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The History of French Cinema: 1981

19/1 -

David Lynch presents his latest film, The Elephant Man, at the Festival of Fantasy and Horror at Avoriaz where it wins the Grand Prix.   John Hurt stars as John Merrick, a sensitive, but hideously deformed, young man in Victorian England.   Anthony Hopkins also stars. [ADD]

25/2 -

The poster for Pascal Thomas' film Celles qu'on n'a pas eues (The Girls We Never Had) is removed from train and metro stations as it is judged indecent. [ADD]

4/3 -

La Femme de l'aviateur (The Aviator's Wife), the first film in Eric Rohmer's ‘Comedies and Proverbs,’ series, is released. [ADD]

11/3 -

35-year-old Jean-Jacques Beineix directorial debut, Diva, about a young postman’s obsession with an opera singer is released. [ADD]

15/3 -

Filmmaker René Clair dies in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France at the age of 81. [ADD]

30/3 -

Co –founder Georges Franju resigns his position as artistic director of the Cinémathèque. [ADD]

27/5 -

Czlowiek z Zelaza (Man of Iron), Andrzej Wajda’s sequel to Czlowiek z Marmuru (Man of Marble) receives the Golden Palm at this year’s Cannes film Festival.   The Special Jury Prize goes to Swiss director Alain Tanner, recovering from heart surgery, for the English-language Les Années lumière (Light Years Away). [ADD]

28/5 -

France’s new Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy appoints Jack Lang as Minister of Cultural Affairs. [ADD]

9/9 -

Pour la peau d'un flic (For a Cop's Hide), Alain Delon's first film as writer-director, is released.   Delon also stars with Anne Parillaud. [ADD]

4/11 -

For his latest film Bertrand Tavernier transfers the action of Jim Thompson’s novel Coup de torchon (Clean Slate) from the Deep South to West Africa.   The film stars Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert and Stéphane Audran. [ADD]

10/11 -

Legendary filmmaker Abel Gance dies in Paris at the age of 92.   His films include La Roue and Napoléon. [ADD]

16/12 -

Jean-Jacques Annaud's $12million Quest for Fire (La Guerre du feu) is released.  Set in prehistoric times, the only dialogue is a language invented by Anthony Burgess. [ADD]

16/12 -

Carmen Jones (1954), Otto Preminger's version of Bizet’s opera Carmen, is finally released in France.   The film stars Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. [ADD]

Other Key French Films of 1981

Les Ailes de la colombe (Benoit Jacquot) [ADD]

La Chevre (Francis Veber) [ADD]

Les Fourberies de Scapin (Roger Coggio) [ADD]

Malevil (Christian de Chalonge) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1981