Au moins, on est tous d'accord : au cinéma on est pas là pour discuter mais pour voir un film! Ce que je trouve de curieux, ce que si certaines personnes sont dérangées par le bruit elles changent de place, alors que, il me semble du moins, il est plus direct et efficace de les faire taire. Est-ce que vous auriez une explication?

Voilà un questionnaire qui est loin d'être polémique : les bavards n'ont pour le moins rien à faire dans une salle de cinéma !

Cependant, je souhaiterais obtenir quelques détails sur votre rapport au cinéma. En effet, beaucoup de gens s'alarment de la prédominance de la production américaine dans le paysage cinématographique européen. Ceci n'est pas un reproche car même si l'on est submergé chaque année par un véritable flot de "navets", il en ressort néanmoins régulièrement quelques chefs-d'oeuvre incontestables :)

Mais par simple curiosité, quelle connaissance avez-vous du cinéma européen ? Quels sont les noms d'acteurs, de réalisateurs et les titres de films français qui vous viennent le plus facilement à l'esprit ?

Etant déjà allé au cinéma aux USA, j'ai été pour le moins surpris : discussions pendant le film, bruits insistants et répétés de pop-corn ... Etant donné mon niveau d'anglais limité à l'époque, je n'avais par conséquent rien compris au film (qui était d'ailleurs très compliqué à comprendre puisqu'il s'agissait de Godzilla :) ) Je voudrais donc savoir si je n'ai pas eu de chance ou si c'était normal.

Le pire ce sont les téléphone portables qui sonnent pendant le film. Pourtant on leur a dit de l'éteindre mais il y en a toujours un qui oublie et à chaque séance, ça ne loupe pas, on a le droit à un DRIIIING en plein milieu d'une réplique ou d'un moment palpitant. Voilà qui m'exaspère dix fois plus que les gens qui discutent.

Cette situation fait partie de celles qui m'énervent le plus. Je suis passionnée de cinéma et je trouve cela totalement irrespectueux de parler pendant un film. Cela empêche d'être "dans" le film, et en plus si nous payons 50 F, on peut au moins avoir le silence !

J'ai remarqué qu'en France de plus en plus de gens parlent pendant les films. J'ai l'impression que c'est la "film industry" qui vient des US qui change la vision qu'ont certains du cinéma. Du coup, les cinéphiles vont se réfugier dans les petites salles, qui sont beaucoup plus intimes et ù l'on se retrouve entre cinéphiles. D'ailleurs j'ai peur que ces salles disparaissent.

Hello Vincent, It's actually pretty common to have people talk during the movies. It's bound to happen at least every other time you see a movie...annoying but a fact of life. Loud-eaters, people talking to the actors(especially during scary movies). The annoying part is that people who talk during movies attempt to whispher which makes it even more distracting. It's pretty standard to have a loud "SHhhhhhhhhhhhhh" resonate through the theater.

It seems that going to the movies is one of the most common things to do(besides study)...is it the same for college students in France? Also, what kind of movies do you like?

This is in response to Jean, I am particularly fond of French movies although I don't know many of the names of directors or actors. Some of my favorites are "Red", "White" was a bit odd..."Le diner de cons" and "Cyrano du Bergerac" The only problem for me is that I NEED the english subtitles:-( I saw "Fanfan" without subtitles and I got only about 20% of it. European movies are generally screened at smaller, "artsy" theatres. The German film "Run Lola Run" was quite popular for example.

I guess you're right though, European films are not mainstream but there are definitely those who are big fans.

It's interesting to see that we all suffer from the same annoying things in the movie theater! In the U.S., a lot of times the noise is coming from groups of teenagers, or old men who don't remember the rules of going to the movie theater. There's usually nothing you can do about it, but sometimes a good loud "Shut up!" works.

to Jean-Baptiste: I would say that I know very little about the French film industry. Foreign films are pretty rare in the U.S. pop culture, and therefore a lot of young people don't get exposed to French films. For example, I can't even name a single French actor. Perhaps this is a flaw of American culture, but I guess we just think domestically when it comes to movies.

Kinda the same thought, but are American movies pretty common in France? And if so, are the actor's voices dubbed into French, or do they speak English and just have French subscripts on the screen?

Frederique, you mentioned that a movie in France costs about 50 francs. That's roughly between 9 and 10 dollars in the U.S. I think. In big cities like NY and Boston, we pay about $8 for a movie, $9 at really big theaters. I think the cost varies across the U.S. though. I think it's much cheaper in the midwest.

Jean-Baptiste: I am a huge fan of French-language film. Last summer I watched one film each day... I saw 82 of them before I had to start coursework again. I loved all of the Eric Rohmer films I saw. I liked all of the films that Jeri-Ann mentioned. I liked the old Clouzot and Trauffault films a lot.

I also like French films from Canada, like Florida, The Boys, Maria Chapdelaine, etc.

I don't watch as many films in other European languages, but I loved Run Lola Run, and the two Dogma movies I saw (The Celebration, Mifune).

Why does Bertrand Blier keep making movies about ménage à trois, à quatre, etc.?

One general rant: in the US, the movie industry seems to remake foreign films in English with American actors, rather than releasing them with subtitles. For example La Femme Nikita (amazing) was remade as Point of No Return (garbage). The American movies The Man with One Red Shoe, Three Men and a Baby, Cousins, etc. were all better French movies first. This is embarassingly parochial!

No matter what side of the Atlantic you live on, everybody hates people who talk during the film. I've noticed that talking during the movie is more common during an action movie like Mission Impossible 2 or something like that.

