Film a la francaise

The lights dim. The music begins. John Williams’ notorious melody floods the theater. A picture of outer space appears. The title reads: STAR WARS. But the iconic first line “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” is not there. Instead, “Il y a bien longtemps dans une glaxie lointaine, tres lointaine…” scrolls across the screen.

The movie theater in France is, in principle, the same as in the U.S. Posters of upcoming attractions cover the walls and everything is decorated in bright colors and modern shapes. But there are little differences that strike me. The popcorn sizes are notably reduced and there is not nearly as much butter soaking the container. Everyone queues up in the main lobby in orderly lines according to the time of their showing. And no one dares show up in sweat pants.

The film too, while visually the same as the American version, changes slightly with French dubbing. The court, casual American phrases are transformed into lengthy formal sentences. Yoda doesn’t sound as strange in French, as the language naturally features inversion (“know you the homework for tomorrow?” is perfectly correct here). And of course the series most famous line “May the force be with you” sounds ridiculous in French “Que la force soit avec toi.”

But the entertainment value is still there. We all laugh at Jar Jar Binks and lean forward during the light saber battles. When the lights come up the boys (young and old) imitate the fights with slashing motions and personal sound effects and everyone is slightly humming along with the credits as we exit.

American culture is not, in general, admired by the French. We drink our coffee too fast. Our food is unoriginal, supersized, and unhealthy. We talk too loud and walk around wearing any old thing. But our movies, our movies are fantastic. Everyone in France knows the latest hit, the hottest actors and actresses, the next big director. They speak about ‘Arrison ‘Ord and ‘Ow I Met ‘Our Mooother” with wonderfully hilarious accents. They admire “The Artsist” even though it hasn’t been released here yet and they mourn the deaths of starts like Heath Ledger and Patrick Swayze.

Films have always been admired in France and with the increased and easy access to information the Internet provides that appreciation has only grown. When I run out of things to talk about with my language partner or my host siblings, I just bring up Hollywood. It’s interesting that this connection is such a superficial one, the movies are never anything like real life. But maybe that’s exactly the point. We all love the escape, the fantasy they provide. The chance to imagine another life, another reality. And while I might have trouble expressing that idea in French, I have no trouble asking if my French friend what she thought of the new DiCaprio movie. And our following conversation, even if it’s basic, adds another element to our relationship, another link to our cross-cultural friendship.