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The History of French Cinema: 1972

10/1 -

Filming of Claude Chabrol’s Doctor Popaul, in which Mia Farrow co-stars with Jean-Paul Belmondo, begins in Paris. [ADD]

6/2 -

In Bordeaux, fighting breaks out amongst the audience during a screening of Gillo Pontecorvo’s Italian film, La Battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers (1965). [ADD]

31/3 -

The Gaumont Palace, France’s most famous cinema, closes to be replaced by a hotel and shopping complex.   Originally a 6,000-seat cinema when it opened in 1911, the capacity was reduced to 2,800 in 1966 to accommodate Cinerama screenings. [ADD]

19/5 -

Elio Petri's La Classe operate va in paradiso (Lulu the Tool) and Francesco Rosi's Il Caso Mattei (The Mattei Affair) share the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. [ADD]

13/6 -

More than 200 international screen and entertainment personalities sign a petition in protest at the arrest of Turkish filmmaker Yilmaz Guney under suspicion of aiding urban guerrillas. [ADD]

11/11 -

The French Catholic Film Board relaxes its ratings systems by abandoning the ‘not to be seen’ classification. [ADD]

15/12 -

Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris causes a stir upon its release due to the frank sex scenes it contains.   Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider star as two strangers who meet by chance and make love in an empty apartment in Paris before embarking on an affair in which they agree to keep their identities secret from each other. [ADD]

Other Key French Films of 1972

L’Amour l'après-midi (Eric Rohmer) [MORE] [ADD]

Le Charme discrete de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) (Luis Buñuel) [ADD]

La Décade prodigieuse (Claude Chabrol) [ADD]

Nathalie Granger (Marguerite Duras) [ADD]

Out 1: Spectre (Jacques Rivette) [ADD]

Tout va bien (Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1972