France's inestimable contribution to world cinema begins in 1889, when Emile Reynaud patented his "Théatre Optique." This presentation system used perforated film strips, on which he painted such animated shorts as Pauvre Pierrot (1892) and La Première Cigare (1896). His medium was replaced, however, by the live-action motion pictures taken with (and projected by) the Cinématographe of brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière. At the Paris Grand Café on December 28, 1895, they held the first public screening of cinema which charged admission. Their earliest film, La Sortie Des Usines Lumière (1895), simply showed workers exiting their factory, but it made a sensation; so too did their other pioneering efforts that year, such as L'Arivée D'Un Train En Gare De La Ciotat, depicting a train entering the station, or the brief comedy L'Arroseur Arrosé, the first fiction film. Louis Lumière hired representatives to screen his films internationally and shoot new ones for him; everyday people and activities were recorded, as well as events like the McKinley inauguration or the crowning of Czar Nicholas II. In 1900, after Lumière had produced some 2,000 shorts (including narrative dramas such as a life of Christ), he left films and began inventing photographic equipment. Today, this admired founder of cinema has come to epitomize film's capacity to capture real life. Film's capacity to create fantasy also had its luminary by 1900. Stage magician George Méliès had devised his own camera and projector in 1896 and began imitating the Lumière films with Une Partie De Cartes. He soon developed techniques for trick-photography shorts, and the following year he built the first European film studio. There he wrote and directed (and often starred in) hundreds of films -- faking news events, retelling fairy tales, and above all making his dazzling fantasies, such as the classics Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902) and À La Conquête Du Pole (1911). Heavily imitated (and pirated), reluctant to deviate from his formulae, Méliès lost his audiences by the early teens and retired from cinema.

Alice Guy began directing films in 1896 with the fantasy La Fée Aux Choux and made scores more over the next decade, even experimenting with sound, before leaving France in 1907 to work in America. Ferdinand Zecca found success directing such melodramas as Histoire D'Un Crime (1901) and Les Victimes De L'Alcoolisme (1902). The elegant and witty Max Linder began starring in short comedies in 1905; by the end of the decade he was the most popular film comedian in the world, and soon began directing his own films, such as Max Dans Sa Famille (1911) and Max Et Les Femmes (1912). Other noteworthy early French films include the influential drama L'Assassinat Du Duc De Guise (1908), directed by Charles le Bargy and André Calmettes; Les Misérables (1912), directed by Albert Capellani; and La Dame Aux Camelias (1911) and La Reine Elisabeth (1912), both starring Sarah Bernhardt. Louis Feuillade had begun writing and directing in 1906, and after making hundreds of short comedies and dramas he came into his own in the mid teens, making stylish and hugely influential serials, most notably Fantômas (1914), Les Vampires (1916), and Judex (1917). Actor Abel Gance became a writer/director in the early teens, and during World War One made such memorable films as the zany comedy La Folie Du Docteur Tube (1915) and the hit dramas Mater Dolorosa (1917) and La Dixième Symphonie (1918). After the Armistice, he completed the acclaimed anti-war film J'Accuse (1919).

Several important filmmakers emerged during the 1920s. Jacques Feyder was admired for his "poetic realist" films, L'Atalantide (1921), Crainquebille (1922), Visage D'Enfants (1925), and Thérèse Raquin (1928). René Clair delighted audiences with his imaginative and funny science-fictioner Paris Qui Dort (1924, The Crazy Ray), the avant-garde romp Entr'acte (1924), and the classic comedy Un Chapeau De Paille D'Italie (1927, The Italian Straw Hat). Jean Renoir, son of painter Auguste Renoir, made the Zola adaptation Nana (1926) and the army comedy Tire-Au-Flanc (1928) with Michel Simon. Denmark's Carl Dreyer made his first masterpiece in France, the unforgettable La Passion De Jeanne D'Arc (1927, The Passion Of Joan Of Arc). Spanish surrealists Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali co-wrote and -directed the classic avant-garde short Un Chien Andalou (1928). Max Linder, having failed to establish himself in America, returned to France and starred in the three-reeler Au Secours! (1923), directed by Abel Gance; but after co-directing the Austrian production Der Zirkuskönig (1924), Linder took his own life. Gance made only two features in the '20s, but both were classics. The vast romantic drama La Roue (1921) built on the virtuoso editing techniques he'd introduced in J'Accuse. Gance's epic Napoléon (1927), about Bonaparte's early years, offered an array of cinematic innovations, including "Polyvision," a triple-camera process that anticipated Cinerama. The logistics of exhibiting this lengthy and technically complex film proved insurmountable, especially with the industry undergoing the transition from silence to sound, and Napoléon became a "lost" film until its reconstruction by Kevin Brownlow in 1980. Gance never fully recovered from the rejection of his masterpiece, and most of his sound films were impersonal historical dramas. Three major works of the '30s were exceptions: Gance's apocalyptic melodrama La Fin Du Monde (1930), his biopic Un Grande Amour De Beethoven (1936) -- both of which made bold experiments with sound -- and his remake J'Accuse (1937), a visceral, heartfelt plea against the coming war.

