For the Sake of Film: The Cinémathèque Française’s History of Films Saved in a Bathtub, Secret Screenings, and Student Riots.
written by Fiona Fortunato
From films stored in a bathtub, to secret screenings during the Nazi occupation, and the film community in uproar during the 1960s over the firing of one man, the Cinémathèque Française has had an intense and exciting history on the road to becoming the cultural symbol it is today. Founded in 1936 by Henri Langlois Georges Franju, and Jean Mitry, the Cinémathèque Française has emerged as a lasting cultural icon of Paris. Its architecture alone speaks to its reputation. The home of the Cinématheque since 1994 was designed by the notable Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, who worked on buildings such as the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Screening rooms, a multi-level museum of early history of film, a multimedia library, bookstore, and cafe make up this first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to the preservation, restoration and discovery of films. A collection of over 40,000 films are accessible to the public to check out and view at individual video desks.
Henri Langlois has been an incredibly crucial figure to the preservation of the history of filmmaking although he himself never made a film. His obsession with film preservation, or “archive fever”, began during his teenage years in the 1930s in France after his family relocated from Turkey in 1922. The 1930s presented a fascinating time for the evolution of film from silent to sound. It consequently led to the loss or destruction of many silent era films after they went out of style with the influx of sound film. Langlois, a young teenager at the time, noticed this development and began collecting and storing films under his bed and in his parent’s bathtub . Over the next few years, his archive developed massively, containing films from across eras, and from various countries. He saved everything he could– popular masterpieces, unknown films, and even fascist films. His conservation techniques have led some to consider him as a controversial figure. Many accused him of not properly looking after the films once they were collected, since he often hoarded them and then did not properly look after them after the fact. He may have been better at amassing a collection than looking after it, but regardless, he still remained steadfast in his mission of bringing films to the public with relative impartiality.
During the Nazi occupation of Paris, Langlois held secret film screenings, at times in his parent’s tiny living room. The small group, if they had been caught, could have faced serious consequences, including imprisonment, for watching films forbidden by the occupation’s forces. Langlois’ archiving work rapidly accelerated during the occupation in a race against the Nazis as they censored and destroyed American and German Expressionist films. Langlois and his friends had to literally smuggle films out of Paris so that the films could remain safe.
After the war ended, the French government gave funding to the Cinémathèque’s expansion, which later led to complications as the government demanded a say in the archive’s operations in return. Langlois resisted the French government’s pressure, wanting to save films and do his daily work of screenings and film collection without infringement, but still wanting their money. He was fired by the French Culture Minister, André Malraux, as a result of his disobedience in February of 1968, which sent shock waves across the French film industry and garnered him the support of directors worldwide, including Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, and Fritz Lang. His ousting was considered by many to be politically motivated and led to rioting in Paris where police beat and arrested intellectuals adding to the momentum of the massive student protests of the same year. The 1968 riots quickly transformed into widespread pressure on the French government to enact reforms across issues such as social justice, civil rights, education, and the Vietnam war. Amidst this chaos, Langlois was reinstated as the head of the Cinémathèque in April of 1968, in response to the turmoil his deposition partially caused.
The Cinémathèque Française and its founder have left profound effects upon the preservation of film history and the development of film movements as generations of young filmmakers have been inspired and educated by the films saved by and screened at the Cinémathèque. Many even credit Langlois with fostering the environment that helped develop the French New Wave movement. Langlois was acknowledged for his contributions to society with honorary awards from both the Academy Awards and the César Awards in 1974 before his death in 1977. His life’s work of preservation and collection, while controversial in method, has impacted generations of film enthusiasts and allows for the continual discovery of the early roots of cinema and its influences.
