A page is turning for Le Masque et la plume, the most influential film critic meeting in France, on the radio, on France Inter. This Sunday, December 31, 2023, a handover will take place and some changes and departures are announced.
1,900 broadcasts, 52 Sundays per year for 35 years…. This is the “prize list” of presenter Jérôme Garcin, who, on December 31, 2023, is preparing to give up the microphone, after more than 30 years good and loyal service!
Next Sunday, the first of 2024, will be the first during which we will not be able to hear his voice in the illustrious Masque et la plume, the unmissable event for film buffs. The host and journalist had not missed a single Sunday in all these years, even during confinement or holidays!
This show, France Inter’s weekly critical meeting, devoted to cinema, but also to literature and theater, is not stopping yet! It is a change of voice, and therefore of orchestration in some way.
Since the creation of the show in 1955, by François-Régis Bastide and Michel Polac, The Mask and the Feather had never been presented by a woman. A little revolution then! Rebecca Manzoni takes over. The journalist and presenter is well known to France Inter listeners, and she has presented several cultural events, such as Eclectik and currently Totémic weekly on Fridays.
Handover to Le Masque et la plume this evening between Jérôme Garcin, after 1,900 broadcasts and 35 years as conductor, and the talented Rebecca Manzoni. A historic moment to listen to on December 31, 2023 for a double special broadcast on France Inter.
If this is a major turning point in the show which has seen very few changes in presenters (let us also mention Pierre Bouteiller, predecessor of Jérôme Garcin, and host of the meeting until 1989), this handover is wants the most natural possible, without upheaval. Rebecca Manzoni will be part of the continuity of this show, which leaves a very large place for the public, and this will continue.
The -cult- credits (The Spinner by Mendelssohn) should be slightly modified, for the symbol and the touch of modernity. The real change will be heard on the side of the chroniclers: some of the historical critics will not return, including Eric Neuhoff, or even Frédéric Beigbeder and Olivia de Lamberterie. New critics will arrive on the cinema side, such as Florence Colombani (Le Point), Christophe Bourseiller (France Inter) and Perrine Quennesson (Cinéma Teaser, Le Cercle).
Death of Michel Ciment, film critic and figure of The Mask and the Feather
One thing should not change: critics will continue to attack works, making or breaking the career of a film, a book, a play… And the examples are legion, as the INA website listed them. Santa Claus is trash for example, recently rebroadcast on France 2 and available on Netflix, was denigrated by critics of the time, accused of “bad movie“rehash of a play“, “vulgarity“… Same fate for Le Corniaud with Louis de Funès and Bourvil: “it’s worthless!”, “there is no film”…
What will be the next films praised or denigrated? To discover the very first show orchestrated by Rebecca Manzoni, dedicated to cinema, tune in on January 7, 2024 at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on France Inter. And this Sunday, December 31, it’s time for a special 90-minute show bringing together all of the show’s critics, for a show rich in archives and emotion!
For further :
- The show’s page on the Radio France website
- Rebecca Manzoni’s logbook on La Revue des medias
- The book Our Sunday evenings by Jérôme Garcin, published in 2015, by Grasset