René Clair's first sound films were the classic musical satires Sous Les Toits De Paris (1930), Le Million (1931), and À Nous La Liberté (1931); shortly thereafter he left to direct films in Hollywood. Jean Cocteau won acclaim with his stylish avant-garde film Le Sang D'Un Poète (1930), but Luis Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece, L'Age D'Or (1930), was met with outrage. Dreyer made only one other film in France, the landmark horror tale Vampyr (1932). Writer/director Jean Vigo made two classics, a satiric fantasy of a boys-school uprising, Zéro De Conduite (1933, Zero For Conduct), and the poetic love story L'Atalante (1934), before his death from leukemia at age 29. "Poetic realism" flourished in the talkies of Julien Duvivier, notably his fantasy Le Golem (1936) and three films with writer Charles Spaak and actor Jean Gabin: La Bandera (1935), a Foreign Legion drama; La Belle Equipe (1936, They Were Five), a realistic tale of unemployed men; and Pépé Le Moko (1937), with Gabin's iconic gangster at the end of his rope in the Casbah. Jacques Feyder directed Françoise Rosay, his wife, in Le Grand Jeu (1934), Pension Mimosas (1935), and La Kermesse Héroïque (1935, Carnival In Flanders). Director Marcel Carné and writer Jacques Prévert teamed for the comedy Drôle De Drame (1937, Bizarre, Bizarre) with Michel Simon, and two atmospheric dramas starring Gabin: Quai Des Brumes (1938, Port Of Shadows) and Le Jour Se Lève (1939, Daybreak).

Playwright Marcel Pagnol entered films adapting his hits for other directors: Marius (1930) for Alexander Korda and Fanny (1932) for Marc Allégret, two loving satires of Marseilles life, both featuring the great character actor Raimu. Pagnol began making films of his plays with Direct Au Coeur (1933), co-directing with Roger Lion. He'd direct over a dozen films in the '30s, including a third Marseilles film with Raimu, César (1936); Topaze (1936), a remake of Louis Gasnier's 1932 film of Pagnol's play; Regain (1937, Harvest), a drama of peasant life; and the rural comedy La Femme Du Boulanger (1938, The Baker's Wife) with Raimu. Playwright and actor Sacha Guitry directed himself in such notable works as the dialogue-less Le Roman D'Un Tricheur (1936, The Story Of A Cheat) and his history lesson Remontons Les Champs-Elysées (1938). African-American Josephine Baker became a star in the musicals Zou-Zou (1934), directed by Marc Allégret, and Princesse Tam-Tam, (1935), directed by Edmond T. Greville. German-born Max Ophuls fled the Nazis in 1933 and came to France, where he co-scripted and directed such films as Divine (1935), La Tendre Ennemie (1936), and Werther (1938). Two other German refugees directed films in France before going on to America: Billy Wilder co-directed (with Alexander Esway) the comedy Mauvaise Graine (1933, Bad Seed) with Danielle Darrieux; Fritz Lang adapted Ferenc Molnar for Liliom (1934), with Charles Boyer.

Jean Renoir had his most productive period in the 1930s. He starred Michel Simon in the fatalistic drama La Chienne (1931) and a comedy of middle-class hypocrisy, Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux (1933, Boudu Saved From Drowning). He anticipated Italian neorealism with the mostly non-professional cast of his drama Toni (1935); made a sardonic class-struggle story, Le Crime De M. Lange (1936), co-scripting with Jacques Prévert; and followed with a short pastoral romance, Une Partie De Campagne (1936, A Day In The Country). With Spaak and Gabin, Renoir made three acclaimed films: the Maxim Gorky adaptation Les Bas Fonds (1936, The Lower Depths); the classic drama of French POWs during World War One, La Grande Illusion (1937, Grand Illusion); and the grim murder tale La Bête Humaine (1938, The Human Beast), from Zola's novel. He ended the '30s with his masterpiece, a comedy/drama of human frailty, La Regle Du Jeu (1939, Rules Of The Game).

Many members of the film industry left France when World War Two began, including Renoir, Duvivier, Ophuls, Feyder, and Gabin. Those who stayed had to endure the control of the Nazi occupation, yet some filmmakers managed to do important work. Pagnol completed a comedy/drama of betrayed love, La Fille Du Puisatier (1941, The Welldigger's Daughter). Carné and Prévert made their best films, the subtly anti-Nazi allegory Les Visiteurs De Soir (1942, The Devil's Envoys) and the beloved romantic drama set against the 19th-century French theater, Les Enfants Du Paradis (1945, Children Of Paradise). Jean Cocteau scripted L'Eternal Retour (1943, The Eternal Return), a reinvention of the Tristan and Isolde legend, for director Jean Delannoy. Jean Grémillon directed two memorable social critiques, Lumière D'Été (1943), written by Prévert, and Le Ciel Est À Vous (1944), written by Spaak. Claude Autant-Lara directed Odette Joyeux in the comedy/dramas Le Mariage De Chiffon (1942), Lettres D'Amour (1942), and Douce (1943). Henri-Georges Clouzot made his first features during the occupation: the suspenseful L'Assassin Habite Au 21 (1942, The Murderer Lives At Number 21) and a drama about poison-pen letters in a small town, Le Corbeau (1943, The Raven). Robert Bresson and Jacques Becker both spent a year as a prisoner of the Germans, after which each directed their debut films: Bresson made Les Anges Du Péché (1943), with dialogue by Jean Giradoux; Becker, the thriller Dernier Atout (1942) and the melodrama Goupi Mains Rouges (1943).

