. The former American Center designed by Frank
Gehry (55 rue de Bercy 75011) is now the Musée du Cinema
and the French Cinemathèque. It is a fantastic place
: read about it in Paris
Diary.
A lesser-known place to see many movies in a row, or to view
a particular part of a movie in a comfortable seat with an individual
screen is the Forum
des Images,
where you can spend the whole day for around $3 ; there are several
thousand movies about Paris or taking place in Paris that you
can select with a key-word and watch on an individual screen
(currently under renovation : re-opening January 2007). Rue Champollion, in the Latin Quarter,
is THE street for classic films... Another great mùovie
theater is Cinema Denfert 26 Place Denfert Rochereau 75014.,
with high quality program. Many movie theaters (chains like UGC
but also independent theaters) offer passes representing up to
25% discount.
DID YOU KNOW THAT.... ? The best-paid French
actors in 2003 were Gérard Depardieu*, Jean Reno*,
Daniel Auteuil*, José Garcia*, Thierry Lhermite, Gad Elmaleh,
Vincent Perez, Philippe Noiret, Nathalie Baye and Benoit Poelvoorde
(according to Figaro Entreprises May 17, 2004, a "*"
indicating that they were already in the Top-10 in 2002). Hit-parade
of 2002 includes Jamel Debbouze (a "beur"), Christian Clavier,
Gérard Lanvin, Samuel Le Bihan, Catherine Deneuve and
Juliette Binoche.
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"L'exception culturelle" : what does
it mean ?
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Basically, refering to "exception culturelle" means that everything "cultural"
must be protected from the "hegemony" of the markets,
the State being the regulator and, when necessary, the sponsor
of a cultural policy.
Culture and markets do not mix well ! The French have a concept that they call
"l'exception culturelle française" (the
French cultural exception) which drives all American delegates
in any international meeting crazy. What does it mean? Basically
it means that "cultural products" are not "products"
and cannot be subject to:
- the regulation
which applies to "products" (free enterprise, no State
subsidy, no quotas etc...)
- the criteria
which apply to "products" (the more you sell, the better
it is, etc...).
Why ? Because
they express the cultural value of the French society, in its
language, and they need to be protected against competition by
a stronger competitor, with a larger market, lower production
cost, different values which would kill the French culture and
replace it by a foreign one. It does not matter if a foreign
car industry overcomes the French one : cars would be different,
that's all, but if French writers, French film-makers, French
musicians were replaced by foreign writers, film-makers and musicians,
France would no longer be France. As a consequence, most French
support the idea that it is legitimate to protect cultural activities
from pure market laws and it is the role of the State to protect them and
if necessary subsidize them with public money. This is also why
when the Louvre developped a new policy of renting some of its
pieces to raise money, it created a huge uproar in France.
This concern
(largely shared in France) explains certain elements of the French legislation such as :
- "prix
unique du livre" : a limitation on the % of discount
on books (to support small publishing houses and help maintain
small bookstores against the competition of supermarkets)
- quotas on non-French movies
on French national TV channels and mandatory financing of films
by TV channels (as a provision in their license)
- quotas of French music on radio channels (standard :
40%)
- "avance
sur recettes" or "fonds de soutien":
a financial State advance on all French films (the French movie
industry is third in the world after USA and India and France
is the only Western country where foreign films represent less
than 50% of the market : in Germany, Italy and UK, they represent
more than 80%)
- less taxes :
TVA (value added tax) is 5,5% on cinema (like on food) when it
is 19,6% on almost everything
- the legal status
of "les intermittents du spectacle", a derogatory
(and heavily subsidied) unemployment-system for artists, musicians,
technicians, etc...
- etc...
| The
French system for financing films is unique in Europe. Major TV channels (TF1, M6, France
2 and France 3) must allocate 3,2% of their turnover to cinema
as co-producer (including at least 2,5% to French films). For
each of them, this represents 20 to 30 films and 30 to 50 million
Euros. See detailed
figures. |
 (credit) |
They must broadcast a minimum
of 50% of French films. Canal+, a very popular pay-channel, must
devote 20% of its turnover to buy the rights of films (12% European
minimum, including 9% French minimum). On each cinema ticket,
a 11%-tax is allocated to the " Fonds de Soutien ",
which is open to foreign films provided they are co-produced
with a French producer.
