FRENCH FILMS IN NEW YORK

There are currently two festivals of French films in New York. The first, by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at the Walter Reade Theater, was the subject of a detailed article in the New York Times on Friday, (3/11). The other is sponsored by the Alliance Francaise. (Both venues, of course, show other French films occasionally from time to time.)

French cinema -- actually all non-English language film -- is very different in its style, pacing, concerns, approach to life, aesthetic, rhythms and structure from the movies we usually see in the theater, on television, and on DVD's.

It can be quite disorienting as well as enriching to be immersed in a different world. Anyone interested in a surprisingly powerful new experience might try going -- not to just the occasional foreign film -- but to try visiting a festival and watching a series of films back to back. It can be something to remember for the rest of your life.