After the liberation of France and the end of the war, the reformed industry eliminated collaborators and organized the regulatory Centre National Du Cinéma Française (CNC). Jean Cocteau scripted the Diderot adaptation Les Dames Du Bois De Boulogne (1945) for director Robert Bresson, and then wrote and directed the classic fantasy La Belle Et La Bête (1946, Beauty And The Beast), with Jean Marais and Josette Day. He followed with two adaptations of his own plays, both starring Marais: the historical drama L'Aigle À Deux Têtes (1947, The Eagle Has Two Heads) and the intimate family psychodrama Les Parents Terribles (1948). René Clair returned to France and directed Maurice Chevalier in the farce Le Silence Est D'Or (1947, Man About Town). Julien Duvivier also came back and directed Panique (1946) and Au Rovaume Des Cieux (1949, The Sinners). Sacha Guitry played his own father, actor Lucien Guitry, in his biopic Le Comédien (1948). Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert split after Les Portes De La Nuit (1946); Marcel Pagnol re-emerged with La Belle Meunière (1948).

Writers Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost adapted André Gide for director Jean Delannoy's La Symphonie Pastorale (1946), and Raymond Radiguet for Claude Autant-Lara's Le Diable Au Corps (1946, Devil In The Flesh), which shot the young Gérard Phillipe to stardom. Jacques Becker made the romantic comedy Antoine Et Antoinette (1947) and looked at postwar life in Rendezvous De Juillet (1949). Henri-Georges Clouzot, after having been suspended from the industry because Le Corbeau's production company had been owned by Nazis, returned with the crime story Quai Des Orfèvres (1947, Jenny Lamour). Several directors made impressive debuts in the postwar years. René Clément filmed a neorealist account of the French Resistance in La Bataille Du Rail (1945, Battle Of The Rails). Georges Rouquier made Farrebique (1946), a classic documentary of a year in the life of a French farming family. Writer/director Jean-Pierre Melville recalled the occupation in Le Silence De La Mer (1947). Comedian Jacques Tati became a master director of visual humor with his hit Jour De Fête (1949).

Two directors who'd left France in 1940 resumed their careers there in the 1950s. Max Ophuls came back to his adopted homeland and in the final years of his life made his most acclaimed films: the witty Schnitzler adaptation La Ronde (1950); Le Plaisir (1952), a trio of Guy de Maupassant stories; Madame De ... (1953, The Earrings Of Madame De ...), a romantic drama with Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux; and his story of the legendary circus performer Lola Montès (1955), with Martine Carol. Jean Renoir, after working in the United States, India, and Italy, returned to France and made French Can Can (1955, Only The French Can), a look at the origins of the Moulin Rouge, with Jean Gabin; Eléna Et Les Hommes (1956, Paris Does Strange Things), a romantic comedy with Ingrid Bergman and Jean Marais; and another pastoral, Le Déjeuner Sur L'Herbe (1959, Picnic On The Grass).

Other veteran French filmmakers contributed noteworthy films in the '50s. Jean Cocteau made perhaps his finest work, the dazzling fantasy Orphée (1950, Orpheus), with Jean Marais. For director Jean-Pierre Melville, Cocteau scripted Les Enfants Terribles (1950), a superb adaptation of his famous novel of the incestuous rapport between a brother and sister. Marc Allégret made a documentary about his novelist uncle, Avec André Gide (1952), and adapted D.H. Lawrence for L'Amant De Lady Chatterley (1955, Lady Chatterley's Lover). René Clair made three comedy/dramas with Gérard Phillipe: La Beauté Du Diable (1950, Beauty And The Devil), Les Belles De Nuit (1952, Beauties Of The Night), and Les Grandes Manoeuvres (1955). Marcel Pagnol filmed his second remake of Topaze (1951), the rural drama Manon Des Sources (1952), and a trio of humorous tales, Les Lettres De Mon Moulin (1954). Sacha Guitry stayed behind the cameras for the thrillers La Poison (1951) and Assassins Et Voleurs (1956). Duvivier directed Fernandel as an eccentric priest in Le Petit Monde De Don Camillo (1951, The Little World Of Don Camillo) and Le Retour De Don Camillo (1953, The Return Of Don Camillo).

