Bardot created a chain reaction. With a series of genial blunders, starting with Breathless, Godard mishandles every written rule of the cinematographer's art. That Man from Rio. The decade that follows is quieter, less adventurous. Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli, Yves Montand.
Rebels pay dearly.
Patrick Dewaere commits suicide. Jean Eustache dies only a few years after directing a brutal movie The Mother and the Whore, a cry of frustration and despair. She does not appear often on screen but each of her performances, from The Story of Adele H to Queen Margot, is a major event. The idol of the young generation is Luc Besson and his The Big Blue has reached cult-movie status. If the final assessment is not overly optimistic, it does reveal the very real existence of a French cinema.