Je T’Aime... Moi Non Plus: Franco-British Cinematic Relations

Published by Berghahn Books 2010

Je T’Aime... Moi Non Plus

Franco-British Cinematic Relations

Edited by: Lucy Mazdon and Catherine Wheatley

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781845458553

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Lucy Mazdon is a Reader in Film Studies at the University of Southampton. She has written widely on French cinema and television and her publications include Encore Hollywood: Remaking French Cinema (BFI, 2000), France on Film: Reflections on Popular French Cinema (Wallflower, 2001) and The Contemporary Television Series (EUP, 2005).

Catherine Wheatley is a Research Assistant at the University of Southampton where she is working on Lucy Mazdon’s AHRC funded project on French cinema in Britain. She is the author of Michael Haneke’s Cinema: The Ethic of the Image (Berghahn Books, 2009) and is a regular contributor to Sight and Sound.

Lucy Mazdon is a Reader in Film Studies at the University of Southampton. She has written widely on French cinema and television and her publications include Encore Hollywood: Remaking French Cinema (BFI, 2000), France on Film: Reflections on Popular French Cinema (Wallflower, 2001) and The Contemporary Television Series (EUP, 2005).

Reviews

“These diverse, thoughtfully arranged essays show how geographical proximity and overlapping histories have shaped the two countries’ film cultures by opening up new layers of meaning. This collection makes a vital contribution to the film literature of both countries by demonstrating how fruitful relational studies of cinema can be. Si, je t’aime.” · Journal of British Cinema and Television

“This is a rich and academically relevant collection … that offers an engagement with a full spectrum of disciplinary interests … The running filmography that is established across the volume will be a great resource to film scholars and students, and the range of methodological approaches deployed is genuinely inspiring in terms of its diversity, application and results.” · Sue Harris, Queen Mary University of London

“[T]here is much here to inform the specialist and please the aficionado. This is a welcome addition to the fields of reception studies, French and British film history and culture, and transnational film studies.” · Professor Elizabeth Ezra, University of Stirling

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction. Franco-British Cinematic Relations: An Overview Lucy Mazdon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Industry and Institutions
1 The Exhibition, Distribution and Reception of French Films in Great Britain during the 1930s Vincent Porter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2 The ‘Cinematization’ of Sound Cinema in Britain and the Dubbing into French of Hitchcock’sWaltzes from Vienna (1934) Charles O’Brien Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
3 Une Entente Cordiale? – A Brief History of the Anglo-French Film Coproduction Agreement, 1965–1979 Justin Smith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
4 Channel-crossing Festivals: The Cases of the French Film Festival U.K. and Dinard’s Festival du Film Britannique Cécile Renaud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
5 The Language of Love? How the French Sold Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Back) to British Audiences Catherine Wheatley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
Part II: Reception and Perceptions
6 Disciplining the Nouvelle Vague: Censoring A Bout de Souffle and Other Early French New Wave Films (1956–1962) Daniel Biltereyst Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
7 The Reception of the Nouvelle Vague in Britain Geoffrey Nowell-Smith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
8 ‘New Waves, New Publics?’: The Nouvelle Vague, French Stars and British Cinema Sarah Street Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
9 Mirror Image: French Reflections of British Cinema Ian Christie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
10 ‘Incredibly French’?: Nation as an Interpretative Context for Extreme Cinema Melanie Selfe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
11 British Audiences and 1990s French New Realism: La Vie Rêvée des Anges as Cinematic Slum Tourism Ingrid Stigsdotter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Part III: Personnel and Performance
12 ‘The Meaning of That French Word Chic’: Annabella’s Franco-British Stardom Jonathan Driskell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
13 ‘Those Frenchies Seek Him Everywhere’: David Niven in Franco-British Cinematic Relations Cristina Johnston Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
14 Truffaut in London Robert Murphy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
15 Jane Birkin: From English Rose to French Icon Leila Wimmer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
16 The French Resistance Through British Eyes: From ’Allo ’Allo! to Charlotte Gray Ginette Vincendeau Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
17 ‘In the Ghetto’: Space, Race and Marginalization in French and British ‘Urban’ Films La Haine and Bullet Boy Jim Morrissey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 300
Keywords: Film and Television Studies

eBook

Published: November 1, 2010
ISBN: 9781845458553