Coline Serreau

Coline Serreau became famous in 1985 with her third film, Trois Hommes et un couffin, the most successful French film of the 1980s. She was already known in France for her major contribution to feminist documentaries with the acclaimed Mais qu’est-ce qu’elles veulent?, a series of interviews with French women made in 1975. She is now a key figure in French cinema and drama, with such international hits such as Romauld et Juliette (1989) and La Crise (1992). This appraisal of her work situates her films within the social, cultural and political context of France since May 1968, and assesses the major impact of the women’s movements on French society and culture. Politics and sexual politics, two key aspects of Serreaus’s films and plays, are thoroughly examined. This book also considers the cultural influences of her work, and provides an overview of her films and filmic skills. Special attention is given as well on the cinematographic genre favored by Serreau and the French audience, comedy, which is apprehended from a historical and gendered perspective.