Je T’Aime... Moi Non Plus

Franco-British Cinematic Relations

Lucy Mazdon, Catherine Wheatley, Lucy Mazdon, Catherine Wheatley

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781845457495
• eBook ISBN: 9781845458553
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

A series of limiting definitions have tended to delineate the Franco-British cinematic relationship. As this collection of essays reveals, there is much more to it than simple oppositions between British critical esteem for the films of France and French dismissal of 'le cinéma British', or the success of Ken Loach et al. at the French box office and the relative dearth of French movies on British screens. In fact, there has long been a rich and productive dialogue between these two cultures in which both their clear differences and their shared concerns have played a vital role. This book provides an overview of the history of these relations from the early days of sound cinema to the present day. The chapters, written by leading experts in the history of French, British and European cinema, provide insights into relations between French and British cinematic cultures at the level of production, exhibition and distribution, reception, representation and personnel. The book features a diverse range of studies, including: the exhibition of French cinema in Britain in the 1930s, contemporary 'extreme' French cinema, stars such as Annabella, David Niven and Jane Birkin and the French Resistance on British screens.

Table of contents

• Je t’aime… moi non plus
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• INTRODUCTION: Franco-British Cinematic Relations:An Overview
• PART IIndustry and Institution
• CHAPTER 1: The Exhibition, Distribution andReception of French Films in GreatBritain during the 1930s
• CHAPTER 2: The ‘Cinematization’ of SoundCinema in Britain and the Dubbinginto French of Hitchcock’s Waltzesfrom Vienna (1934)
• CHAPTER 3: Une Entente Cordiale? – A BriefHistory of the Anglo-French FilmCoproduction Agreement, 1965–1979
• CHAPTER 4: Channel-crossing Festivals: The Casesof the French Film Festival U.K. andDinard’s Festival du Film Britannique
• CHAPTER 5: The Language of Love? How theFrench Sold Lady Chatterley’s Lover(Back) to British Audiences
• PART II: Reception and Perceptions
• CHAPTER 6: Disciplining the Nouvelle Vague:Censoring A Bout de Souffle andOther Early French New Wave Films(1956–1962)
• CHAPTER 7: The Reception of the Nouvelle Vaguein Britain
• CHAPTER 8: ‘New Waves, New Publics?’:The Nouvelle Vague, French Starsand British Cinema
• CHAPTER 9: Mirror Image: French Reflections ofBritish Cinema
• CHAPTER 10: ‘Incredibly French’?: Nation as anInterpretative Context for ExtremeCinema
• CHAPTER 11: British Audiences and 1990s FrenchNew Realism: La Vie Rêvée des Angesas Cinematic Slum Tourism
• PART III: Personnel and Performance
• CHAPTER 12: ‘The Meaning of That FrenchWord Chic’: Annabella’sFranco-British Stardom
• CHAPTER 13: ‘Those Frenchies Seek HimEverywhere’: David Niven inFranco-British Cinematic Relations
• CHAPTER 14: Truffaut in London
• CHAPTER 15: Jane Birkin: From English Roseto French Icon
• CHAPTER 16: The French Resistance ThroughBritish Eyes: From ’Allo ’Allo! toCharlotte Gray
• CHAPTER 17: ‘In the Ghetto’: Space, Race andMarginalization in French and British‘Urban’ Films La Haine and Bullet Boy
• Notes on Contributors
• Index