The Cinema of France

An in-depth look at some of the best and most influential French films of all time, The Cinema of France contains 24 essays, each on an individual film. The book features works from the silent period and poetic realism, through the stylistic developments of the New Wave, and up to more contemporary challenging films, from directors such as Abel Gance, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carne, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Agnes Varda and Luc Besson. Set in chronological order, The Cinema of France provides an illuminating history of this essential national cinema and includes in-depth studies of films such as Un Chien Andalou (1929), Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953), Le Samourai (1967), Shoah (1985), Jean de Florette (1986), Les Visiteurs (1993) and La Haine (1995).

Phil Powrie is Professor of French Cultural Studies at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He has published widely on French film, including French Cinema in the 1980s: Nostalgia and the Crisis of Masculinity; Contemporary French Cinema: Continuity and Difference; and French Cinema: A Student's Guide.