Aurenche and Bost wrote many of their finest films in the '50s. They adapted Victor Hugo for Jean Delannoy's Notre Dame De Paris (1956, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame), with Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo. For Claude Autant-Lara, they scripted the dark farce L'Auberge Rouge (1951, The Red Inn), the Stendhal adaptation Le Rouge Et Le Noir (1954), and the romance Le Blé En Herbe (1954). Most notably, they wrote René Clément's classic anti-war film Jeux Interdits (1952, Forbidden Games), about young children coming to understand death; they also adapted Zola for Clément's Gervaise (1956). Alexandre Astruc wrote and directed the dialogue-less Le Rideau Cramoisi (1953). Jacques Becker directed and co-scripted the films for which he is most highly regarded: the romantic comedy Edouard Et Caroline (1951); the atmospheric drama of ill-fated lovers, Casque D'Or (1952); the crime film Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954, Grisbi); and the Modigliani biopic Montparnasse 19 (1958), starring Gérard Phillipe. Henri-Georges Clouzot made three classic films: the thriller of desperate men transporting nitroglycerine, Le Salaire De La Peur (1953, The Wages Of Fear); the murder tale Les Diaboliques (1955, Diabolique); and a documentary of Picasso at work, Le Mystère Picasso (1956, The Mystery Of Picasso). Robert Bresson also made three of his most acclaimed films: the religious drama Le Journal D'Un Curé De Campagne (1951, The Diary Of A Country Priest), the prison film Un Condamné À Mort S'Est Échappé (1956), and the study of a thief, Pickpocket (1959). Jean-Pierre Melville scored with his first major crime film, Bob Le Flambeur (1955). Jacques Tati made two of his best comedies, Les Vacances De Monsieur Hulot (1953, Mr. Hulot's Holiday) and Mon Oncle (1958, My Uncle). Luis Buñuel began dividing his time between Mexico and France; his French films of the '50s include La Mort En Ce Jardin (1956) and La Fièvre Monte À El Pao (1959), with the last performance of Gérard Phillipe, who died of a heart attack at age 36.

The 1950s also saw the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers. Author Jean Genet wrote and directed his only film, the astounding homoerotic short Un Chant D'Amour (1950). Roger Vadim created a sensation starring his wife Brigitte Bardot in the sensual ... Et Dieu Créa La Femme (1956, ... And God Created Woman). Louis Malle, after co-directing the underwater documentary Le Monde Du Silence (1956, The Silent World) with Jacques-Yves Cousteau, directed and co-scripted two more hits: the thriller Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (1957, Elevator To The Gallows; Frantic) and the erotic drama Les Amants (1958, The Lovers), both starring Jeanne Moreau. Alain Resnais made several impressive short documentaries, most notably his classic reflection on the Holocaust, Nuit Et Brouillard (1955, aka Night And Fog). His first feature was the international hit Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959), scripted by Marguerite Duras: a heartbreaking tale of love eclipsed by memories of the wartime past. Georges Franju directed one of the era's great horror films, Les Yeux Sans Visage (1959, The Horror Chamber Of Dr. Faustus). Film critics from the magazine "Cahiers Du Cinéma" began making their own features, in a movement that has come to be known as the "Nouvelle Vague," or New Wave. Claude Chabrol wrote, produced, and directed two provocative psychological dramas: Le Beau Serge (1958, Bitter Reunion) and Les Cousins (1959, The Cousins). François Truffaut made an unforgettable account of his adolescence, Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959, The 400 Blows), introducing the 15-year-old actor Jean-Pierre Léaud. Jean-Luc Godard, the most formally radical of the group, wrote and directed the landmark A Bout De Souffle (1959, Breathless) which made a star of Jean-Paul Belmondo.

In the '60s, the New Wave came to define French cinema for international audiences. Truffaut's films included the satire Tirez Sur Le Pianiste (1960, Shoot The Piano Player); the touching romantic-triangle drama Jules Et Jim (1961, Jules And Jim); the Hitchcockian thriller La Mariée Était En Noir (1967, The Bride Wore Black); and the moving, fact-based account of a boy raised in the wild, L'Enfant Sauvage (1969, The Wild Child). Godard, besides adapting Alberto Moravia for a striking look at filmmaking, Le Mépris (1963, Contempt), starred his wife Anna Karina in a series of provocative dramas: Une Femme Est Une Femme (1961, A Woman Is A Woman), Vivre Sa Vie (1962, My Life To Live), Bande À Part (1964, Band Of Outsiders), and most notably two 1965 films, the visionary science-fictioner Alphaville and the politically strident Pierrot Le Fou with Belmondo. Radical left-wing politics became increasingly important in Godard's films. Jean-Pierre Léaud starred in such memorable assaults on the bourgeoisie as Masculin-Féminin (1966), Made In U.S.A. (1966), La Chinoise (1967), and Weekend (1967); One Plus One (1968, Sympathy For The Devil) included the Rolling Stones in its Marxist sloganeering. By the end of the '60s, Godard was making didactic films in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Gorin and other members of the Dziga-Vertov Group, including Pravda (1969) and Vent D'Est (1969, Wind From The East). Chabrol made two hit thrillers, La Femme Infidèle (1969) and Que La Bête Meure (1969, This Man Must Die). Other "Cahiers" writers also took the plunge into making features. Jacques Rivette starred Anna Karina in his Diderot adapataion La Religieuse (1967). Eric Rohmer made romantic comedy/dramas in a series he called "Six Moral Tales," and scored an international hit with number 4, Ma Nuit Chez Maud (1969, My Night At Maud's).

