£100,000 bill to show panned film

Les Parisiens was launched at Deauville film festival

French director Claude Lelouch faces a hefty bill after offering free screenings of his latest film when it was panned by newspaper critics.

About 40,000 people across France took up the free tickets to see Les Parisiens - at a cost of £104,000 ($186,000) to Mr Lelouch.

The Oscar-winning director said viewers had loved the film - described by critics as "a pathetic comedy".

He blamed critics who "massacre all popular films" for the harsh reviews.

The viewers were really enthusiastic - standing ovations everywhere Director Claude Lelouch

Mr Lelouch, 66, told French radio station RTL he had decided now was the time to let audiences make up their own minds.

"It's been 40 years that I've let myself be criticised. I've shut my mouth for 40 years," he said.

"What happened in the cinemas was fabulous. The viewers were really enthusiastic - standing ovations everywhere. People loved it."

About 400 cinemas took part in the free showing of the romantic comedy on Friday.

'Abyss of lameness'

Mr Lelouch said paying audiences were not particularly strong on Saturday but figures had improved on Sunday.

Les Parisiens (The Parisians) follows a quirky cast of characters including a prostitute, a filmmaker, an estate agent and a homeless man who calls himself God.

Among the harshest critics of the film was Le Monde newspaper, describing Mr Lelouch as "a cineaste whose hour of glory has gone and who today suffers from being left behind".

Chronic'art, a website dedicated to French cinema and culture, accused Les Parisiens of plumbing "the abyss of lameness".

Mr Lelouch said the second part of his trilogy, Le bonheur, c'est mieux que la vie (Happiness is better than life), might have a limited release only.

The director, who won an Oscar in 1967 for Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman), has made 40 films over a career spanning four decades.