Seven French films in 2006 Top 10

by Fabien Lemercier

04/01/2007 - French cinema has had a flamboyant year with the 4.44m admissions clocked up in three weeks by Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Invisibles [trailer], making it the seventh French title to join the 2006 Top 10.

The animated film, the sixth most seen title in 2006, completes a hat trick of successful productions by Luc Besson after The Big Blue (9.2m filmgoers) and The Fifth Element.

However, the most popular French release in 2006 by far, with 10.35m admissions, was Patrice Leconte’s Les Bronzés 3 [trailer], beating off competition from two US productions.

Meanwhile, Fabien Onteniente’s Camping [trailer] ended the year in fourth position with 5.46m filmgoers, while You Are So Beautiful [trailer] by Isabelle Mergault (3.55m) was the seventh most popular title, followed by Eric Lartigau’s Rent A Wife [trailer] (3.43m), Days of Glory [trailer, film focus] by Rachid Bouchareb (3.1m, see Focus) and Francis Veber’s The Valet [trailer] (3.08m).

Other successful releases in 2006 included Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One [trailer] (2.7m filmgoers, 13th position), OSS 117 [trailer] by Michel Hazavanicius (2.29m, 14th), Orchestra Seats [trailer] by Danièle Thompson (1.96m, 18th) and animated title Azur and Asmar [trailer] by Michel Ocelot (1.6m).

Unexpected hits were Those Happy Days [trailer] by Eric Toledano and Oliver Nakache (1.47m), Don’t Worry, I’m Fine [trailer] by Philippe Lioret (886,000), Denis Dercourt’s The Page Turner [trailer, film focus] (735,000) and, last but not least, The Singer [trailer] by Xavier Giannoli (952,000).

Moving onto European releases, Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver [trailer, film focus] (see Focus) proved the 15th most seen film in French cinemas in 2006 with 2.28m admissions, while Perfume: The Story of a Murderer [trailer] by German helmer Tom Tykwer ended the year in 46th position with 910,000 filmgoers.

British cinema also had a good year with The Wind That Shakes the Barley [trailer, film focus] by Ken Loach (913,000, 45th position, see Focus), The Queen [trailer, film focus] by Stephen Frears (859,000, 51st, see Focus), Nanny McPhee [trailer] by Kirk Jones (769,000, 60th) and Scoop [trailer] by Woody Allen (757,000, 62nd).

(Translated from French)