The result of this policy : with more than 160 films/year, the
French film industry is third in the world after the USA (500)
and India (800) and the success does not go only to "typically
so French" movies (i.e. intimate, cheap and boring...)
: see the list of
French industry is clearly the strongest in
Europe (France produces 22% of European films and has the
largest market-share of nationally-produced films in Europe)
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State-owned TVs compete with commercial
TVs !
| In France, state-owned
TV channels (France-2,
France-3, TV 5,...) are clearly better and more respectful of
the viewer than commercial TV channels, only interested in market
share and advertising. |
| The Maison
de la Radio, headquarters of French state-owned TV and radio
channels, along the river Seine, in Paris |
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Public channels have less
or no reality shows, broadcast cultural program at decent hours
and are the only ones with a "médiateur" (ombudsman)
and a weekly program to analyze their errors frankly and openly.
France and Germany share an excellent cultural TV channel (Arte).
The weakest must be protected ! ("between the Weak and the Strong,
it is Freedom which is oppressive and the Law which is protective",
as Lacordaire said)
UNESCO reached an agreement on cultural diversity (October 20,
2005) but the USA, alone with Israel against 151 countries, kept
insisting on treating all cultural activities by the same rules
as economic goods. For example, in the negociation of a trade
agreement between the USA and Morocco (Dec. 2004), the USA insisted
on opening its market to Moroccan agricultural products if and
only if Morocco stopped protecting its cultural sector, which
practically speaking, means subsidizing Moroccan movies.
- Do you think that Moroccan movies
can resist Hollywood movies ?
- Is it good for the Moroccan
people to be cut from their roots and projected into a foreign
culture, with no alternative ?
- Is it wise for the USA to be
considered the cause of the disappearance of a local culture
in the name of free trade ?
This is not "a French protectionnist
combat", as the US press likes to write: many countries
(including the European Union, speaking with one voice, but also
Korea, Brazil, India and China) are particularly active in this
negotiation and France is not the only nation to champion the
protection of indigenous cultures. But, as usual, the French
make more noise and behave in a more irritating way....
Other illustrations
- Dec. 17, 2001
: (former) French tycoon, Jean-Marie Messier, then CEO of Vivendi Universal Entertainment
declared from New York "the exception culturelle
is a Franco-French archaism... " to the horror of the entire
French cultural establishment and political class (the President
of France qualified this analysis as "a mental aberration").
- July 2003 :
in the final negociation about the project of European Constitution,
the French government negociated until the very last minute (and
finally won) on "exception culturelle" when other countries
negociated on other issues (economy, immigration, foreign policy,
etc...). Another example in history : when the "Entente
Cordiale" was established between UK and France in 1904,
the key issue was that France would give up any claim on Egypt.
France accepted with only one exception : the head of Archeology
in the Egyptian administration should be French.
- During the GATT
negociation, Jack Valenti, the representative of the US Motion
Picture industry for decades, had the following exchange with
a French delegate :
- JV.: You
make wonderful cheeses. Keep it up and let us, alone, make films
- FD.: You already make 95%
of the movies. What more do you want ?
- JV. : 100%, of course.
- Today, it is
more politically correct to speak of "diversité
culturelle" (cultural diversity) but the meaning is
the same (read about anti-Americanism).
- On the European
market (25 countries, in 2003), the % of European films was only
25,7% (American films : 72,1%)
- More to come.
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USEFUL
TIPS.... (to figure out some cultural differences...)
Many French films are sold to American producers and turned into
American films. Did you see the movie " Three men and a
Baby " ? It is the American version of a French film "
Trois hommes et un couffin " but several significant things
have changed :
- more action (and more violence) in the American version : a
car race in the streets of New York (in the American version)
when the French film is light
- more cynicism in the French version (people are not expected
to be good) : the mother of the hero does not want to take care
of the child because she is enjoying her retirement , in the
French film, the police is ridiculed and the dealers escape,
with a little help from the heroes ; in the American film, the
dealers are arrested and the police is cool and efficient....
- and several other significant details...
By the same
token, in 2005, " La marche de l'empereur " ("
March of the Penguin "), a film by Luc Jacquet on the life
of the giant Antarctic penguin was a huge success in the USA
and was # 2 at the box-office. Actually, the sound was changed
for the American audience : instead of a very " written
" text full of allusions and images which made the French
film a parable on the human condition, the commentary was a rather
factual commentary, very " National Geographic "-type.
