Film adaptations can nurture students’ analytical skills, while ensuring respect for the intellectual property of the works studied.
According to a study by the National Book Center (CNL, 2025), 24% of the works awarded between 2001 and 2023 by four major French literary prizes were adapted for cinema or television. The Count of Monte Cristo (Pathé), The Little Prince (Paramount) and The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros) perfectly illustrate this dynamic. If these cinematographic adaptations are entertaining in scope, they are also a continuation of the works that precede them, and can be used for educational purposes. These transpositions can nourish the analytical abilities of students, while guaranteeing respect for the intellectual property of the works studied.
An inseparable historical union
Cinema seizes literary monuments to establish its legitimacy and transpose to the image the emotions and stories provided by words. The CNL study demonstrates this because sales of a book adapted for cinema jump by 67%. Indeed, this artistic transposition does not replace the text but makes it palpable and attracts curiosity, triggering the purchase or borrowing of the book from the library. The novel and the film share a narrative structure, universal themes and constructed characters. In short, they complement each other. While one works on the interiority of the characters through writing, the other translates a story through images, music and interpretation by offering an overall structure of the work.
If literature and cinema have been sailing together for more than a century, it is because they also converge towards a common educational goal that it becomes natural to fully integrate films into contemporary educational practices.
A democratized educational support
Cinema is a new learning lever via two different channels: verbal and image. The association of the latter is more inclusive because the images allow equal opportunities to be taken into consideration. For students with “dys” disorders or for whom French is not their mother tongue, the text can easily be an obstacle to overcome.
Cinema mediates a story whose complexity is erased in favor of the image. Furthermore, just as we analyze a text at school, cinema is studied and embodies an extension of literary interpretation. The image generates empathy and not only breaks taboos on complex subjects, but also sharpens the critical thinking of younger generations. Several cinematographic works can illustrate the same book and thus enrich students’ discernment and trigger debates.
Creation is a fundamental element in French culture and must be used wisely. Making it a learning medium is important, provided that this use respects the work and its author.
Preserve copyright
Beyond being a legal obligation, respecting copyright is a fundamental educational act. What may appear as a “gray area” is, in reality, a very explicit requirement. Indeed, article L122-5 of the Intellectual Property Code only authorizes the use of extracts from cinematographic works in school settings via personal streaming accounts.
For a teacher, supporting his students on the value of art and the confidentiality of their data is essential and he himself must be exemplary. The use of adequate, secure streaming platforms dedicated to screenings makes it possible to overcome legal constraints by respecting the works, their authors and conveying appropriate values.
It is clear that matching the synergy of the film and the book is now a necessity. It is not a question of abandoning paper but rather of opting for complementarity with the aim of learning through different paths. By offering several entry points to the same work, each student has the opportunity to appropriate a common cultural heritage, whatever their abilities. The art of cinema allows us to learn images with the same rigor as texts from a very young age, respecting the authors and acquiring numerous keys to navigate with discernment.
