Instr:                  Dr. Raphaël Lambert
Office:               CRT 596, Pearse Hall 150,    229-5458
e-mail:                rl@uwm.edu    (no assignment accepted via email)
Office hours:    M/W 2:30-3:30, Pearse Hall 150 + by appointment

Course Information:                      MW   3:30-5:20pm      CRT 104

Course Description

For the first time in many years, French cinema of the 1990s has been more successful at home than its Hollywood counterpart. From Eric Rochant’s portrait of disoriented adolescence, A World Without Pity, to Cédric Klapisch’s existential, When the Cat’s Away, Manuel Poirier’s road movie, Western, Robert Guédiguian’s social satire, Marius and Jeannette, Dominik Moll’s Hitchcockian, Harry is There to Help, and Agnès Jaoui’s caustic comedy, A Family Resemblance, the French film industry has found ways to come up to the expectations of very diverse audiences eager to see movies addressing the problems of their society, while also providing means of entertainment and escapism.

This course will also expand its interest to other Francophone film traditions (often sponsored by French production companies), such as Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel’s cynical spoof of American reality shows, Man Bites Dog (Belgium), Denys Arcand’s sardonic, The Decline of the American Empire (Canada), and Férid Boughedir’s reflection on Maghreb’s culture and religion, Halfaouine: Child of the Terraces (Tunisia).