F rance reinterpreted the classic tradition of American film noir in its own way. In 1945, the Gallimard publishing house created a collection called Série Noire, characterised by its black covers. The publishing house translated great American authors of this genre and defended the quality of its works, many of which had originally appeared in popular kiosk magazines. French film directors, who were admirers of those writers, approached the genre to offer their own views on stories, environments and characters that were adapted to their own context, therefore creating an even more specific denomination in French: Polar. Mostra de Valencia–Cinema del Mediterrani proposes an extensive journey from the mid-fifties to current times, including directors such as Jacques Becker, François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Bertrand Tavernier, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Audiard or Jean-François Richet, who adapt work from classical authors like David Goodis, Jim Thompson or José Giovanni and modern writers such as Jean-Patrick Manchette or Fred Vargas. In this sense, this retrospective view offers the public a unique opportunity to see how French film noir has evolved over the past decades.
Coming soon.