Boxoffice-July.1997

Julv. 1997 57
France is the only country [in Eurojje] with a
national market like that. Even in the United
Kingdom, British films have only seven percent
OT eight percent of the market"
Producer Benayoun has several recent titles
that he is currently shopping in the
international market: "The Apartment,'"
a sUck exercise in architecture and cinematography
by first-timer GiUes Mimouni; and
"Nenette and Boni", a stunningly intimate film
by Claire Denis ("Chocolat," "I Can't Sleep").
there are 1 60. There are more American fihns,
they stay less time on the screen, and it's
always new films."
French wariness of an unbridled free-
approach to cinema is also
Themarket affecting
French exhibition. Multiplexes,
new to France, are encountering legislation to
limit their growth, in order to protect the arthouse
cinemas of the cities and to defend
against the practice of using many screens for
few movies. Despite the success his own fihns
NEW DIRECTIONS: "Captain Conan" director Bertrand Tavernier feels
French films might be too complex for U.S. audiences.
Recent events in Benayoun's career prove
that Hollywood and French talent are not mutually
exclusive corKcpts. Earber this year,
"The Apartment" screened at Park City's Sundance
Film Festival. Soon after, Benayoun and
Mimouni were both signed by CAA; U.S.
distribution for "The Apartment" and a possible
remake are in the woiks. Meanwhile,
"Nenette and Boni" has been picked up by San
Francisco-based Strand Releasing for a 1997
release ui the States.
Benayoun asserts that the French are now
competing for market shares and producing
many different types of films, even science
-fiction (Uke 'The Fifth Element," an $80+
million, French-financed extravaganza from
the "Gallic Spielberg," Luc Besson). Among
young filmmakers, it appears that ultra-realism
is popular, as in debut filmmaker Sandrine
Veysset's "Will It Snow for Christmas."
As for trends, Benayoun believes the major
trend in French cinema is toward more audience-friendly,
less speciaUzed fare. "The only
trend I see is [that] the writer and the director
are more wilUng to have success. They want
the audiences now, and they are talking about
how to attract the audience and yet not lose
their authenticity."
And attract an audience they must, not only
abroad but at home. Despite pro-French cinema
initiatives, Hollywood has an overwhelming
presence on French screens. "You
have to understand that 10 years ago we received
about 80 or 90 American films," explains
Benayoun. "This year, for instance,
have had in the U.S., Tavernier articulates the
fear many French film professionals feel about
changing France's exhibition infrastructure.
"In Germany," he claims, "where the number
of screens devoted to the American cinema is
much larger than in France, they release less
[domestic product]." [For a counter opinion,
see our article on the German market, p. 44.]
"Nenette and Boni" director Denis agrees.
"American cinema is dear to every single
French director. But we don't Uke the American
emphasis on economics, and we don't Uke
the way that emphasis is taking hold in world
cinema. We consider cinema not only merchandise
but also art."
As to breaking into the U.S. market,
"maybe we have to make better movies,"
asserts Mimouni. But Mimouni also turns the
"protectionist" argument on its head, saying,
"In America, your cinema is incredibly protected.
It's quite impossible for a foreign
movie to be released, and if it is released it's
a very small release."
Demonstrably, the U.S. market for foreign
product is still shrinking. In 1970 there were
52 French movies distributed stateside, while
in 1990 there were only 25. Denis, who had
stateside success with her 1988 film "Chocolat,"
describes the difference in her past and
current experiences. "My experience here with
'Chocolat' was great because I had a great
distributor—Orion before it became Sony
Qassics—and the film really met the audience.
[Getting] 'Nenette and Boni' a U.S. release
was much more difficult, but now I have
a good distributor [Strand Releasing] though
the deal is modest."
Lelouch has had American distribution for
only 10 of his 35 films in the 40 years of his
career. At press time, liis latest, "Men, Women:
User's Manual" was being considered for release
by the specialty arm of a major studio.
"The companies that could distribute our films,
that is to say the majors, are not interested in
our fiUns," says Lelouch. "So we have to
absolutely encourage the small distributors.
The only thing that really can make a success
of a French film here now is word of mouth."
of mouth takes time, and there is
Wordso much product out tiiere that the
market has become very swift and
often very deadly. Paradoxically, the rise of
American independent film, as assisted by the
rise of Disney-owned Miramax, has hurt foreign
product by claiming for American-made
tides a greater portion of the boxoffice shared
by independent and foreign titles. Miramax
also dominates many ofthe art-houses, leaving
smaUer distributors without screens.
According to Jon Gerrins, co-president of
Strand Releasing, Strand recoups its investment
on EngUsh-language tides with video
and cable sales, "and that's where our foreignlanguage
films are having a problem. HBO
won't buy foreign-language films [unless diey
are Academy Award winners], and I can't get
the same amount of dollars for these pictures
as I can get for an average EngUsh-language
picture that can play on a Saturday night."
Subtitles are accused of ruining die market
for foreign-language product. Americans
seem unwiUing to read language onscreen,
whereas in Europe people not only read but
speak several languages, and subtitiing is the
norm. But 'the problem is more than just the
subtitles," says Tavernier. "The problem for
French films in the U.S. is that they do not
bring easy answers. There is not an easy way
out. In a country where there is a lot of unemployment,
where there are poUtical problems,
and where the people feel insecure, where
there is a lot of fear, films that are easy to watch
are popular. They bring easy answers. You
have a problem with the Middle East, you
send Schwarzenegger. No more problems.
The kids go and see those films. French films
are not built that way."
The French wiU continue trying to find an
audience in die U.S. "America is the mecca of
film, so you always feel very good when you
have your film seen here," Benayoun confirms.
The hope for the future "depends on the
American audience," asserts Lelouch. "I am
optimistic because it is my nature. If I wasn't
optimistic I wouldn't try to make my 36th fiUn.
And therefore if my films are not distributed
immediately they wiU be distnbuted another
day. They are immortal. And diey'U wait for
their audience to be ready for them."
BOXOFnCE would like to thank Florence
Dauman of the Directors Guild of
America for her heroic assistance in the
assembling of this article.