La Cinématographie Française (1948)

• s ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ FRENCH PRODUCTION 1T has been stated and repeated that French production was undergoing a serious crisis of financing. This fact is undeniable. As always, however, our Latin tempérament has brougWt us te, exaggerate the amplitude of this crisis, which, you may be assured is only momentary and in addition only partial. In fact, if it is necessary to call out in alarm before the fatal accident, which is being done, it is harmful to cry out too loudly. Last year was not specially brilliant it is certain, because we only made eighty film® of long métrage including, the mixed productions of France and other countries. This year however, and the figures speak eloquently, we hâve undertaken forty seven productions during the first six months. Now, facts prove that each year it is the third quarter which is most prolific. Therefore, without being smugly optimistic we may hope that this year will see the réalisation of about a hundred long films. If, on the other hand, we take the post-war situation, which bears heavily on the World and especially on France, into account, and consider that the best pre-war years produced 120 films it does not seem that we ought to despair. Our foreign friends will be able next season, to count on our films to supply their screens, the others will hâve to count on our compétition. It has been edicted as an unalterable law, that from the quantity of films realised the quality is born. We hâve never disputed this axiom but we may herhaps remark that it does not contain any percentage. The Cinéma Industry must consider ail the problems under two angles which seem irréconciliable, art and industry. l'-tder the artistic angle, however, the successes are, fortunately, not rare and we hâve seen our Swiss friends produce La Dernière Chance in the midst of a very small number of films, and our Italian neighbours réalisé Rame, Citta Aperta, Paîsa, Sciuscia, Vivere in Pace, etc., ail of them works which honour what it is practically agreed upon to call the « New Italian School », without of that counting a large number of films in their yearly production. From these examples, we may, con Une attitude d'Edwige Feuillère dans L’AIGJLE A PEUX TETES, de Jean cocteau. (Cliché Sirius.) sequently, conclude that quantity is not indispensable to artistic quality. We may add that, for our part, we pride ourselves on the prize-list of the various international cinéma compétitions of the last two or three years, during, which our Studios did not know a feverish activity. Considered under the industrial angle the conclusions can be the same : our American friends who hâve rationalised their production, who are in possession of enormous financial and, therefore, technical means hâve not turned out a great number of masterpieces in a very impressive quantity of filn^s. When we talk of industry we must talk of financing. It is said that our large films are too costly. The American Corr.panies also coinplain of the too high cost of their films althjough they hâve a very wide market. In reality these remarks are only relative and going back to the example supplied by the Italian Cinéma, we may, without fear of contradiction, prétend that their producers certainly did not lose any money with the films mentioned above. For the French production the same certainly holds good for Le Diable au Corps, Le Silence est d’Or, Quai des Orfèvres, Les Maudits and many others which it would take too long to mention here. The conclusion imposes itself : it is not indispensable to hâve a very large capital in order to succeed. 1 * * * Let us sum up. We hâve created an atmosphère of doubt, of sarcasm reg^rding our production. Immediately after the war we committed the error of saturating the foreign markets with films of very médiocre class. We hâve not known how to keep this year the very high trump card for French propaganda represented by an International Film Festival. AH that, certainly, counts against us. However, these errors are consecutive to the great trouble brought by the war, by the change of methods, even sometimes by the change of men. It is none the less true that France is working, that French production will not die because it will find in itself the necessary resources, it is in the act of finding them at présent. Let our foreign friends reassure thernselves, in spite of what they may hear or read, even with makeshifts we sh'U show then some great films. Laurent Ollivier»