Le Jour Se Leve

Examines popular French film of the last 25 years. Charts recent developments in all genres since the New Wave, including the heritage film, the thriller, the war film, `cinema du look'. Other topics include: representations of sexuality; the work of women film-makers. Includes a filmography.

Traces the career of the influential French director and uses psychoanalytical concepts to analyze his major films.

The second edition of this innovative textbook brings together leading scholars to provide detailed analyses of twenty-two key films within the canon of French cinema, from the 1920s to the 1990s. Films discussed include: * masterpieces such as Renoir's La Bete Humaine and Carne's Les Enfants du Paradis * popular classics such as Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and Ma Nuit chez Maud * landmarks of the New Wave such as Les 400 Coups and A bout de souffle * important films of the 1990s such as Nikita and La Haine The films are considered in relation to such issues as the history of French cinema, the social and cultural contexts of their production and reception, the relationship with Hollywood cinema, gender politics, authorship and genre. Each article is accompanied with a guide to further reading and a filmography of the director, and the new edition also includes a fully revised introduction and a bibliography on French cinema.

Le Jour se lève (1939), directed by Marcel Carné, is widely recognised as the classic French Poetic Realist film. Told in flashback, it recounts the story of a man who has committed a murder, and who awaits his fate as the police close in. Carné shuttles between different registers, tones, and textures throughout, marshalling the studio's resources to create striking pictorial compositions. The film also contains the great French star Jean Gabin's most iconic performance as François, marooned at the top of his apartment building. Ben McCann's perceptive and lively book traces the evolution of 'Le Jour se lève' and situates it in a very specific historical moment. He also underlines the importance of actors Jules Berry and Arletty, production designer Alexandre Trauner, writer Jacques Prévert, and cinematographer Curt Courant in establishing the film's tone, mood, and visual style. He charts the national and international reception of the film, uncovering a work that deeply divided critics at a time of national crisis. He also reveals Le Jour se lève to be a key transitional work between European and American noir and compares it with the 1947 Hollywood remake, The Long Night.

Traces the genre of film noir back to German and French roots. Describes the developent of the genre in the United States and examines its expression in modern cinema.