Cinema of France

From Wikinfo

France has been influential in the development of film as a mass medium and as an art form.

History

Late 19th century to early 20th century

In the late 19th century, during the early years of cinema, France produced several important pioneers. [[Auguste and Louis Lumi�re]] invented the [[cin�matographe]] and their screening of L'Arriv�e d'un train en gare de la Ciotat in Paris in 1895 is marked by many historians as the official birth of cinema. During the next few years, filmmakers all over the world started experimenting with this new medium, and France's [[Georges M�li�s]] was influential. He invented many of the techniques now common in the cinematic language, and made the first ever science fiction film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune, 1902).

Other early individuals and organizations of this period included Gaumont Pictures and [[Path� Fr�res]]. Throughout continental Europe and Great Britain, the film industry was growing rapidly at the turn of the century. In February of 1909, the first European Convention of Film Manufacturers and Publishers was held in Paris.

Post-World War II: 1940s-1960s

In the critical magazine [[Cahiers du cin�ma]] founded by [[Andr� Bazin]], critics and lovers of film would discuss film and why it worked. Modern film theory was born there. Additionally, theoreticians (or auteurs as they called themselves) like Jean-Luc Godard, [[Fran�ois Truffaut]], Claude Chabrol, etc. went on to make films themselves, creating what was to become known as the French New Wave. Some of the first movies of this new genre was Truffaut's The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cent Coups, 1959) starring [[Jean-Pierre L�aud]] and Godard's Breathless (� bout de souffle, 1960), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.

As the advent of television threatened the life of cinema itself, countries were faced with the problem of reviving cinema-going. In the United States, this was solved by new technologies such as Cinemascope, in many countries in Europe (including France), government subsidies were used instead. This has been a hallmark of French cinema ever since.

Personalities from this period

1980s

When Jean-Jacques Beineix made Diva (1981) it sparked the beginning of the 80s wave of French cinema. Movies which followed in its wake included Betty Blue (37�2 le matin, 1986) by Beineix, The Big Blue (Le Grand bleu, 1988) by Luc Besson and The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, 1991) by Leos Carax.

1990s

In 1991, Jean-Pierre Jeunet made Delicatessen. In 1995 The City of Lost Children (La Cit� des enfants perdus, 1995) came out. Both films featured a distinctive style.

In the mid-1990s, Krzysztof Kieslowski released his Three colors trilogy, Blue, White and Red. Mathieu Kassovitz's film Hate (La Haine, 1995) made Vincent Cassel into a star.

In 2001 after a brief stunt in Hollywood with the fourth Alien film (Alien: Resurrection), Jeunet returned to France with [[Am�lie]] (Le fabuleux destin d'Am�lie Poulain) starring Audrey Tautou and Kassovitz.