The study of French cinema has expanded dramatically in recent years, as it is increasingly taught alongside literature in modern language departments. Many entrants to courses have no previous experience of film study. This book, written by two leading scholars of French film, offers students an introduction to the history and theory of French cinema, while giving them an understanding of the concepts and techniques involved in the study of film. It also contains a model essay, sample film analyses, and an appendix of statistics, filmography, bibliography and glossary, making this book an indispensable and comprehensive resource.
This book aimed to fill a gap in British university-level education. French film studies were a thing there, but there was no convenient introductory textbook for these students. So, Philip Powrie and Keith Reader published this slim (only about 200 pages) book that could provide a very rough overview of a very complicated field.
The book consists of: 1) a chronological overview of major French films up to the year 2000, broken down into particular eras lasting roughly a decade, 2) a similar overview of French film theory as it developed over those decades; 3) a sample essay (i.e. the kind of thing that a student should be able to write), and 4) a series of appendices with lists of award winners, economic statistics on the French industry, etc.
Readers outside the classroom will appreciate the first two chapters. You get a pretty exhaustive listing of the films you should watch to appreciate this entire tradition, even if the authors cannot really say much about any one of them due to space limitations. Similarly, the chapter on theory is a more accessible introduction to e.g. Deleuze or Ghion’s work than actually reading those authors’ work.