Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
America as Seen by a Frenchman
America as Seen by a Frenchman
8.4
/10
313 Ratings

AMERICA AS SEEN BY A FRENCHMAN

L'Amérique insolite

Directed by François Reichenbach
France, 1960
Documentary

Synopsis

At the end of the 1950s, French documentarian François Reichenbach spent eighteen months traveling the United States, documenting its diverse regions, their inhabitants and their pastimes. The result is a journey through a multitude of different Americas, filtered through a French sensibility.

Synopsis

At the end of the 1950s, French documentarian François Reichenbach spent eighteen months traveling the United States, documenting its diverse regions, their inhabitants and their pastimes. The result is a journey through a multitude of different Americas, filtered through a French sensibility.

Our take

Co-written with Chris Marker, this French New Wave travelogue both delights in the carnival that is American abundance and lifts the lid on cookie-cutter uniformity to reveal inequality and waste beneath. Wait for the ending: a heavenward gaze at glassy skyscrapers that is nothing short of sublime.