Since the war, the number of real cinema-goers has multiplied. As a result, between the happy few, who had access to specialised magazines and master books, and the masses, who "went to the cinema" more than they "went to see a film" of value, there was a growing class of spectators, increasingly keen to be initiated. Dissatisfied with a simple newspaper article, they are hating the hermeticism of specialised magazines and books.

The authors' wish is to take this culture-conscious public, these friendly people, on a journey to the crossroads where, alone and with a richer, more nuanced vision, they will be able to shine on the royal avenues of the seventh art.

Books on cinema are usually limited to a single perspective: technical, aesthetic, cultural or moral. This book is a small 'sum', a 'panoramic' look at the various problems raised by the seventh art. Its aim is to help the general public to discern, through the fascination and complexity of the details, the main thrust of this art form of our century; and to find in it, over and above a decline in quality, a psychological, artistic and moral enrichment, a deepening of the human experience.