I’m writing my final paper in “Contemporary French Cinema.” I’m investigating the “cinema du blockbuster” that is now prevalent in France. The directors of these big-budgeted (by French standards, not Hollywood) “audience-friendly” movies are the first wave of directors in France not to cite the New Wave and other French influences. In fact, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) has made it well known that he hates hate the New Wave film. Instead Jeunet, along with the others embrace Hollywood directors like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Martin Scorcese. For those of you who despise the French “haughtier than thou” attitude, you can imagine the furor created by a French director trying to make movies that have the widespread appeal of a movie like Star Wars.
This is an anecdote I’m using in my paper:
” A bout truffaut mon?” Despite having recently lived, breathed, and eaten the subject of French cinema before 1970, the title did not ring a bell. The twenty-something recent transplant from Paris whose name escapes me repeated, in a heavy French accent, the title of her favorite film once more over the din of the bar patrons at a New York restaurant. Again, the title was unfamiliar. Not certain as to when it was released, she could only say, “recently.” “Excellent,“ I thought. I was presented with an opportunity for a facile introduction to contemporary French cinema weeks before I was to officially begin study into the very subject. “Who directed ‘A bout truffaut mon’?” I asked, but again she wasn’t sure. “Aren’t you the film student?” she remarked. “An actor in the film?” I asked insistently. Her face lit up. “Russell Crowe!” I was perplexed. I wasn’t aware Russell Crowe was a cast member in any recent French productions. I sounded out the film’s title and then…I understood. The French expatriate’s favorite film was not French at all; it was actually 2002 Academy Award Best Picture-winner “A Beautiful Mind.” The film, whose $60 million budget was financed by Hollywood studio Universal Pictures, was shot in New York and New Jersey by Ron Howard, former child star-cum-director of highly-visible and large-budgeted studio films (i.e. “Apollo 13,” “The DaVinci Code”).(Wikipedia.org) “Really?” I asked, failing to mask the inherent pretense. She responded defensively, “I don’t like French movies. They’re so boring. I love Russell Crowe.” Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was a great introduction to contemporary French cinema.