These TV series are a must for anyone interested in the past of the French cinema.
Bertrand Tavernier ,perhaps the most important French director alive and a scholar, tells us about his fantastic voyage through the cinema of his homeland,from the thirties to the early seventies ,when he became a great director himself ("L'Horloger De Saint-Paul",1974)and thus went down in its history.These ten episodes deal with the greatest names of the French seventh art :directors, screenwriters,musicians,actors and actresses ,etc..
The first two episodes were theatrically released and hailed by the critics ; but even with a three-hour+ documentary ,the director -and the audience - felt that too many names ,famous or unsung ,were unfairly overlooked ;thus , adding 8 épisodes ,he does all the great names justice ;make no mistakes, it's not only the intellectual cinema (which is too often the French cinema trademark and makes the foreign audiences take to their heals ) but also and mainly the popular movies ;and many artists ,who were dismissed as unhip by a snob intelligentsia ,are restored to favor .
"Les Enfants Du Paradis" ,"Pepe Le Moko", "Le Salaire De La Peur" , "Hiroshima
Mon Amour " are here,but so are less famous works .
A TV series to cherish ,to watch over and over again ......
(for further details ,see each episode page)