Alain Resnais became a virtuoso at manipulating time and narrative in his classic of ambiguity, L'Année Dernière À Marienbad (1961, Last Year At Marienbad), scripted by Alain Robbe-Grillet; Jorge Semprun wrote Resnais's acclaimed look at an aging political activist, La Guerre Est Finie (1966). Louis Malle mastered an impressive range of subjects with his charming comedy, Zazie Dans Le Métro (1960); a drama of alcoholism, Le Feu Follet (1963, The Fire Within); the feminist farce Viva Maria! (1965); and the documentary L'Inde Fantôme (1969, Phantom India). After divorcing Bardot, Roger Vadim showcased his new lovers and wives: Annette Stroyberg in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1959) and Et Mourir De Plaisir (1960, Blood And Roses); Catherine Deneuve in Le Vice Et La Vertu (1963, Vice And Virtue); Jane Fonda in La Ronde (1964, Circle Of Love), La Curée (1966, The Game Is Over), and Barbarella (1968). Georges Franju offered his hommage to Louis Feuillade with Judex (1963) and adapted Cocteau with Thomas L'Imposteur (1964). After starring Belmondo in an unusual drama of a priest in love, Léon Morin, Prêtre (1961), Jean-Pierre Melville made his most acclaimed crime films: Le Doulos (1962) with Belmondo, Le Deuxième Souffle (1966) with Lino Ventura, and Le Samourai (1967) with Alain Delon. René Clément scored with the stylish thriller Plein Soleil (1960, Purple Noon), also starring Delon. Jacques Tati made only one comedy in the '60s, the hilarious Playtime (1968). Jean Delannoy directed La Princesse De Clèves (1961), scripted by

Cocteau, and the touching drama of adolescent gay love, Les Amités Particulières (1964, This Special Friendship). Robert Bresson's increasingly austere and spiritual films included Le Procès De Jeanne D'Arc (1962), the allegorical Au Hasard Balthazar (1966), and the Dostoevsky adaptation Une Femme Douce (1969). Luis Buñuel, co-scripting with Jean-Claude Carrière, made the Mirabeau adaptation Le Journal D'Une Femme De Chambre (1964, Diary Of A Chambermaid) with Jeanne Moreau; the acclaimed tale of a woman's secret life as a prostitute, Belle De Jour (1966) with Catherine Deneuve; and the anti-religious pilgrimage La Voie Lactée (1969, The Milky Way).

The '60s marked the last hurrah for several major filmmakers. Cocteau wrote and directed the surreal Le Testament D'Orphée (1960, The Testament Of Orpheus). Marcel Pagnol's final film was for television, Le Curé De Cucugnan (1967). René Clair ended his career with Les Fêtes Galantes (1965). Jacques Becker's farewell was the harsh prison film Le Trou (1960, The Hole). Long plagued by ill health, Henri-Georges Clouzot retired after his controversial La Prisonnière (1968). Jean Renoir reinvented the Jekyll & Hyde story in Le Testament Du Dr. Cordelier (1961); looked at French POWs during World War Two in Le Caporal Épinglé (1962, The Elusive Corporal); and ended his career with the retrospective Le Petit Théâtre De Jean Renoir (1969, The Little Theater Of Jean Renoir).

Several important new writer/directors also began their careers in the '60s. Jacques Demy debuted with the romantic drama Lola (1961) and had an international hit with his musical Les Parapluies De Cherbourg (1964, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg). Demy's wife Agnès Varda made the real-time drama Cléo De 5 À 7 (1962, Cleo From 5 To 7). Serge Bourguignon filmed an exquisite tale of a shell-shocked war veteran revitalized by little girl's love, Les Dimanches De Ville D'Avray (1962, Sundays And Cybèle). Phillipe de Broca made the popular comedies L'Homme De Rio (1964, That Man From Rio) and Le Roi De Coeur (1966, King Of Hearts). Constantin Costa-Gavras debuted with the thriller Compartment Tueurs (1965, The Sleeping Car Murder) and found fame with the political drama Z (1969) starring Yves Montand. Claude Lelouch had hits with the romantic tales Un Homme Et Une Femme (1966, A Man And A Woman) and Vivre Pour Vivre (1967, Live For Life). Claude Berri's debut was Le Vieil Homme Et L'Enfant (1967, The Two Of Us), the beloved story of a Jewish boy during World War Two, who's protected by a gruff old anti-Semite, played by Michel Simon; also admired was Berri's comedy Mazel Tov Ou Le Mariage (1968, Marry Me! Marry Me!). Two writers for Alain Resnais began directing their own innovative films: Alain Robbe-Grillet with L'Immortelle (1963) and Marguerite Duras with Détruire, Dit-Elle (1969, Destroy, She Said).

