Charmes de l'existence (TEFC)

Description: French language only. The French Academy is the supreme arbiter of what is often referred to as “official art”, art that paints a surface reality but is in fact the embodiment of those morals, ideas and virtues that have received official sanction. In this film official art has been used to satire the social history of France at the turn of the century - the fashions, foibles, conventions, the glory of battle and triumph of virtue. Utilising canvases of painters who won the Prix de Rome between 1860 to 1914, the film follows the Seven Ages of Man, presenting the official view of a way of life. Award: International Prize for a Short Feature, Venice Film Festival, 1950.