2 Du côté d’Europa, via Asia
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Rosanna Maule
Abstract
Many film critics, in France and within the international film scene, share the conviction that Luc Besson is one of the most Americanised European filmmakers of his generation, a typical byproduct of Hollywood's pervasive influence over nation-state cinemas. This reputation has accompanied Besson for most of his career; and indeed, for his detractors, it constitutes a major point of critique. Besson's independent attitude vis-à-vis both the French and the American film contexts has concretised in the film production and distribution company Europa Corp. A studio entirely based in France, located on Besson's estate properties in Paris and Normandy, and financed through the reinvestment of box-office revenues from the films that Besson directs and produces, Europa hardly registers as a 'French comeback'. In her book Luc Besson, Susan Hayward analyses Besson's films 'in context,' stressing the filmmaker's alterity with respect to the French lineage of state- and television-supported authorial cinema.
Abstract
Many film critics, in France and within the international film scene, share the conviction that Luc Besson is one of the most Americanised European filmmakers of his generation, a typical byproduct of Hollywood's pervasive influence over nation-state cinemas. This reputation has accompanied Besson for most of his career; and indeed, for his detractors, it constitutes a major point of critique. Besson's independent attitude vis-à-vis both the French and the American film contexts has concretised in the film production and distribution company Europa Corp. A studio entirely based in France, located on Besson's estate properties in Paris and Normandy, and financed through the reinvestment of box-office revenues from the films that Besson directs and produces, Europa hardly registers as a 'French comeback'. In her book Luc Besson, Susan Hayward analyses Besson's films 'in context,' stressing the filmmaker's alterity with respect to the French lineage of state- and television-supported authorial cinema.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables and figures vii
- List of contributors viii
- Preface x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Three French neo-baroque directors 11
- 2 Du côté d’Europa, via Asia 23
- 3 Musical narration in the films of Luc Besson 43
- 4 Hearing Besson 57
- 5 Of suits and men in the films of Luc Besson 75
- 6 From rags to riches 91
- 7 The sinking of the self 109
- 8 Imprisoned freedoms 121
- 9 Nikita 135
- 10 Léon and the cloacal labyrinth 147
- 11 Jeanne d’Arc 161
- 12 An unpublished interview with Luc Besson 175
- Filmography 179
- Select bibliography 189
- Index of proper names and film titles 193
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables and figures vii
- List of contributors viii
- Preface x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Three French neo-baroque directors 11
- 2 Du côté d’Europa, via Asia 23
- 3 Musical narration in the films of Luc Besson 43
- 4 Hearing Besson 57
- 5 Of suits and men in the films of Luc Besson 75
- 6 From rags to riches 91
- 7 The sinking of the self 109
- 8 Imprisoned freedoms 121
- 9 Nikita 135
- 10 Léon and the cloacal labyrinth 147
- 11 Jeanne d’Arc 161
- 12 An unpublished interview with Luc Besson 175
- Filmography 179
- Select bibliography 189
- Index of proper names and film titles 193
