From Roland-François Lack
Re. Robert Koehler's preference expressed for French use of the term
'cinéma':
we can't simply adopt it for English use, since it can never, like film or
movie, designates a specific item, only the general category, or the place
where films are are shown ('je vois des films pour mon cours de cinéma'; 'je
vais au cinéma voir un film').
May I offer a discussion of the terminological problem in Apollinaire's poem
'Avant le cinéma' (from around 1911 I think).
Et puis ce soir on s’en ira
Au cinéma
Les Artistes que sont-ce donc
Ce ne sont plus ceux qui cultivent les Beaux-Arts
Ce ne sont pas ceux qui s’occupent de l’Art
Art poétique ou bien musique
Les Artistes ce sont les acteurs et les actrices
Si nous étions des Artistes
Nous ne dirions pas le cinéma
Nous dirions le ciné
Mais si nous étions de vieux professeurs de province
Nous ne dirions ni ciné ni cinéma
Mais cinématographe
Ainsi mon Dieu faut-il avoir du goût
(And then in the evening we'll go to the cinema.
Who are the Artists, then? They are no longer those who cultivate the Fine
Arts, they are not those concerned with Art, Poetics or music. The Artists
are the actors and actresses.
If we were Artists we wouldn't say the cinema we'd say the ciné.
But if we were old provincial professors we'd say neither ciné nor cinema
but cinematograph.
And so, my God, it's important to have taste.)
I especially like the comment on what will be Cocteau and Bresson's favorite
word, 'le cinématographe' (wrongly translated in the English version of
Bresson's book as 'cinematographer').
