Thursday, Apr 11, 2002
Thursday, Apr 11, 2002 |
| International | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | International
By Gautaman Bhaskaran
The French cinema is booming, and at a time when many other countries are despairing Hollywood's determined push with its dollar power, excellent technique and mind boggling publicity promotions. Last year, 60 million French men and women had seen a film in their own language, a neat rise from the 47 million in 2000. This happily translates into a 40 per cent theatrical market share for French movies, a figure not seen since the middle of the 1980s. Three works, "Three Men and a Cradle'', "Subway'' and "Les Specialistes'' largely helped boost the number of audiences in 1985 to 78 million and the market share to 44 per cent. French critics say that there is now a greater cause for celebration. Four movies — "Amelie from Montmarte'', "Would I Lie to You?'', "The Closet'' and "Brotherhood of the Wolf'' — together attracted five million people to walk into an auditorium. This is claimed to be a record achieved for the first time since 1947. There were other celluloid dreams that helped to distract viewers from American extravaganzas: "Yamakasi'', "A Crime in Paris'', "Just Visiting'', "The Kiss of the Dragon'', "Little Tom Thumb'' and "Wasabi'' were some. There are several reasons why the 150-odd French films churned out every year are doing comparatively well now. An important cause could be the emergence of both directors and producers of talent. This group made its debut in the 1990s, and today it has matured enough to make a mark. Luc Besson, for one, has been successfully exploring the "thriller'' trend with his "Nikita'' and "The Professional''. But he has also not been averse to changing course: his "The Fifth Element'', a science fiction work, is a case in point. Sheer dramas like "Taxi'' and teen comedies like "Sexy Boys'' and "A French American Pie'' have all proved to be a tough challenge to Hollywood blockbusters. Along with these new-look French pictures, smaller, specialised fare, such as "Marius and Jeanette'', "Western'', "The Dreamlife of Angels'' and "The Girl from Paris'' confirmed that people were willing to give their own home grown cinema a second and sustained look. A survey by the Centre Nationale de Cinematographie late last year found that the image of French cinema had changed radically. It had transformed from being boringly personal and highly intense to being entertaining, inventive and social. Almost 90 per cent of those questioned felt that French films continued to have its positive qualities of social commitment and intellectual realism. Most said that the movies had better scripts and were technically superior than before. Experts predict that this year could be rosier with works like "Mission Cleopatre'', "Monsieur Batignole'' and "Le Raid'', just to mention three, promising to pull crowds away from American dreams. The Cannes International Film Festival in May can well be an interesting venue to study how French cinema fares vis-à-vis the movies from elsewhere, particularly from the great American dream factory.
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|