Juri wrote:
"Do you consider that you're living in a civilized country
(or countries)? "A relatively osbcure film"?! One of
Truffaut's better-known films, it has been shown in Finnish
television! At least twice in my lifetime. The Finnish Film
Archive runs the film on a pretty regular basis."
I'm not sure being shown in a Film Archive is evidence
against a film's obscurity.
I can't speak for Kevin's Canada, but as for the States, I
would hazard a guess that few besides cineasts know, much
less have seen, Shot the Piano Player. Yes, it has shown on
US TV, but usually on public broadcasting (besides, with all
of the cable channels and time to fill on US TV, every film,
no matter how obscure, gets shown at some point). Yes, it
plays in repertory, although there are fewer and fewer of
those since the advent of home video (it is available on
video). However, it was never a blockbuster here. Indeed, few
foreign films are. One of the features of US cultural
imperialism is that foreign (to us) culture seldom rises
above subcultural taste. And Shoot the Piano Player was never
remade into a US movie, the fate of many popular French
films.
Mark
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