A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema ed. by Alistair Fox et al. (review)

and the likes. Studies link through emphasis on temporary nature of travel, transgressions , crossings, moving, and exile, allowing readers to better seize commonalities in travel modes and transient lifestyles both voluntary and imposed. Sections explore the rarely-included different stages of travel as well as an undertaking of travel as “an enterprise that requires multiple preparations”(186). The book includes a thoughtful introduction situating the author’s scope, seven chapters, conclusion, filmography, and rich current bibliography. It is worth mentioning that little of this book has been previously published. Its diversity of directors and range of films is the book’s first strength. Multiple films by Bouchareb, Kaurismäki, Klapisch, Linklater, Rozier, and Tanner are of note. Its second advantage is its careful descriptions, highlighting travelrelated themes, woven into analyses for those unfamiliar with the films. Even Tati’s much-studied Trafic (1971) appears as an unexploited jewel of dépaysement. In this, the “traveler” is taken in its multiple facets as economic migrant, tourist-traveler, and pilgrim (82). Here, Blum-Reid develops from the notion of dérive—drifting and occasionally subversive activities (159), whereas in other sections she calls on Augé’s notion of non-lieu to bolster readings with mobility-related theoretical frameworks. Most impressive is the incorporation of voices from a wide variety of films, especially those of diverse immigrant and migrant populations (Ameur-Zaïmeche, Ferroukhi, Ghorbal, Kaurismäki). Traveling in French Cinema is timely; one needs only attend the French Cinémathèque series “Borders on the Horizon: Three Perspectives on Migration from Africa to Europe”(Washington, DC, May 2016) or the Cinémathèque Francaise’s program, “Voyages” (Paris, Nov. 2015). Certain films get more attention: Bled Number One (Ameur-Zaïmeche, 2006), or Gatlif’s Gadjo Dilo (1997), Exils (2004), and Transylvania (2006). Others are left for future study: Enter the void (Noé, 2009), Twenty-Nine Palms (Dumont, 2003), and Vendredi soir (Denis, 2002). Chapter five provides compelling studies on tourists, immigrants, refugees, exiles, and guest workers (103), even the infamous flâneuse and rôdeuse have a place, with focus on Calle, Akerman, and Varda. Chapter seven offers an innovative analysis on hospitality and France as welcoming country (104). Rich in interdisciplinary, literary and filmic history references, this book would be a vital addition to courses in contemporary French or World Cinema. University of North Carolina, Wilmington Michelle Scatton-Tessier Fox, Alistair, Michel Marie, Raphaëlle Moine, and Hilary Radner, eds. A Companion to Contemporary French Cinema.West Sussex: Wiley, 2015. ISBN 9781 -4443-3899-7. Pp. 712. $200. Se concentrant sur le cinéma français de 1990 à 2013, étant donné “the great increase in the number of new filmmakers, and also the striking increase of films 246 FRENCH REVIEW 90.2 Reviews 247 produced” (3), ce volume de vingt-sept chapitres est une contribution majeure au débat critique, auquel est consacré une bibliographie de vingt pages. Les cinq parties du livre (“Economic, Institutional, and Political Contexts”, “Auteurs and Auteurism”, “Genres, Cycles, and Cinematic Forms”, “Gender and Sexuality”, “Continuities and Emerging Trends”) abordent le cinéma sous tous ses aspects,considérant ses conditions de production et de réception, les enjeux économiques et politiques, ses tendances artistiques, ses préoccupations thématiques, et son rapport aux autres médias. L’excellente introduction crée des transversales entre chapitres. Écrites dans un langage accessible, les contributions sont d’une qualité remarquable, définissant clairement leurs méthodologies et leurs concepts opératoires, tout en présentant au public anglophone un important corpus de films au moyen d’analyses détaillées et de nombreux résumés d’intrigues. Ce volume n’est pas seulement un début d’encyclopédie et un outil d’analyse qui fait avancer la recherche. Au-delà d’une approche purement encyclopédique ou synthétique, il entend contribuer largement à l’analyse de ce nouveau corpus en faisant se multiplier les points de vue critiques et en conservant une pluralité des approches. Derrière une pléthore de renseignements intéressants sur différents genres contemporains et une histoire de la critique, on trouve aussi, de manière plus significative, des recherches in...