cinema de papa

Francois Truffaut dismissed much of French cinema of the 1950s as “cinema de papa,”1 which roughly translates to “dad movies” with the same sneer that music critics use the phrase “dad rock” to describe hair bands from the 1980s.

Of Earrings and Eras: The Earrings of Madame de… and Cinematic History – Perisphere Finn Odum 2024

This is a far cry from the polemical tone of his Cahiers articles, especially the famous essay - ''A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema'' (1954) - which attacked ''le cinema de papa'' for its overly literary and polished products.

HOW THE MATURE NEW WAVE SHAPES NEW FILMS (Published 1984) The New York Times 1984

The cinema de papa refers to a specific instance in the 50's, during the relatively long period we call the Tradition of Quality, which begins in the late 30's/early 40's.

Modern film and the Tradition of Quality 2025