French Cinema in the 1990s : Continuity and Difference

The first collection of essays by UK and USA academics working in French cinema studies on French cinema in the 1990s. There are twenty-one chapters, fifteen of which focus on one film each. Issues covered are genre (the changing heritage film), gender and ethnic issues, community, and national cinema.

Following on from Phil Powrie''s French Cinema in the 1980s: Nostalgia and the Crisis of Masculinity (Clarendon Press, 1997), this collection of essays, which brings together scholars in the UK and the USA, is the first on French films in the 1990s. The collection focuses on continuity with the 1980s in terms of genres and preoccupations, such as definitions of a national cinema, the heritage film, gay/lesbian issues, and ethnic issues. But it also focuses on key differences: new types of heritage film, whether postcolonial or heritage pastiche; the newly-emerging genre of cinéma de banlieue; and the focus on community and political reflection. Films examined in detail are Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Le Bonheur est dans le pré, Bye Bye, Chacun cherche son chat, Le Cinquième élément, Douce France, Etat des lieux, Gazon maudit, Germinal, La Haine, Indochine, Irma Vep, Jai pas sommeil, Krim, Merci la vie, Métisse, Mon Père ce héros, Les Nuits fauves, RaÏ, Ridicule, Romuald et Juliette, Les Roseaux sauvages, Trois Couleurs: Blanc, Trois Couleurs: Bleu, Trois Couleurs: Rouge, Un héros très discret, Les Visiteurs. This collection of closely-argued essays will help students and film lovers alike to understand where French cinema has been going in the 1990s.