Cinema at the Shore: The Beach in French Film

From Brigitte Bardot in her bikini at the Cannes Film Festival, to Fran�ois Ozon�s intimate portrayals of grief and loss, some of the most iconic and challenging moments in French cinema are associated with the beach.Cinema at the Shore argues that the Parisian cityscape is not the only significant definition of space in French cinema and instead explores the industrial, aesthetic and thematic relations of French cinema to the beach.Examining a range of films from the 1950s to the present day � including popular comedies by Jacques Tati and Patrice Leconte, the lively and ruminative documentaries of Agn�s Varda, the classicism of Eric Rohmer, and the provocations of Catherine Breillat � this book showcases the dynamism and importance of the beach as a site for the reconfiguration of French cinematic identity itself. The beach offers a unique crystallization of our attitudes towards nature, culture, the body, space and time. In its constant mobility, its close, yet distinctive, relationship with nature, and its paradoxical centrality in the French cultural imaginary as a site of relaxation and holidays, the beachscape, re-framed and re-imaged by the camera, offers new ways of conceiving of the spatial politics of French cinema. Additional ISBNs 9783034308342, 9783035305692, 3034308345, 3035305692Cinema at the Shore: The Beach in French Film 1st Edition is written by Fiona Handyside and published by Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. ISBNs for Cinema at the Shore are 9783035399424, 3035399425 and the print ISBNs are 9783034308342, 3034308345. Save up to 80% versus print by going digital with Vital Source. Additional ISBNs include 3034308345, 3035305692, 9783034308342, 9783035305692.