French cinema risks being sacrificed on the altar of market forces; it would be an incalculable loss, says the journalist and critic Zach Schonfeld
French cinema risks being sacrificed on the altar of market forces. From Jules et Jim to Blue is the Warmest colour, that would be an incalculable lossn 2018, the film-maker Paul Schrader made some controversial remarks about how the business has changed since his 1970s heyday, when he wroteat a Bafta Screenwriters event in London. “There’s probably, in fact, more talented film-makers today than there was in the 70s. What there was in the 70s was better audiences.
Looking back just five years later, Schrader’s words seem like a grim portent of an era when art films and character-driven dramas struggle to find an audience in cinemas. Though much of the blame lies with the major studios and entertainment companies, who’ve all but eliminated risk and originality from theatrical releases, the pandemic also got viewers hooked on streaming instead of movie-going.from France’s Cour des Comptes calling for an “in-depth reform of aid” provided to French cinema.
Its conclusions could imperil the system of French “cultural exception” – the notion that cinema and other arts should be sheltered from the forces of market capitalism – that has long provided public subsidies for France’s film industry – amounting to nearly €700m a year . The court“an ever-increasing number of productions being financed”, raising the spectre of profitability becoming a factor in determining which projects get funded.
Yes, but that was 60 years ago, critics may retort. That French cinema still matters is demonstrated by noteworthy and bold films from the last decade that confront taboo subjects rarely explored in Hollywood productions. Those include lesbian desire , but because,, they are “perfect products manufactured for immediate consumption”, lacking in “the unifying vision of an individual artist”. What’s gone is the excitement, the risk, of seeing something new.
In a world where culture has been ravaged by capitalism and assembly-line streaming “content”, this remains the promise of the European arthouse picture: movies governed by curiosity and artistry rather than data. It’s the least audiences deserve.