I can blame it all on one piece of technology: THE VCR!!! People our age have grown up watching movies at home in their living room, where no one minds if you talk (except me :) ). Then, when they go to the cinema, they act like they are at home. As Jeri'Ann mentioned, the worst is when people talk to the characters on the screen. During the Matrix I sat next to an idiot who kept telling Keanu Reeves what do do (but not how to act :) ). I think that audiences are probably better behaved in France, as films are thought of more as an art form and less as a way to show things exploding (like Mission Impossible 2).

As far as French films go, everyone here knows Gerard Depardieu, but mostly from his English film work. Very few Euro films make the crossover to mega-popularity here, but you can usually see them at "art-house" cinemas or rent them. Recent exceptions: Run Lola Run, and Life is Beautiful. Too many people don't like to read subtitles I guess. One older French film that I remember well was Subway with Christopher Lambert. Was this a popular film in France?

This is in response to Jean's question. I think the majority of Americans, including myself, do not know much about foreign theater at all. It is a shame really because I'm sure I'm missing out on some amazing films.

What are your favorite films and what are classic French films?

I don't like poeple who forget to turn of their cells in movie theaters and I also don't like poeple that are always yelling "SHHHHHH" because sometimes they are a lot more obnoxious than the people making noise.

I have one question: Some movies here in the states are based on books prevoiusly written. The books are for the most part better than the movies trying to follow their foot steps. Are some of the French movies done after well-known books? If they are which ones are the for the most part better?

Salut Jeri'Ann. La trilogie de Krzysztof Kieslowski "Bleu","Blanc","Rouge" fait également partie de mes films préférés, notamment "Rouge" qui arrive à décrire à un certain niveau de complexité une relation de dépendance affective (et il est vrai que "Blanc" est à la limite de l'imcompréhensible!). Quand tu dis que "Run Lola Run"(flop en France) a été populaire aux USA, est-ce que cela signifie qu'il a pu emprunter les mêmes circuits de distributions que les blockbusters d'Hollywood ?

"Ma Vie En Rose" and "Au revoir les Enfants" are two of my favorite movies! but, on a more educational note...

I noticed that several french responses were to tell the person to move to the back of the theater, but several american responses were to move ourselves, what does everyone think of this?

Oui Geoffrey, je dirai que "Subway" est un film assez connue en France car il s'agit du premier film connu de Luc Besson qui a ensuite enchainé succès sur succès "Le grand Bleu", "Nikita", "Léon" (ou the "the Professional" pour vous?), "the fifth element" et Jeanne d'arc (ou "The messenger" pour vous).

Diana, en France aussi beaucoup de films s'inspirent de roman, mais souvent leur interprétation du livre les rends presque tout le temps (à mon avis) moins interressant que le roman. Pour ce qui est de la proportion, je ne sais pas trop mais je dirais à vue de nez 5 pour cent, mais je peux très bien me trompez complètement.

One thing that has always really bothered me about going to movies is having a mother bring her 1 year old baby that cries throughout the entire movie.

Anyways, I was wondering if French movies are given ratings the same way American movies are (ie. PG-13, R). Something that I've never understood is why the R rating on an American movie simply means that a child needs to be accompanied by an adult 17 years or older to attend the movie. Do you have a rating similar to our R rating?

I saw American Pie a while back, and they were these two little kids who couldn't have been much older than 6 right in front of me. Anyone that has seen American Pie knows that no 6 year old should be seeing that movie.

As I said before, people talking in the theatre annoys me to no end. In Canada they used to have these little reminders before the movie (after the ads) to please not talk during the movie. They got rid of them though I think, but maybe they should bring them back!

In response to Frederique: We have smaller cinemas here in Boston that show more foreign and independent films. These are probably akin to the smaller cinemas that you were talking about. Generally the audience is more serious at these places. Here in the US, however, you have to live in a big city (or close to a university) to see these sorts of films at the theatre. If you live in a smaller city you are more limited to the normal Hollywood films.

Hello again Stephane, "Run Lola Run" was in some mainstream theaters (more so than other foreign films). It's one of the standard movies you can rent at video stores and I think it won some awards also (don't remember which ones). It was a flop in France, huh?....interesting. What I liked about it was the "novelty" factor. A German friend recently told me that kind of story is pretty standard....but hey, it was fun and exciting to me.

By the way, are you the student visiting MIT? Talk to you later

I don't think anyone answered Mathieu's question, so I'll try to. Usually, just telling someone to be quiet doesn't solve the problem because they'll just start talking again later in the movie, so you'll enjoy the movie a lot more if you just move to another part of the theater.

And about where we can go to watch foreign films, in addition to small foreign theaters, they have showings at the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston, and I'm sure there are showings at many museums throughout the US, so for the enthusiast, I'm sure there are opportunities.

So can you tell us what some of your favorite American movies (modern ones or classic ones made decades ago) are? Certain films have been made really well and are definitely noteworthy. My personal favorite recently is "Shawshank Redemption."

And do the French like scary movies as well? Here, it's fun when you're in the mood sometimes.

Oui Kapil,

En France il y aussi des limites d'ages pour certains films. Je ne ais plus exactement lesquelles mais cela doit être:

interdits au _ moins de 12 ans _ moins de 18 ans

Pourtant les vérifications sont rares, c'est seuleument le guichetier qui juge l'age et en cas de doute il demande de justifier son age.

J'ai une question qui peut paraätre un peu stupide mais bon, est-ce un cliché ou êtes-vous de gros mangeur de pop-corn pendant les films? En France, on préfère plutôt des glaces même sion est de manière générale pas de gros mangeur.... au cinéma!