The 1970s saw the last crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville: Le Cercle Rouge (1970) and Un Flic (1972, Dirty Money), both starring Alain Delon. Jacques Tati made his final comedies, the motorist's nightmare Traffic (1971) and a television production, Parade (1974). Marcel Carné ended his career with La Merveilleuse Visite (1974) and La Bible (1976). Buñuel made three last films with Carrière: the classic comedy of upper-class sterility, Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie (1972, The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie), the episodic satire Le Fantôme De La Liberté (1974, The Phantom Of Liberty), and an account of amour fou, Cet Obscur Objet Du Desir (1977, That Obscure Object Of Desire). Robert Bresson made a trio of acclaimed films: the Dostoevsky adaptation Quatre Nuits D'Un Rêveur (1971), the medieval tale Lancelot Du Lac (1974), and Le Diable Probablement (1977). René Clément found success with the thrillers Le Passager De La Pluie (1970, Rider On The Rain) and La Course Du Lièvre A Travers Les Champs (1972, And Hope To Die). Before leaving to make films in America, Louis Malle took two very different looks at youth: a comedy of mother-son incest, Le Souffle Au Coeur (1971, Murmur Of The Heart), and a drama of a peasant collaborator during the occupation, Lacombe, Lucien (1973). Alain Resnais made only two films in the '70s, but they were two of his best: the political drama Stavisky ... (1974), written by Jorge Semprun, and the English-language Providence (1977), a tale of memory and fantasy, scripted by David Mercer.

In the '70s Truffaut saluted filmmaking in La Nuit Américaine (1973, Day For Night); starred Isabelle Adjani as the tragic daughter of Victor Hugo, losing her mind over a soldier who doesn't love her, in the moving L'Histoire D'Adèle H. (1975, The Story Of Adèle H.); and adaptated Henry James with Le Chambre Verte (1978, The Green Room), starring himself. Godard collaborated with Jean-Pierre Gorin on such films as Vladimir Et Rosa (1971), in which they both appeared, and Tout Va Bien (1972) with Jane Fonda and Yves Montand. Working solo again later in the decade, Godard completed Numéro Deux (1975), Comment Çava (1976), and Ici Et Ailleurs (1977). Chabrol made the hit thrillers Le Boucher (1970), Les Noces Rouges (1973, Wedding In Blood), and Violette Nozière (1978, Violette). Eric Rohmer, completing his cycle of Moral Tales with the hits Le Genou De Claire (1971, Claire's Knee) and L'Amour L'Après-Midi (1972, Chloe In The Afternoon), followed with a pair of unusual dramas set in the Middle Ages: La Marquise D'O (1976, The Marquise Of O) and Perceval Le Gallois (1978, Perceval). Jacques Rivette, working in a more accessible style, made the popular Céline Et Julie Vont En Bateau (1974, Céline And Julie Go Boating). Agnès Varda scored with the feminist buddy film L'Une Chante, L'Autre Pas (1977, One Sings, The Other Doesn't); Jacques Demy made the fairy tale Peau D'Ane (1971, Donkey Skin). Costa-Gavras starred Montand in two political dramas, L'Aveu (1970, The

Confession) and L'État De Siège (1972, State Of Siege); he also recalled the occupation in Section Speciale (1975, Special Section). Claude Berri made the popular comedies Le Sex Shop (1972) and Le Male Du Siècle (1975, Male Of The Century). Audiences also embraced the Claude Lelouch films Le Chat Et La Souris (1975, Cat And Mouse) and Robert Et Robert (1978). The French/Italian co-production, La Cage Aux Folles (1978), a drag-queen farce, was an international hit that inspired two sequels. Marguerite Duras made some of her most memorable films: Nathalie Granger (1973), India Song (1975), and Des Journées Entières Dans Les Arbres (1976, Days In The Trees).

Several new filmmakers also enjoyed success in the 1970s. Claude Sautet was admired for his character studies, most notably Cèsar Et Rosalie (1972, Cesar And Rosalie), Vincent, François, Paul ... Et Les Autres (1975, Vincent, François, Paul And The Others), and Une Histoire Simple (1978, A Simple Story). Barbet Schroeder made two impressive documentaries, Général Idi Amin Dada (1974, Idi Amin Dada) and Koko, Le Gorille Qui Parle (1978, Koko, The Talking Gorilla), as well as the S&M-themed Maîtresse (1976). Diane Kurys wrote and directed the autobiographical schoolgirl drama Diabolo Menthe (1977, Peppermint Soda). Writer/director Claude Miller debuted with his transvestite comedy/drama La Meilleure Façon De Marcher (1976, The Best Way). Bertrand Blier made several provocative black comedies starring Gérard Depardieu: Les Valseuses (1974, Going Places), Preparez Vos Mouchoirs (1978, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs), and Buffet Froid (1979). Jean-Charles Tacchella had a hit with his romantic farce Cousin, Cousine (1975). Writer/director Patrice Chéreau debuted with the dramas La Chair De L'Orchidée (1975), starring Charlotte Rampling, and Judith Therpauvre (1978), starring Simone Signoret. Jean-Jacques Annaud took a winning look at the French in Africa during World War One with Noirs Et Blancs En Couleurs (1977, Black And White In Color). Bertrand Tavernier and actor Philippe Noiret scored with the Georges Simenon adaptation L'Horloger De Saint-Paul (1974, The Clockmaker) and the mystery thriller Le Juge Et L'Assassin (1976, The Judge And The Assassin).

