“An authoritative and comprehensive resource for the study of French cinema today. The editors have brought together an impressive international group of scholars who discuss every aspect of contemporary cinema in France: industrial, economic, historical, political and aesthetic. Cinema is considered in the broadest sense, from popular genre filmmaking to art cinema. A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema is certain to be indispensable for both students and scholars.”
Barry Keith Grant, Brock University
“Since Lumière and Méliès, the French have had a legitimate claim to being the first nation of cinema. This anthology renews, if not that claim, then its corollary: that French film scholarship is unrivalled. A superlative roster of researchers has been recruited here to dig into, not just to survey, the vast fields of France’s cinematic presence in the world today.”
Dudley Andrew, Yale University
“A labor of love, the fruit of scholarly expertise, this ambitious anthology offers multiple reasons to shout ‘vive le cinéma français!’ Contemplating hundreds of movies released between 1990 and 2013, A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema fills a gap in existing scholarship. For anyone who appreciates French film, it is a must read.”
Chris Holmlund, University of Tennessee
From the Inside Flap
A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema presents a comprehensive collection of original essays addressing all aspects of French cinema from 1990 to the present day. Featuring contributions from an international cast of established and emerging scholars of French cinema, these innovative essays highlight the diversity of French films and filmmaking techniques that have emerged since the New Wave era. Themes and topics covered include the social, political, and cultural contexts of recent French cinema; contemporary filmmakers and performers; genres, cycles, and cinematic forms; gender and sexuality; and emerging trends and innovative new filmmaking forms. Among the French films examined in depth are hit comedies including Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis and Intouchables, blockbusters such as The Crimson Rivers, police films like 36th Precinct, historical films such as Farewell My Queen and Days of Glory, celebrated animated features such as Kirikou and the Sorceress, films representative of the “new French extreme,” such as Romance, Baise-Moi, and Trouble Every Day and numerous auteur films ranging from Bruno Dumont’s Hors Satan and François Ozon’s shorts, to Pascale Ferran’s Lady Chatterley and Alain Guiraudie’s L’Inconnu du lac. Combining cutting-edge scholarship with wide-ranging methodological approaches and perspectives, A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema is an invaluable resource for students and scholars of French film, as well as all those interested in the evolution of this celebrated cinematic tradition.
From the Back Cover
A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema presents a comprehensive collection of original essays addressing all aspects of French cinema from 1990 to the present day. Featuring contributions from an international cast of established and emerging scholars of French cinema, these innovative essays highlight the diversity of French films and filmmaking techniques that have emerged since the New Wave era. Themes and topics covered include the social, political, and cultural contexts of recent French cinema; contemporary filmmakers and performers; genres, cycles, and cinematic forms; gender and sexuality; and emerging trends and innovative new filmmaking forms. Among the French films examined in depth are hit comedies including Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis and Intouchables, blockbusters such as The Crimson Rivers, police films like 36th Precinct, historical films such as Farewell My Queen and Days of Glory, celebrated animated features such as Kirikou and the Sorceress, films representative of the “new French extreme,” such as Romance, Baisemoi, and Trouble Every Day, and numerous auteur films ranging from Bruno Dumont’s Hors Satan and François Ozon’s shorts to Pascale Ferran’s Lady Chatterley and Alain Guiraudie’s L’Inconnu du lac. Combining cutting-edge scholarship with wide-ranging methodological approaches and perspectives, A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema is an invaluable resource for students and scholars of French film, as well as all those interested in the evolution of this celebrated cinematic tradition.
About the Author
Alistair Fox is Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago. His books include Jane Campion: Authorship and Personal Cinema (2011), New Zealand Cinema: Interpreting the Past (2011), and an English edition and translation of Anne Gillain’s François Truffaut: The Lost Secret (2013).
Michel Marie is Professor Emeritus at l’Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3. His publications include The French New Wave: An Artistic School (1998, translated into English in 2002), Aesthetics of Film (with Jacques Aumont and Alain Bergala, 1983, translated into English in 2002), and Les Grands Pervers au cinéma (2009).
Raphaëlle Moine is Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at l’Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3. Her publications include Cinema Genre (2002; translated into English in 2008), Remakes: les films Français à Hollywood (2007), and Les Femmes d’action au cinéma (2010).
Hilary Radner is Professor of Film and Media Studies in the Department of History and Art History at the University of Otago. Her publications include Neo-Feminist Cinema: Girly Films, Chick Flicks and Consumer Culture (2011) and Feminism at the Movies: Understanding Gender in Contemporary Popular Culture (2011).
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