Adopting a textual approach, with an emphasis on recent popular films, "Studying French Cinema" is geared toward nonspecialists studying French and film studies, as well as the general reader who might be interested in postwar French cinema. Each chapter focuses on one or more key films, from the groundbreaking output of the Nouvelle Vague ( "Les 400 coups," 1959) to contemporary documentaries ( "Etre et avoir," 2002) and situates these works within explorations of childhood, adolescence, and coming of age; auteur ideology and individual style; the representation of recent French history; aesthetic approaches; transnational production practices; and popular cinema, comedy, and gender issues. Taken together, this history provides a fresh perspective on postwar French history and points readers toward further study of related films.