Funny consideration of whether the French have a bit too high a regard for their current cinema. The description of contemporary French comedies as tending towards "inconsequential, plotless twaddle" set among the haute-bourgeoisie is spot on, as any of these films can attest. At the same time, the reporter asks, perhaps French reviewers' impulsive protectionism of French cultural standards might be preferable to what he sees as a British obsession with the new at the expense of appreciating older or more traditional artistic tropes. Still, it's a fairly superficial analysis of the language of modern film criticism (depending on where you look, you can find an American reviewer calling the "The Tooth Fairy" "inspirational") that I think also obscures the differences in the generational makeup of British and French reviewers, the latter of whom are generally older.
Posts
