The story of French filmmaking in many ways reflects the whole history of cinema. From the earliest flickering images of the Lumiere brothers in the late 19th century and throughout the years that followed, France has sometimes preceded and often paralleled the technical and artistic developments in cinema occuring internationally. Remi Lanzoni examines a large number of the world's most beloved films through the silent era, the Surrealist influence, the Nazi Occupation, the glories of the New Wave, into the 1990s and beyond. Focusing on the personalities that have created and formed an international art form, Lanzoni concentrates on directors and stars, bringing new insights into the work of Robert Bresson, Jean Cocteau, Jean Renoir, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Yves Montand and Jeanne Moreau among others.