04/01/2007

French cinema has had a flamboyant year with the 4.44m admissions clocked up in three weeks by Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Invisibles [+see also:
trailer
film profile], making it the seventh French title to join the 2006 Top 10.

The animated film, the sixth most seen title in 2006, completes a hat trick of successful productions by Luc Besson after The Big Blue (9.2m filmgoers) and The Fifth Element.

However, the most popular French release in 2006 by far, with 10.35m admissions, was Patrice Leconte’s Les Bronzés 3 [+see also:
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film profile], beating off competition from two US productions.

Meanwhile, Fabien Onteniente’s Camping [+see also:
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film profile] ended the year in fourth position with 5.46m filmgoers, while You Are So Beautiful [+see also:
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film profile] by Isabelle Mergault (3.55m) was the seventh most popular title, followed by Eric Lartigau’s Rent A Wife [+see also:
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film profile] (3.43m), Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jean Bréhat
interview: Rachid Bouchareb
film profile] by Rachid Bouchareb (3.1m, see Focus) and Francis Veber’s The Valet [+see also:
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film profile] (3.08m).

Other successful releases in 2006 included Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One [+see also:
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film profile] (2.7m filmgoers, 13th position), OSS 117 [+see also:
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film profile] by Michel Hazavanicius (2.29m, 14th), Orchestra Seats [+see also:
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film profile] by Danièle Thompson (1.96m, 18th) and animated title Azur and Asmar [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Michel Ocelot (1.6m).

Unexpected hits were Those Happy Days [+see also:
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film profile] by Eric Toledano and Oliver Nakache (1.47m), Don’t Worry, I’m Fine [+see also:
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film profile] by Philippe Lioret (886,000), Denis Dercourt’s The Page Turner [+see also:
film review
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interview: Denis Dercourt
interview: Michel Saint-Jean
film profile] (735,000) and, last but not least, The Singer [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Xavier Giannoli (952,000).

Moving onto European releases, Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver [+see also:
film review
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interview: Agustín Almodóvar
interview: Carmen Maura
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
interview: Pénélope Cruz
film profile] (see Focus) proved the 15th most seen film in French cinemas in 2006 with 2.28m admissions, while Perfume: The Story of a Murderer [+see also:
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film profile] by German helmer Tom Tykwer ended the year in 46th position with 910,000 filmgoers.

British cinema also had a good year with The Wind That Shakes the Barley [+see also:
film review
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interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] by Ken Loach (913,000, 45th position, see Focus), The Queen [+see also:
film review
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interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile] by Stephen Frears (859,000, 51st, see Focus), Nanny McPhee [+see also:
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film profile] by Kirk Jones (769,000, 60th) and Scoop [+see also:
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film profile] by Woody Allen (757,000, 62nd).

(Translated from French)