The choice of films presented by FC in this program testifies the variety and
high quality of the French film even in the times that are mostly referred to as
less interesting.



The French played a key role in forming and developing cinematography in some
phases of silent movies while in the phase of sound movies the main reference is
to two great periods of French Movie: Poetic Realism from the middle 30’s until
the beginning of World War II and New Wave from the end of 50’s to the mid 60’s.
It is true that in those years one could find many outstanding realizations with
mutual themes and stylistic tendencies, but in other times there were more than
just a few French movies and that is the case even today when very often from
Croatian film critics we can hear about terrible decline of value in French
Cinematography (at the same time one of the most prestigious American critics
Andrew Sarris believes that in contemporary filmmaking French Cinematography
stands out with the greatest number of outstanding realizations).

Maybe this attitude of ours, based mostly on complete domination of American
film in movie theaters, will be shaken a little by the success of Amelie
or for those who stay awake late in front of TV watching the retrospective of
important, and not known, movie director Claude Miller on Croatian television.
Some similar change of attitude might happen to the viewers of the program of
French film from the period of 1943 to 1953. These two periods of French
Cinematography were probably the least appreciated: during the war and
occupation and after that during the time of Cinema d’Adaptation (literally
Cinema of Adaptation) when very often the impulse – and in some ways a guarantee
for success – for making movies were literally works themselves, while the
screenwriters and writers of dialogues were often more esteemed than directors.

The first period was unpopular because of the occupation (and some suspicions
about collaboration with the aggressor), and the second period was not as valued
(especially in the magazine Cahiers du Cinema run by young critics who are to
become leading authors of New Wave) because the directing was reduced to a mere
adaptation of written pretext, done correctly but without any excitement or
creative imagination.

Nevertheless, the movies in this program, whose value varies from no less than
very good to some masterpieces (and many movies of similar value are parts of
these two almost forbidden periods), show how often systematization (probably
necessary in historical reviews) leads to the simplification whose outcome is
the loss of insight into relevant values.

When we talk about movies during Vichy period and those of the bigger and
totally occupied France, from which the most important filmmakers and actors
have emigrated, (usually to the US and Hollywood, where some of them left a
remarkable trace), it is important to emphasize that filmmaking has soon become
one of the most productive industrial branches – the decreasing import of
foreign (mostly German and Italian) movies has turned the public mostly to their
own cinematography. There were some censorship limitations (it was forbidden to
criticize the system and government) that turned into some sort of a paradox
(that happened one more time with the greatest films in socialistic countries)
that the authors – in order to express their viewpoint not in concordance with
the situation, would very often shape and determine their creative expression by
expressing their viewpoint indirectly, so that they would not be censored, and
yet the public would understand their message – at least on the emotional level.

One example is Le ciel est a vous (1943) directed by Jean Gremillon, one
of the distinguished authors of Poetic Realism whose protagonists were very
often losers unable to adjust to the social roles. In this particular movie the
ordinary man (or better to say: woman) becomes a hero thanks to the
collaboration of her entire community that consists of people like herself.

On the other hand, Marcel Carne (initiator of the poetic realism with Jean
Renoir) in his two-part masterpiece Children of Paradise (Les enfants du
paradis, 1943/44) revives many elements of poetic realism – his heroes are
people from the margin of the society (from varietés and 19th Century Boulevard
Theatre in Paris) unable to reach happiness in love while the story varies
between lyrical and naturalistic.

Other movies from this program, periodically close to the time of the movie of
adaptation, have almost no similarity with that genre.

Le plaisir is an omnibus composed of three stories by Maupassant directed
by Max Ophulus, great director of German-Jewish origin. The last, and probably
the best part, of his work was done in France. This remarkable style, visible in
Le plaisir, is the opposite of the depersonalized directing in movies of
adaptation.

Orpheus has more relevance to literature, mostly because of director Jean
Cocteau, possibly mostly respected as writer, but it is visible in his movie
that in order to express his beliefs he uses symbols that are often the ultimate
realism and the truth confronts the reality. Cocteau uses film language with
emphasized visual expression.

La bataille du rail and Quai des orfevres are two movies with
great quality due to the invention of the director Rene Clement, and both were
highly rated and popular in Croatia at the time.

The first movie is about resistance, shot after the war with elements of
documentary testimony of events, epic or even heroic tone, and also lyric
scenes. It shows that it is possible to create quality without propagandistic
effects (something we in Croatia were not able to do).

Quai des orfevres is a police drama overshadowed by a supreme direction
and virtuous camera work that, through the authentic atmosphere of a police
office and a small music hall, presents a very dark picture of the entire
society with the array of extraordinary characters. Finally one masterpiece by
Jacques Tati, Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot/Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday,
based mostly on visual humor and a totally specific movie style.

The choice of films in this program (as well as the fact that there were many of
them) testifies the variety and high quality of the French movie even in the
times mostly referred to as less interesting. (Tomislav Kurelec)