First in a series designed to situate and explain the films of French directors. A concise, accessible and original reading of Truffaut's films. A timely evaluation of the films of a popular director whose work features on most A-level French syllabuses and on the majority of University French Studies programmes both in the UK and the USA .

The first introduction in English devoted wholly to Varda and aimed at a general and student audience. Places Varda's major films in the context of her whole oeuvre and follows the development of important themes across her work.

Accessible and original analysis of all Jean Renoir's sound films, including those he made in Hollywood - this is the first major study to appear for a number of years and brings new light on some of the director's most celebrated films. Illuminating account of critical debates concerning Renoir, and focusing on hitherto neglected areas such as gender, nation and ethnicity the book asks us to rethink our understanding of Renoir's political commitment. Traces his output from the silent period to the age of television, tying his work into a fast-shifting, socio-historical context. Detailed...

Widely taught on Film Studies courses and in French Cultural Studies programmesLuc Besson is a popular and respected filmmaker who has achieved international fameA welcome addition to the French Film Directors series.

This is the first book-length study in English on Chabrol since 1970. Chabrol has always been a neglected figure in the French New Wave but has recently been declared 'possibly the greatest living film director in France'. Coincides with the recent renewal of interest in Chabrol, which has seen his back catalogue released in the UK on video. Celebration of Chabrol's fiftieth film recently, Rien ne va plus prompted many festivals and retrospectives. Publication coincides with Chabrol's new film which is discussed in this study. Writtten by one of the liveliest critics in French cinema - author...

The most complete study of Blier's work to date, Harris traces the director's career from the early 1960s until the present. Outlines the forms, themes and style which dominate in Blier's work, and challenges the many labels that have been used to describe both the corpus of films and the man himself. Provides an original and controversial discussion of Blier's alleged 'misogyny', and invites the reader to understand the scatological and corporeal aspects of Blier's filmmaking in terms of long-established traditions of popular dramatic culture. Brings to light the comic mechanisms...

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the work of Robert Bresson, one of the most respected and acclaimed directors in the history of cinema. The first monograph on his work to appear in English for many years dealing not only with his thirteen feature-length films but also his little-seen early short Affaires publiques and his short treatise Notes on cinematography. The films are considered in chronological order, using a perspective that draws variously on spectator theory, Catholic mysticism, gender theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis. The major critical responses to his work,...

Before the turn of the twentieth century, before the nickelodeon, even before the first cinemas, Georges Melies began making movies. Directing, editing, producing, designing, and starring in over 500 films between 1896 to 1912, Melies was also the first cinematic auteur. This is the first study of Melies's films to appear in English in over twenty years and the only book to interpret his work using the tools of modern film analysis. Locates the roots of modern narrative cinema in Melies's work, identifying techniques of editing and mise-en-scene previously thought to have originated with D....

This volume is the first to examine, in either French or English, the films of Jean-Jacques Beineix, often seen as the best example of the 1980s cinema du look, with cult films, such as Diva and Betty Blue (37 2 le matin)
. After an introduction which places Beineix in the context of the 1980s and the arguments centering on a postmodern cinema, the volume devotes a chapter to each of Beineix's feature films, including the film which marked his return to feature film making after a break of a decade, Mortel Transfert (2001). Prefaced by an excellent foreword by the director himself, which...

The first book in English to deal exclusively with Duras' cinema, including such films as India Song, Le Camion, and Nathalie Granger. Provides a lucid and stimulating introduction to her films, which is accessible to a wide readerhip, both specialist and non-specialist. Locates the films in their autobiographical as well as social and historical context, making the book broadly interesting to students and teachers in all areas of French Studies. The book's empahasis on gender issues widens it's appeal to include those working in Women's Studies, Gender Studies and Gay and Lesbian...