New Wave filmmaker Godard lived France鈥檚 love-hate relationship with US
| Paris
A line snakes down the street outside La Filmoth猫que, one of Paris鈥� cult art-house cinemas in the famous Latin Quarter. A few people are here to watch 鈥淰ivre Sa Vie鈥� (鈥淢y Life to Live鈥�), the 1962 film by radical French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, who died Tuesday at the age of 91.
But most are here for the classic American film 鈥淭hief,鈥� directed by Michael Mann.
鈥淚 usually only watch old movies, ones that represent the golden age of cinema,鈥� says Bernard Thoral, a regular cinemagoer. 鈥淚 love American film noir. Godard? It鈥檚 not really my thing. I鈥檝e never seen one of his movies.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onMold-breaking French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard鈥檚 revolutionary reputation still does not make him more popular with cinemagoers than American directors, who dominate French screens.
It might come as a surprise that any French cinemagoer would deign to watch an American film the day after the death of a cinematic legend such as Mr. Godard, who shaped the improvisational, informal, New Wave cinematic style in the 1960s, creating a veritable revolution in French filmmaking.
But American cinema has long been a hot cultural commodity in France, sparking a deep and long-standing love-hate relationship that has played out amicably 鈥� and defiantly 鈥� over the last century. France鈥檚 simultaneous fascination with, and disdain for, American culture has produced waves of both adoration and scorn, and ultimately, say some critics, made France a victim of American cultural imperialism.
The iconoclastic Mr. Godard epitomized this ambiguity, spending decades imitating, quoting, and paying homage to American cinema, before rejecting the 鈥淎mericanization鈥� of the world and falling out with the Hollywood machine.
鈥淭he French have a very contrasting image of the U.S.,鈥� says Bruno P茅quignot, professor emeritus of arts and culture at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris. They feel that 鈥渙n one hand, its writers and filmmakers can be extremely subtle, intelligent, and capable of grasping nuance, and on the other they can be brutes, as if they just stepped out of a cave.鈥�
The 鈥渃ultural exception鈥�
French cinema is revered both at home and abroad; going to a movie theater here is a sophisticated affair 鈥� no loud crunching of popcorn allowed. And until World War I, French cinema dominated markets around the world, supplying 60% to 70% of films shown globally. Then, however, its influence began to dwindle and the U.S. film industry became the most important in the world.
French cinema didn鈥檛 make its comeback until the late 1950s, when Mr. Godard entered the scene alongside fellow New Wave filmmakers Fran莽ois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, and Claude Chabrol.
It was around that time that the French government decided that French culture needed protecting. French Culture Minister Andr茅 Malraux promoted the idea of a French 鈥渃ultural exception,鈥� which gave cultural products a special status in international trade negotiations.
鈥淢alraux was seen as a hero of French cinema, defending it against the 鈥榖ig, bad American cinema,鈥欌�� says Jonathan Broda, a film historian at the International Film & Television School Paris. 鈥淚 say that with irony, but American cinema still dominates French screens.鈥�
Ever since the Malraux era, the authorities have been fighting to provide space for French culture to bloom. Jack Lang, culture minister in the mid-1980s and again in the early 1990s, was particularly critical of American dominance, calling for a 鈥渃rusade鈥� against this 鈥渇inancial and intellectual imperialism that ... grabs consciousness, ways of thinking, ways of living.鈥�
By the early 1990s, American films accounted for more than 60% of French box-office revenues, according to the Ministry of Culture. In 2013,聽France鈥檚 then-Culture Minister聽Aur茅lie Filippetti聽successfully called for the audiovisual sector to be excluded from free trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union, so that it could enjoy government support.聽
But despite government efforts and a revitalized French filmmaking industry, American cinema continues to reign. In 2019, only one French film was among the top 10 box-office hits in France 鈥� the rest were American, the majority distributed by Walt Disney Studios.
鈥淢ore than any other medium, cinema epitomizes cultural imperialism,鈥� says Mr. Broda. 鈥淚f James Dean wore blue jeans, everyone wanted to wear blue jeans. If Marilyn Monroe drank Coca Cola, everyone drank it. Cinema has become the best ambassador of the American economy.鈥�
Eternally controversial
Mr. Godard had a similar fascination with American cinema, and his breakout film 鈥淎 Bout de Souffle鈥� (鈥淏reathless鈥�) took inspiration from the original U.S. version of 鈥淪carface,鈥� released in 1932. In 1968, he accompanied his film 鈥淟a Chinoise鈥� on a tour of American universities and met Black Panther activist Kathleen Cleaver in Oakland.
But he had already begun to mock certain aspects of American life in his 1963 film 鈥淟e M茅pris鈥� (鈥淐ontempt鈥�), and when the Vietnam War broke out, Mr. Godard was not shy about expressing his opinions on America鈥檚 military involvement. By the 2000s the relationship had soured, and in 2010, when Mr. Godard was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, he said it meant 鈥渘othing鈥� to him and did not go to collect it.
Though he remains a revered symbol of French cinema, Mr. Godard was eternally controversial, both politically and cinematically. (He once said that 鈥渁 story should have a beginning, a middle and an end 鈥� but not necessarily in that order.鈥�) Though two of his films won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, they never received the top award, nor did he ever win a C茅sar, France鈥檚 equivalent of the Academy Awards.
At La Filmoth猫que, owner Jean-Max Causse is happy to see people turning out for Mr. Godard, even if he knows his films are not to everyone鈥檚 taste. Mr. Godard was one of Mr. Causse鈥檚 first customers when he opened his first cinema in central Paris in 1967. He remembers Mr. Truffaut arriving with Catherine Deneuve, and Mr. Godard complaining loudly about the volume of the music.
鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 as well liked as Truffaut, but like these other young filmmakers who had never been to film school, he shook up conventions,鈥� says Mr. Causse. 鈥淔rench cinema is in a bit of a state of crisis right now. In the U.S., cinema is starting to rise from the ashes, but it鈥檚 the end of a certain era.鈥澛�
Christophe Kaprelian, a local photographer, came to see 鈥淰ivre Sa Vie鈥� to pay homage to that era, and his respects to a legend.
鈥淚 love American classics by Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick. They inspire me,鈥� says Mr. Kaprelian, who goes to the cinema at least 10 times a month. 鈥淏ut today, I had to come see Godard on the big screen.鈥�
