quote:
Originally posted by Dave:
It is not intended to achieve box office success. It is often art for art's sake.

Also the lowest common denominator is higher in France than in the US (or other Western countries) - so when they make a film, they assume that you have some sort of artistic education.

Broadly speaking its a subjective issue, though - even for me, catch me on a Monday and I like arthouse films, and on a Friday when I'm brain dead I like action movies.
Ironically, my favorite director is Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the writer/director of films like City of Lost Children, Delicatessen, and, of course, Amelie.

I don't think it's fair to discredit American entertainment for being box office oriented(and I don't think that's quite the case as much as you might think). The demand for entertainment(of any kind) is much greater in the U.S than anywhere else, so the market is much, much wider. While action movies(which aren't as much of an American innovation as they are an Asian one) are prevalent, they represent only a small portion of the industry.

Perhaps in the terms you speak of(producing art for artistic success rather than financial success), I can agree, France's entertainment industry is superior, though "idealistic" seems to be a better choice of words in my mind.