One of my favourite film directors is Frenchman Patrice Leconte, event though it is quite a while since any of his movies have been widely released in Britain. In fact, some of his recent movies such as Rue des Plaisirs, Confidences trop intimes, Félix et Lola, Une chance sur deux and a couple of others are either not available on DVD or only available in Region 1 coding only. It's frustrating for someone like me, who is not good enough at French to watch french movies without subtitles (my French is of a level where I can function verbally when in the fair land of wine and shrugs and read it slowly, decoding laboriously as I go along, but to follow the nuances of screen performance. That'd be a "Non!" "Pas de chance!")
So, anyway, I was bored the other day and went to my local Borders in the hope of finding an interesting fillum to watch. I began by looking for a copy of l'Homme du Train, which I fancied watching.
Of course I couldn't find it. What I could find was shelf full of 'World Cinema'. Ai No Corrida, Annabelle Partegee, A Ma Soeur, Romance, La belle Noiseuse, Baise-Moi, The Piano Teacher, Audition. Can you see a theme?
In the seventies 'foreign' films were synonymous with 'mucky' films. Everyone knew that Brigitte Bardot would shed her clothes at a moments notice and without any prompting at all. Similarly, the legacy of European Art movies such as I am Curious, Yellow left their whiff of controversy in the air. IACY featured a woman touching (whisper) a gentleman's thingy! The general population, when they thought of French films didn't think of Albert Lamorisse's (he died, interestingly, by falling out of a helicopter) enchanting 1956 short The Red Balloon (which was endlessly shown on schools TV throughout the 70s), M. Hulot's Holiday or Jour de Fette. They thought of films where sexy nubile actresses appeared without any clothes and frequently looked like they might really be doing it. Certainly in the provinces they were rarely released, and often ended up playing in picture houses in the seedy end of town.
The fact that foreign films were synonymous with 'filth' was reinforced in 1986 when Channel 4 introduced its 'Red Triangle' series of films, essentiually selling art cinema as something controversial and racy. So, the films of Hector Babenco, Jean Jacques Beneix and Claude Foraldo, amongst others, were branded as 'adult'.
In the past decade, after the retirement of long term chief James Ferman, the BBFC have relaxed their guidelines somewhat, especially where the screen depiction of fantasy sex and violence is concerned. Ferman was the product of a pre video and video game culture and a time where Mary Whitehouse and her ilk actually had influence. The new guys took a more sensible view of things, allowing adults more choice over what they watched, and parents more choice over what their children could see.
Yet even with the advent of video and DVD 'French' films are still seen and marketed as dirty. sexy things. Clearly some of them are and are enjoyable and entertaining because of it. I have no problems watching, par example, Ludivine Sagnier gallivanting around in the altogether. But I cannot think of a British director who would make a seven hour film about a nude painting (actually maybe Michael Winterbottom might), much less a high profile mainstream actress equivalant to Emmanuelle Beart, who would appear in it, avec totally no clothes for six and a half hours of it (okay, earlier in her career Tara Fitzgerald might, given her reputation for getting her kit off). Seriously, though, La Belle Noiseuse is a movie that could only really be conceived of in France. And simple nudity in some eyes isn't dirty at all. Baise moi is, intentionally so. Kind of like a heterosexual Greg Araki movie, which has its place in any country's film production schedule.
Occasionally, of course, DVD releasing schedules will be affected when a foreign language film hits and creates some interest in the film-maker or the star. The most recent recipient of this interest is Audrey Tautou, whose pre-Amelie work is now widely available (apart from, strangely, Le Libertin - the one film where she acts like a 'french' actress i.e. having accidentally forgotten to wear any clothing). I doubt Venus Beauty Institute would have got a release outside of France had it not been for the Tautou name.
Now I realise that subtitling is a laborious and difficult job and that the release of a DVD is an expensive business that needs to justify itself financially. But I cannot, surely, be the only English speaking person who is interested in non-English films that don't necessarily feature lashings of 'controversial' nudity and sex. Let's have the chance to see more fillums with less flesh please.
btw, although it hasn't been verified, I am pretty sure that my entry of yesterday DID in fact set a world record for the shortest blog entry. Yaaay!
So, anyway, I was bored the other day and went to my local Borders in the hope of finding an interesting fillum to watch. I began by looking for a copy of l'Homme du Train, which I fancied watching.
Of course I couldn't find it. What I could find was shelf full of 'World Cinema'. Ai No Corrida, Annabelle Partegee, A Ma Soeur, Romance, La belle Noiseuse, Baise-Moi, The Piano Teacher, Audition. Can you see a theme?
In the seventies 'foreign' films were synonymous with 'mucky' films. Everyone knew that Brigitte Bardot would shed her clothes at a moments notice and without any prompting at all. Similarly, the legacy of European Art movies such as I am Curious, Yellow left their whiff of controversy in the air. IACY featured a woman touching (whisper) a gentleman's thingy! The general population, when they thought of French films didn't think of Albert Lamorisse's (he died, interestingly, by falling out of a helicopter) enchanting 1956 short The Red Balloon (which was endlessly shown on schools TV throughout the 70s), M. Hulot's Holiday or Jour de Fette. They thought of films where sexy nubile actresses appeared without any clothes and frequently looked like they might really be doing it. Certainly in the provinces they were rarely released, and often ended up playing in picture houses in the seedy end of town.
The fact that foreign films were synonymous with 'filth' was reinforced in 1986 when Channel 4 introduced its 'Red Triangle' series of films, essentiually selling art cinema as something controversial and racy. So, the films of Hector Babenco, Jean Jacques Beneix and Claude Foraldo, amongst others, were branded as 'adult'.
In the past decade, after the retirement of long term chief James Ferman, the BBFC have relaxed their guidelines somewhat, especially where the screen depiction of fantasy sex and violence is concerned. Ferman was the product of a pre video and video game culture and a time where Mary Whitehouse and her ilk actually had influence. The new guys took a more sensible view of things, allowing adults more choice over what they watched, and parents more choice over what their children could see.
Yet even with the advent of video and DVD 'French' films are still seen and marketed as dirty. sexy things. Clearly some of them are and are enjoyable and entertaining because of it. I have no problems watching, par example, Ludivine Sagnier gallivanting around in the altogether. But I cannot think of a British director who would make a seven hour film about a nude painting (actually maybe Michael Winterbottom might), much less a high profile mainstream actress equivalant to Emmanuelle Beart, who would appear in it, avec totally no clothes for six and a half hours of it (okay, earlier in her career Tara Fitzgerald might, given her reputation for getting her kit off). Seriously, though, La Belle Noiseuse is a movie that could only really be conceived of in France. And simple nudity in some eyes isn't dirty at all. Baise moi is, intentionally so. Kind of like a heterosexual Greg Araki movie, which has its place in any country's film production schedule.
Occasionally, of course, DVD releasing schedules will be affected when a foreign language film hits and creates some interest in the film-maker or the star. The most recent recipient of this interest is Audrey Tautou, whose pre-Amelie work is now widely available (apart from, strangely, Le Libertin - the one film where she acts like a 'french' actress i.e. having accidentally forgotten to wear any clothing). I doubt Venus Beauty Institute would have got a release outside of France had it not been for the Tautou name.
Now I realise that subtitling is a laborious and difficult job and that the release of a DVD is an expensive business that needs to justify itself financially. But I cannot, surely, be the only English speaking person who is interested in non-English films that don't necessarily feature lashings of 'controversial' nudity and sex. Let's have the chance to see more fillums with less flesh please.
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All married women are not wives.
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