The story of French filmmaking in many ways reflects the whole history of cinema. From the earliest flickering images of the Lumiere brothers in the late 19th century and throughout the years that followed, France has sometimes preceded and often paralleled the technical and artistic developments in cinema occuring internationally. Remi Lanzoni examines a large number of the world's most beloved films through the silent era, the Surrealist influence, the Nazi Occupation, the glories of the New Wave, into the 1990s and beyond. Focusing on the personalities that have created and formed an international art form, Lanzoni concentrates on directors and stars, bringing new insights into the work of Robert Bresson, Jean Cocteau, Jean Renoir, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Yves Montand and Jeanne Moreau among others.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Lanzoni (Romance languages, Elon Univ.) offers an academic and chronological survey of French filmmaking from 1895 to 2002. He is particularly interested in how 20th-century events have affected French cinema, notably the German occupation during World War II, which paradoxically represented a creative high point; the Algerian War; the "New Wave" explosion of the early 1960s; the student uprisings of May 1968; and recent tariff movements to reduce American domination of European film markets. Readers hoping for an in-depth portrait of the many distinctive French actors and directors will be disappointed. In his eagerness to explore the length and breadth of French film history, Lanzoni relegates even the most colorful and prominent personalities to mere mentions. The author fares better in his discussion of how the film criticism journal Cahiers du Cin ma served as a sounding board for the theories of New Wave directors like Fran ois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, manifestos that ultimately energized the world cinema scene. Unfortunately, Lanzoni fails to stir any similar excitement; this rather dry study won't lead many readers to check out France's rich and varied film heritage. The book does include valuable lists of Cannes Film Festival winners, recipients of the Cesar Awards, and France's biggest box office hits. Useful only as a supplement to earlier histories like Roy Armes's French Cinema and Melissa Biggs's French Films: 1945 Through 1993. (Index not seen.)-Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"elegantly organized, well researched, but always interesting history…French Cinema belongs in the library of anyone who loves the cinema." -- Peter Bondanella, Chairman and Distinguished Professor, Western European Studies, Indiana University, author of Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present
"insightful and thorough overview of more than a century of French films...very well-written." -- Mark Poindexter, January 10, 2003
"tells movie goers just about everything they might wish to know about the development of cinema in France." -- Edward Kakye, Hai Rai, April 2003
"insightful and thorough overview of more than a century of French films...very well-written." -- Mark Poindexter, January 10, 2003
"tells movie goers just about everything they might wish to know about the development of cinema in France." -- Edward Kakye, Hai Rai, April 2003
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Resource for the Price,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present (Paperback)
I had to buy this book for a French Film class, and it's actually one of the cheapest books I've had to buy for a film class. The author does a great job formatting the text in a way that makes the history read more like a novel and less like an academic text. I really enjoyed reading the book and found myself unable to stop after reading the assigned pages.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book of film studies,
By jean dutour (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present (Hardcover)
This book on French cinema is a very important book. It really offers the reader a unique and splendid overview of one hundred years of French cinema, which influenced American movies as well as many other national cinemas. Rémi Fournier Lanzoni organized its narrative structure chronologically and provided at the beginning of each chapter a concise but valuable historical retrospective. Most likely one of the best books on the history of French filmmaking.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good overview,
By
This review is from: French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present (Paperback)
I find most books about film quite tedious. However, there is definitely room for overviews of national cinema. This is an overview of French cinema and it does deliver a good overview. Next step is to watch the movies, not read another book.
The book is similar in coverage to Richie's "A 100 Years of Japanese Film". I know, another country but similar.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
