Creative Encounters with French Films

Author:	Zants, Emily
Year:	1993
Pages:	308
ISBN:	0-7734-1937-3 978-0-7734-1937-7
Price:	$219.95

This text is intended as a reference for the study of over 21 exceptional French films by 13 different directors. Each chapter treats an individual director and the characteristics of his or her films, followed by background information for a specific film and analysis of the techniques used in it. Questions and exercises using the techniques of the film conclude each section. An introductory chapter discusses the participatory viewing necessary for enjoyment of most French films, general characteristics, and a brief history of French film. Analysis is provided for a least one major film by Buñuel, Carné, Cocteau, Godard, Lelouch, Malle, Ophüls, Renoir, Resnais, Tati, Tavernier, Truffaut, and Varda.

Reviews

"Exhaustive yet unpretentious, Zants' Creative Encounters with French Films is the nineties 'how to' manual and guide to a more complete understanding of French 'auteur' films. . . . the reader is offered tools and strategies which will help him/her participate in the meaning of the film. . . . This treatise is a perfect manual for a survey class of French cinematic works. Organized in textbook fashion, it begins with a valuable introduction which capsulates film history, activities which encourage the participatory habit, differences between French and American features, and a succinct yet complete explanation of 'auteur' and New Wave productions. . . . valuable and enlightening not only because it offers background information on a collection of significant New Wave films and directors, but it also brings a fresh perspective to the approach of film analysis, offering a new way of seeing to teachers, students, and film enthusiasts, which can be further applied to the understanding and analysis of a variety of other cinematic works." - The French Review