It was good but it made a different movie : the American audience
probably learned a lot about penguins but certainly nothing about
the French.
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Some
movies to help you understand France
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To understand certain aspects
of France and French society, nothing like a good movie; preferably
a French movie (to avoid American movies reproducing stereotypes,
decade after decade). Among them, il you want to understand better
:
- The
royal court, just before the Revolution : Ridicule
(1994), directed by Patrice Leconte, starring Jean Rochefort,
etc...
- French men : movies starring
Yves Montand , directed by Claude Sautet like Vincent, François,
Paul et les autres (1974) (men with their friends) or César
et Rosalie (1978) (love in middle-age)
- The French health
system : Sicko (2007), by Michael Moore
- Life in occupied France
WW II : Lacombe Lucien (1974), directed by Louis Malle
| The French sense of panache
: Cyrano de Bergerac (1985), directed by Jean Paul Rappeneau,
starring Gérard Depardieu. You'll learn a lot about the
French if you watch this (excellent) movie, or read the play
(Edmond Rostand, 1897). |
see above |
- The
French Revolution : La Révolution Française
(Part One : Les Années Lumières, Part Two
: Les Années Terribles) (1989), directed by Alexandre
Mnouchkine, staring Jane Seymour etc...
- Life in French small towns
: any film by Claude Chabrol...
- More than 700 films are shot
every year in Paris : see a selection of my favorite films
taking place in Paris
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- Social
and racial tensions in
the outskirts of French cities : La Haine by Mathieu Kassovitz
(1994)
- Life in a French colony in
Africa in the 1930s: Coup de torchon (1975), directed
by Bertrand Tavernier, starring Philippe Noiret, Stéphane
Audran (read about colonies)
- European students in an Erasmus program
(in Barcelona) : L'auberge espagnole by Cedric Klapish
(1995)
- World
War I : Paths of Glory
(1957), directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Kirk Douglas etc...
- World
War II : Le Chagrin
et la Pitié (The Sorrow and the Pity) (1969), directed
by Marcel Ophüls, interviews and documents
- About
the community of the "pieds
noirs" : La vérité si je mens
(1997), directed by Thomas Gilou
- About
war in Algeria : "La bataille d'Alger"
(1966) an Italian-Algerian film by Gillo Pontecorvo, with Yacef
Saâdi playing his own role
- The funniest movie (for
the French) is "La Grande Vadrouille" (1964),
directed by Gérard Oury, starring Louis de Funès
and Bourvil, drawing the largest audiences ever (in France) :
nearly 20 million
- Hollywood has made many great
movies about certain moments of French history (see a list of
some of the best American
movies on French history)
- More to come....
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| DID YOU KNOW THAT....? Protectionism
goes both ways and cultural imperialism does exist ! The
US film industry says that the policy of quotas on French TV
(a minimal % of French movies) is a threat to free enterprise
but do you know that in the USA most (if not all) foreign films
cannot be dubbed for regulatory reasons ? Therefore, they cannot
be seen by a large audience and remain confined to a small elite
cicuit. Regarding cultural products as elements of foreign policy,
one can also mention the Blum-Byrnes Accord in 1946 between a
ruined France and triumphant USA : American aid was conditional
to the introduction of American products in France and a whole
part of the accord referred specifically to films and to US demand
to play American movies in French theaters. |
Finding a French movie
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A Frequently Asked Question is
"Where can I find a DVD of an old vintage French movie?".
Among many sites (of course, French sites ...), here are a few
suggestions :
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A nice place to find cinema posters,
books and reviews is : Cinedoc, 45 passage Jouffroy 75009 Paris
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| DID YOU KNOW THAT....
? With more than 17 million viewers in only 5 weeks, the film
" Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis " (Dany Boone, 2008)
did better than " La grande vadrouille " in 40 years
(it was previously the most successful French film ever). It
is the story of a postman who is transfered from the Riviera
to the North of France (it is like being transfered from Hawai
to Pittsburg) . Extremely reluctant at the begining, because
of the very poor image of the region, he soon discovers what
French Northerners actually are : warmhearted, hospitable, friendly.
The movie was considered a rehabilitation by millions of people
(Ch'ti means "Northerner" in the local dialect) and
is the greatest success ever (but the movie itself is just OK). |
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Harriet Welty
Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French.
Order her books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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