The French Cinema has historically been one of the most rich and influential since the dawn of the medium. In fact, debate still rages over which country actually invented the movie camera and, subsequently, the motion picture business; America and Thomas Edison's appropriation of a machine actually invented by William Dickson, or France and the Lumiere brothers. The evolution of cinema as an art is one that finds France among the elite of history that includes Hollywood, the Soviet Union and pre-Nazi Germany. The apex of the influence of French filmmakers resulted in generic description that has been applied to revolutions in all media: the New Wave.
That new breed of filmmakers typified by Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut not only changed the face of French cinema, it changed the entire approach to filmmaking in ways that were described as radical at the time, but are simply the most natural way of making movies today. By the 1970s, however, French cinema began to lose much of its glamour and appeal as Godard turned his back on the mainstream to embrace the radical avant-garde while the other members of the New Wave sought the embrace of the very mainstream they had earlier indicted. The 1980s witnessed the occasional international success from France, while the newer generation of French movie stars such as Gerard Depardieu or Juliette Binoche achieved worldwide recognition through appearances in English-language films backed by Hollywood producers. Meanwhile, the only French director to achieve anything even remotely close to the kind of worldwide acclaim granted earlier generations is Luc Besson, and that success has been based almost entirely on his English-language movies starring Hollywood superstars. All was not bad news, however. Beginning in the 1980s and continuing through today, French films were not entirely unfamiliar to audiences for Hollywood movies. Several big box office hits to come out of Hollywood were in fact retooled or reworked versions of French classics ranging from Three Men and a Cradle to The Tall Blonde Man with One Black Shoe to The Return of Martin Guerre. One can well make a case that more Americans actually saw stories made popular in French movies during the last three decades than in the previous half century as a result of watching such remakes as Three Men and a Baby, The Man with One Red Shoe, and Sommersby.
The troubles experienced by French cinema since the 1980s is not entirely due to changes within the country itself. Foreign films routinely get distributed and screened throughout Europe, but without the exposure that comes with success in America the difficulty in establishing an international reputation increases. No further evidence is necessary to argue this contention than by comparing the number of international directors whose names were recognized by film fans across the globe prior to the 1980 to the number of those who have achieved equal fame since. The revolution of the film distribution process in America that coincided with the rise of what may be termed the "blockbuster opening" in which just one film may be projected onto as many as 4,000 screens at once heralded the death knell of foreign-language films there. The result was far more damaging than to the French cinema-the entire international cinema-than merely ending the longstanding influence of foreign directors on the next generation of Hollywood filmmakers. The lack of a revenue-producing stream for France and other countries as a result of the constriction of the American distribution channel created a domino effect on the French film industry.
This reduction in revenue was further undermined by the progressive among the cinema-goers within France itself. The precipitous drop in box office receipts was partly due to the growth of television as a viable competitor to the film industry. The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the rise of French television as a robust distributor of high quality cinematic entertainment, in addition to showcasing many of the French masterpieces of the past. To offset this dangerous trend, the Societe de Financement desmatographiques et Audiovisuelles program (SOFICA) was instituted in 1985(1). The primary benefit of this program was the introduction of a complex tax shelter system designed to lure more investment in cinematic film. The infusion of money reinvigorated the French film industry, but did so at a time when the country was undergoing the same shift in a distribution model as America. French cinema owners moved to centralize film viewership in the multi-screen theater, thereby creating a distribution process that sought to maximize profit potential and reduce risk associated with rising production costs through market saturation(2). This approach in France produced the same result as it had in America: the economics of the distribution of film influenced the artistic choices involved in the production of film. In other words, the blockbuster mentality of Hollywood had immigrated to France.
Even worse, it has been the Hollywood blockbuster that has continued to attract French audiences, contributing to a decline in box office revenues for French-made films not just around the world but in France itself. A 1999 study claimed that French films were seen in theaters by less than 30% of the country's population, compared to over 60% who attended Hollywood blockbusters(3). Since that study, the situation does not appear to have improved much, despite the increase in anti-American sentiment related to the war in Iraq. The distribution system for French films remains committed to pursuing the quick return based on the saturation model, while American distribution remains difficult at best. In addition, internal disputes have erupted into attacks on film reviewers from filmmakers who assert that their negative reviews are hurting not just the individual films themselves but the perspective that French filmgoers bring a native work of cinematic art. Debate also rages over the practice of what has been derisively termed "cultural protectionism" expressed in the government mandates on the percentage of French-produced films that must be shown on television and be screened in local cinemas. On one side is the argument that these mandates ensure that Hollywood doesn't completely co-op every screen inside a multiplex. The other side argues that the mandates actually serve to hinder the ability of France to compete in the international market because too many mediocre films are being made that have contributed to the exodus of French movie fans from films made by their own countrymen(4).
Toward the end of the 20th century it was suggested by more than a few that the French cinema was in a deep and profound crisis. From the competition natively produced films faced from Hollywood blockbusters to the fact that there was no singular French film "movement" to rally around to the adoption of a distribution system that relies on saturating the country's multiplexes with a single movie, it is true that the French cinema may well have sunk to its lowest point since World War II. Despite that unsettling truth, however, it must be remembered that the French cinema has always been a vital and influential part of the history of the movies. Just as the country recovered from the devastation engendered by World War II to become even more influential on the world stage, so is it possible that one day the French cinema might again produce a revolution comparable to the New Wave.
In fact, that revolution may very well be on its way. Since its low point in the late 1990s, French cinema has held the promise of a strong re-emergence. Admission figures have been increasing since 2001, hitting an all time high in 2004. Although figures dropped somewhat in 2005, that potential downward trend was reversed quickly the very next year(5). Another promising development is the noticeable increase in popularity of French-made films during this period, coincident with a drop in attendance for films from America. Leading the charge is a significant rise in the popularity of homegrown comedies and animated films, as well as a resurgence of the French art-house film that gain an overseas audience. Although the current state of the French cinema has yet to produce internationally acclaimed stars and directors as in the past, there can be no denying that French audiences are flocking back into the theaters in numbers not seen since the 1970s. Cover your necks, there just may be another French revolution around the corner.
1 "Distribution and Effects of Television: The 1980s." Film Encyclopedia. http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/France-DISTRIBUTION-AND-THE-EFFECTS-OFTELEVISION-THE-1980s.html
2 Ibid.
3 Charles Paul Fruend. French Farce. Reason. Vol. 31. Issue 10. 2000-03-01.
4 Ibid.
5 Review of 2006 at the French Box Office. UniFrance. http://en.unifrance.org/news/4796/review-of-2006-at-the-french-box-office
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