The 1980s saw the end of several major careers in French cinema. Robert Bresson's final film, L'Argent (1983), was a drama of human cupidity. Georges Rouquier returned to the farming region where he shot Farrebique and made an acclaimed sequel, Biquefarre (1983). François Truffaut's last films were the occupation story Le Dernier Métro (1980, The Last Metro), the romantic drama La Femme D'À Côté (1981, The Woman Next Door), and the comedy/mystery Vivement Dimanche! (1983, Confidentially Yours). Jacques Demy ended his career with the Yves Montand musical Trois Places Pour Le 26 (1988). Louis Malle, working mostly in America in his last years, returned to France to make the drama Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987), set during the occupation, and the comedy Milou En Mai (1990, May Fools), set during the 1968 riots.

Other filmmakers stayed at the top of their game. Godard returned to commercial -- yet still highly personal -- filmmaking, most notably with his terrorism satire, Prenom: Carmen (1983, First Name: Carmen); Je Vous Salue, Marie (1985, Hail, Mary), a controversial take on the Holy Family; and the Shakespeare reinvention King Lear (1987) with Burgess Meredith and Molly Ringwald. Claude Chabrol scored with his crime drama Poulet Au Vinaigre (1984, Cop Au Vin), its sequel, Inspecteur Lavardin (1986), and Une Affaire des Femmes (1988, Story Of Women), a fact-based account of the last woman to be executed in France, starring Isabelle Huppert. Alain Resnais and writer Jean Gruault made a trio of impressive films: Mon Oncle D'Amerique (1980), La Vie Est Un Roman (1983, Life Is A Bed Of Roses), and L'Amour À Mort (1984, Love Unto Death). Resnais himself wrote the talky Mélo (1986); Jules Feiffer scripted Resnais' I Want To Go Home (1989). Eric Rohmer made a cycle called "comédies et proverbs," which included La Femme D'Aviateur (1981, The Aviator's Wife), Pauline À La Plage (1983, Pauline At The Beach), Le Rayon Vert (1986, Summer), and L'Ami De Mon Amie (1987, Boyfriends And Girlfriends). Agnès Varda had an international hit with her drama of a homeless woman, Sans Toit Ni Loi (1985, Vagabond). Patrice Chéreau made the gay-themed drama L'Homme Blessé (1983, The Wounded Man) and adapted Chekhov for Hôtel de France (1987). Lelouch found success with the sequel Un Homme Et Une Femme: Vingt Ans Déjé (1986, A Man And A Woman: 20 Years Later). Claude Berri remade Pagnol with Jean De Florette (1986) and Manon Des Sources (1986, Manon Of the Spring). Bertrand Blier's acid comedies included the intergenerational romance Beau Père (1981) and the bisexual love story Tenue De Soirée (1986, Ménage). Bertrand Tavernier made the Jim Thompson adaptation Coup De Torchon (1981, Clean Slate) and starred sax player Dexter Gordon in Au De Minuit (1986, Round Midnight), about a black American jazz musician in France. Jean-Jacques Annaud's films included the prehistoric drama La Guerre Du Feu (1982, Quest For Fire) and L'Ours (1988, The Bear), starring a bear cub. Diane Kurys won audiences with her drama of friendship between women, Coup De Foudre (1983, Entre Nous), starring Isabelle Huppert and Miou-Miou.

New filmmakers established themselves in France during the 1980s. Maurice Pialat made three memorable films with Gérard Depardieu: the romantic drama Loulou (1980), the crime film Police (1984), and the religious drama Sous Le Soleil De Satan (1987, Under The Sun Of Satan). Luc Besson was admired for his dialogueless science-fictioner Le Dernier Combat (1984); another stylist, Jean-Jacques Beineix, directed the hit thriller Diva (1981), the revenge tale La Lune Dans Le Caniveau (1983, The Moon In The Gutter), and the psychological drama 37.2 Le Matin (1986, Betty Blue). Writer/director Claire Denis made the autobiographical Chocolat (1988), set in French West Africa during the 1950s. Leos Carax starred Denis Lavant in both Boy Meets Girl (1984) and the crime story Mauvais Sang (1986, Bad Blood) co-starring Juliette Binoche.

