Strategies for a Transnational/French popular cinema

Abstract

Following pressure to revitalise France's film industry in an increasingly globalised market, various French directors and producers have explored strategies to renew popular cinema and conquer new markets, developing alternative production models and revisiting popular genres. While some of their films have been international successes, they have often been accused of resembling formulaic American (or Hong Kong) box-office hits, rather than reaffirming the identity of French cinema. This article examines the relationship of recent popular French films to both the 'national' and the 'global' and suggests that the adoption of various transnational production and textual strategies has resulted in transnational films which mostly still preserve French cultural diversity.