Film and Community in Britain and France

Relations between France and Britain have always been uneasy and ambivalent. But in cinema the WWII changed all that for a time. Although the two countries' wartime fortunes differed, post-war both were busy reintegrating returning servicemen and prisoners of war, and accomodating the changed aspirations of women. Margaret Butler examines these subjects and more in her comparative study of the cinemas of Britain and France during and after the war. Using the concept of continuity, she shows how cinema dealt directly with ideas of belonging and alienation, inclusion and exclusion, unity and division. She also draws on contemporary debates and offers a perceptive reading of key films, to reveal the meaning and appeal of French classics like "Les Enfants du Paradis" and notable British productions like "Waterloo Road".