In the '90s Godard made several introspective accounts of himself and cinema: JLG/JLG -- Autoportrait De Décembre (1994, JLG/JLG -- Self-Portrait In December), Deux Fois Cinquante Ans De Cinéma Français (1995, 2 X 50 Years Of French Cinema), For Ever Mozart (1996). Rohmer created his series "Tales Of The Four Seasons": Conte De Printemps (1989, A Tale Of Springtime), Un Conte D'Hiver (1992, A Tale Of Winter), Conte D'Été (1996, A Summer's Tale), and Conte D'Automne (1998, Autumn Tale). Resnais directed his diptych Smoking/No Smoking (1993), an adaptation of short plays by Alan Ayckbourn, and the offbeat musical On Connaît La Chanson (1997, Same Old Song). Chabrol made the Simenon adaptation Betty (1993); the psychological dramas L'Enfer (1994) and La Cérémonie (1996); and the comic thriller Rien Ne Va Plus (1997, The Swindle). Pialat ended his career with the biopic Van Gogh (1991) and the psychological drama Le Garcu (1995). Jacques Rivette made the impressive tale of a reinspired artist, La Belle Noiseuse (1991), and an epic two-part account of Joan of Arc starring Sandrine Bonnaire, Jeanne La Pucelle (1994). Leos Carax reteamed Lavant and Binoche for the stylish Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf (1991, Lovers On The Bridge) and reinvented Herman Melville's novel "Pierre" as Pola X (1999), starring Catherine Deneuve. Claire Denis directed a fact-based account of two serial killers who were also interracial gay lovers, J'Ai Pas Sommeil (1995, I Can't Sleep), and took her own stab at Melville by transforming "Billy Budd, Foretopman" into Beau Travail (1999). Claude Sautet had a hit with his romantic-triangle drama Un Coeur En Hiver (1992). Agnès Varda offered reminiscences of Jacques Demy with Jacquot De Nantes (1991) and L'Universe De Jacques Demy (1995, The World Of Jacques Demy). Annaud adapted Marguerite Duras with the interracial love story The Lover (1992). Depardieu starred as Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) for director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and played the 17th-century composer Marin Marais in Tous Les Matins Du Monde (1991), co-scripted and directed by Alain Corneau. Kurys directed a tale of a marital breakup, La-Balue-Les-Pins (1990, C'Est La Vie), and starred Juliette Binoche in the George Sand biopic Les Enfants Du Siècle (1999, The Children Of The Century). Besson had an international hit with his espionage tale La Femme Nikita (1991). Cyril Collard starred in and directed a powerful drama of bisexual desire, Les Nuits Fauves (1993, Savage Nights). Patrice Chéreau outdid himself with his epic historical drama of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, La Reine Margot (1994, Queen Margot), starring Isabelle Adjani, and ended the decade with a masterpiece: Ce Qui M'Aiment Prendront Le Train (1998, Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train), one of the rare films that offers a genuine equality in depicting the personal dramas of characters that are straight, gay, and transgender.

Two noteworthy filmmakers debuted in the 1990s. Belgian writer/director Alain Berliner started off with a classic, the Belgian/French/British co-production Ma Vie En Rose (1997, My Life In Pink), a transgender-themed comedy/drama about a seven-year-old French boy who throws his family into turmoil by insisting that he's a girl. Berliner's follow-up was the political satire The Wall (1998). François Ozon debuted with two accomplished films, the short bisexual comedy Une Robe D'Été (1998, A Summer Dress) and the featurette Regarde La Mer (1998, See The Sea), a suspenseful psychodrama. He followed with Sitcom (1998), a black comedy about the disintegration of a bourgeois family; Les Amants Criminels (1999, Criminal Lovers), a stylish take on bisexuality, homicide, and l'amour fou; and adapted a little-known play by the 19-year-old Rainer Werner Fassbinder for Gouttes D'Eau Sur Pierres Brulantes (1999, Water Drops On Burning Rocks).

French films have continued to dominate international cinema in recent years. Varda made The Gleaners And I (2000), an insightful essay film on consumption, waste, and age. Chéreau had his English-language debut with the erotic drama Intimacy (2000). Godard adopted a more familiar narrative style for Eloge De L'Amour (2001, In Praise Of Love). Eric Rohmer offered a romantic drama set in 18th-century France, L'Anglaise Et Le Duc (2001, The Lady And The Duke). Ozon made the haunting Sous Le Sable (2001, Under The Sand), with Charlotte Rampling as a woman losing her grip on reality, and gathered together an ensemble of several great French actresses, including Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, and Danielle Darrieux, for the murder-mystery/musical 8 Femmes (2002, 8 Women). Huppert also starred in Chabrol's thriller Merci Pour Le Chocolat (2000) and Michael Haneke's erotic drama La Pianiste (2001, The Piano Teacher). Jean-Pierre Denis made an acclaimed drama based on the true-life story of the Papin sisters, Les Blessures Assassines (2000, Murderous Maids). Jean-Jacques Beineix wrote and directed the black comedy Mortel Transfert (2001). Jacques Rivette made the romantic comedy Va Savoir (2001, Who Knows?). Claire Denis made the erotic horror film Trouble Every Day (2001) and the romantic drama Vendredi Soir (2002, Friday Night). A leader of world cinema since its inception, France is clearly destined to remain an essential contributor to the artform in the 21st century.