The film till now : a survey of world cinema (1960)

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Ill Franxe If there is one thing that differentiates Britain from the main European film-making countries, it is that the latter believe in the cinema as an art as well as a commodity. Industrialised and commercialised as all film industries must be under the economic systems of the West, nevertheless it has been found possible to equate the art of film-making with the need for profit-return more successfully in Europe than in the English-speaking countries. In spite of undergoing periodic crises, the French cinema especially — although frequently described as being in a state of rigor mortis by its own critics — contrives continuously to give forth important and seldom insignificant work. Since 1948, there has been in overall an inspiring revival in French cinema. There have been many disappointments and only half-fulfilled expectations but the French record of the past ten years — in the best work of Bresson, Renoir, Clement, Ophiils, Tati, Resnais, Lamorisse and Franju — is something not to be under-rated. Various causes exist for this renaissance. The French have a tradition of good film-making and are conscious of it. They recognise that film-making is essentially an individualist activity, although the individual must depend on a team serving his needs. They appreciate the contribution of the writer to the final film. Jacques Prevert, Charles Spaak, Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, for example, are held in far higher esteem than any scriptwriters in Britain. It is not that we do not have as good writers as the French; it is that they are not given the respect which would be theirs in France. The French are less susceptible to compromise than the film-makers of Britain and the USA; feature filmmakers are not ashamed to make short films or very modest budget pictures if they cannot achieve what they want in features. Short film production is more flexible and more generally imaginative than elsewhere, as well as being prolific 737 47