François Truffaut called him, simply, ‘the best’. Jean Renoir is a towering figure in world cinema and fullyjustifies this monumental survey that includes contributions fromleading international film scholars and comprehensively analyzesRenoir’s life and career from numerous criticalperspectives. New and original research by the world’s leading Englishand French language Renoir scholars explores stylistic, culturaland ideological aspects of Renoir’s films as well as keybiographical periods Thematic structure admits a range of critical methodologies,from textual analysis to archival research, cultural studies,gender-based and philosophical approaches Features detailed analysis of Renoir’s essentialworks Provides an international perspective on this keyauteur’s enduring significance in world film history