Cinema for French Conversation (French and English Edition)

This is a fantastic textbook to act as a complement to these films. I am glad they kept some of the older films while still adding newer films. I wish there were a Cinema for Arabic Conversation as well in this series--so perhaps I shall create one to see whether the Pullman would consider publishing it. I particularly admire the detailed explanation of some of the vocabulary that is difficult to catch and the cultural explanations that accompany analyses of the films. I wish the film 36 Fillette were included in a new editon, as I have a lot of trouble catching the exact French expressions, many of which are undoubtedly slang or words with a double-entendre. I use these now primarily for self-study, in order to maintain and improve my French, as I can't find a course near me that uses the text. It may be impossible to do because of copyrights, etc., but it would add immeasurable to the value of the book, if all the films included in the book were included in a CD or some device bound into the book--I have trouble sometimes locating the movies. I also like the section that addresses the translation of the sub-titles; invariably there are complaints that "that's not what they really said," or "they said a lot more than just that." Perhaps it could be mentioned that each page of script translates normally to one minute of screen time, so unless someone has taken the French version of an Evelyn Woods Speed-reading course, it would be impossible to read quickly enough if every little detail were translated--is has to be just enough to allow the eye to capture it and the brain to process the major import of what is said. That said, it is interesting to see the way those doing the sub-titles chose to render the English for various French expressions--similar to reading several different translations of the same French novel and comparing how different translators handled various issues. I can't wait until the next edition, but I would also suggest that others buy the previous editons as well for the films that were not carried on to the newer editions. The German and Russian versions are also fantastic!!

I enjoyed this book. It is well laid out and has good explanations. The graphics are nice, and I enjoyed the cultural readings. We only used about half the chapter in my class, and the different segments stand alone in that way. I kept the book to further study on my own.

If you love French cinema, and especially if you teach any aspect of French history, literature, or culture, this is an amazing and practical resource for you. First of all, the book is beautiful. It is in color, and has gorgeous supplementary images from relevant historical documents and contemporary events. I have been using the second edition for years in class, and finally decided to update to this one. I am not sorry that I did, and I know that my students will be delighted with the change.

The cover came bent a little but other than that all good!

The films are really great, the only bad thing about this book is that the writer repeated a lot of the same vocabulary words throughout the book when she could have given us more new words to study.

The book was VERY used. The binding is taped together and the cover/pages are dog-eared.

Great book on film

took a while to get here but all in all great quality. I would recommend this to anyone interested :)