Today's Tip
France invented cinema. The Lumière brothers, 1895, Lyon. The French have never treated film as entertainment — they treat it as art. A film in France is discussed after leaving the theatre the way you would discuss a novel: its ideas, its formal choices, what it means.
Try This
Watch one film this week without your phone in the room. Afterward, before looking at any review, write three sentences: what it was about, what surprised you, and what stayed with you. Then read one review. The gap between what you noticed and what the critic noticed is where your taste lives.
The French government funds cinema through a mandatory levy on every cinema ticket sold, every broadcaster's revenues, and every streaming platform operating in France. This system — the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC) — has produced more internationally acclaimed films per capita than any other country in the world. It exists because France formally decided in 1946 that cinema was a cultural asset requiring state protection, not simply a commercial product. This decision is why French cinema remains distinctive while most national cinemas have been absorbed by Hollywood aesthetics and economics.
One French lifestyle tip, every morning at 7am. Free — always.