A cult theme song and a captivating voice, Friday December 20, Patrick Brion will present the latest number of “Midnight Cinema”. Launched in 1976 on France 3, the film club separated from its founder. The show will continue to program cinema classics, but without including the famous presentation offered by Patrick Brion at the start of the film. Now aged 83, the man who watches nearly 50 films per month has inspired generations of moviegoers: today is the end of an era.
Franceinfo Culture: “The Midnight Cinema” is above all a voice. Why do you never appear on screen?
Patrick Brion : It's voluntary, rather than appearing on screen, I prefer to stay in the shadows and allow spectators to enter a nocturnal atmosphere with music, credits and to listen to a presentation of the film. That's what's important, not to put myself forward, in fact no one knew that it was me who was in charge of “Midnight Cinema”. My name has never appeared in the credits, except in this last show, as it is the end.
A film club on television. Was it important for you to present the great cinema classics on the small screen?
The show draws its success from clever programming that mixes great classics with rarer films. At that time, there weren't that many cassettes and a lot of people lived in the provinces. With the “Midnight Cinema”, the public could rewatch classics or discover them, it was a time of great curiosity for cinema. There are masterpieces, it would be a shame to lose them in the mists of time. César by Marcel Pagnol – the film broadcast for my last broadcast – illustrates this objective. It is both a masterpiece in the history of auteur cinema, and also capable of reaching a wide audience, including children.
What did you want to bring to the public?
I am a passer, not a critic, because in no case am I giving my opinion, the viewer must think what he wants about the film. The idea is to offer an informative presentation to the public: instead of keeping the knowledge I have, I prefer to share it with others. I prepare a short text that I read in the studio with information on the film, the career of the filmmaker and his context of production. It's important to show that cinema did not start with Tarantino in the 2000s and existed well before.
What legacy remains from this film-loving era?
Today, there is less focus on the history of cinema and old films. Film clubs on television mainly aim to promote films, I have nothing against it but it's not the same. So there is still work to be done, the new generations do not necessarily know the 7th art, we must take them by the hand and allow them to discover what cinema is.
What do you plan for the future?
I write books about cinema and I'm going to continue, and if I can present a film club somewhere, I will. My job has always been to allow people to see films, I have no reason to stop today.
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