I was absolutely inspired by watching the film Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque. I never considered my medium of film to have such a rich social history outside of the Hollywood business. It was beautiful for me to feel such pride in my artistic medium and feel a kinship with all others who fell in love with the movies at the Cinémathèque. After seeing such a vibrant place in the film I was a bit shocked to arrive at the real Cinémathèque to find the only crowd there was a group of elementary students. For me it posed the question how did the societal importance of film move backwards with the death of Langlois and what purpose does the space of the Cinémathèque now serve?

With the rise of the New Wave from Varda, Truffaut, and Godard, regulars at the Cinémathèque, I believe there was a true surge of national French pride in their cinema. As a country they value their arts, and value spreading their arts and culture as I have learned in this course. During this time the Cinémathèque was thriving as it existed as a meeting place for those who loved cinema during a time when cinema was of societal importance. After the death of Langlois in the late 1970s, the new Hollywood films were taking the word by storm and French films were no longer the pride of the cinematic culture. Because of this I can guess that the Cinémathèque’s leadership at the time faced difficulty getting funding and people stopped being as impassioned about seeing the films. 

Now, I observed that the majority of people in the Cinémathèque (aside from the schoolchildren) were quietly studying. There was no flurry of conversation, no great debates, it was almost dead silent. The physical space of the building didn’t convey the same grandeur and importance of subject that the old or even new BNF gave to their materials. The building was sterile with a large, intimidating entry hall. The bibliothèque was labyrinthine and didn’t feel like it had a central spot but rather encouraged scholars to spread out and stick to themselves. 

It is interesting to see this intersection of space and culture, how a physical location can determine the human dynamics that occur within it. 

I question the future of the Cinémathèque and if it will ever again change buildings, or have enough social significance to have one built specially for it. I think it could be a wonderful space to open up the accessibility of cinema with affordable screenings, unintimidating scholar opportunities, and mostly to create a community of filmmakers equally dedicated to the medium.