Stars in Modern French Film

(Paperback)

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Description

From the Cannes film festiveal and Brigitte Bardot to virtual film stars and Virginie Ledoyen, French film stars embody glamour, sexiness and controversy. This book analyses the essential French stars of the last 50 years, paying detailed attention to screen performance, representation in the popular press and the social and political contexts in which they functioned. Myth, glamour, gender and ethnicity and popular genres are some of the areas of debate in this study. The stars are also compared with their Hollywood counterparts: the book asks whether they are products of the same "star system" or whether they spring from a social and artistic process particular to France. As well as exploring the making of famous names like Catherine deeuve and Gerard Depardieu, this book also charts more neglected or controversial figures, such as Patrick Dewaere and Sylvia Kristel.

Reviews

Stars in Modern French Film is highly readable, easily accessible, and will be very appealing to those who know the stars and have seen at least some of their movies. Patricia B. Westphal, French Review

Author Bio

Guy Austin is Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of Contemporary French Cinema and Claude Chabrol.