French Cinema in the 1980s: Nostalgia and the Crisis of Masculinity

Phil Powrie's exciting new study of French Cinema in the 1980s focuses on the crisis of masculinity in contemporary French culture, and its interrelationship with nostalgia. Films studied in detail include Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, Coup de foudre, Vivement dimanche!, La Vie est un long fleuve tranquille, and Tenue de soirée, while the volume covers actors from Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, and Yves Montand to Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Huppert, and Emmanuelle Béart. The book is divided into sections on the retro-nostalgic film, the polar, or police thriller, and the comic film. Each section begins with a brief preface which highlights the major issues for the genre during the 1980s.