PARIS — Call it "The Filmmaker Strikes Back."
After critics panned his newest film, French director Claude Lelouch decided to pay for free screenings nationwide so moviegoers could judge for themselves.
About 400 theaters took part in the one-time free showing of "Les Parisiens (The Parisians)," a romantic comedy that follows a quirky cast of characters, from a prostitute to a filmmaker to a real estate agent, in their pursuit of happiness.
Lelouch promised to reimburse theaters for the showings.
"It will be very expensive for me," the director said.
He said on France-Info radio that he made the decision to offer the free screenings "after an unprecedented lynching in the press."
Long lines extended for nearly 75 yards outside two movie theaters near the ornate Paris Opera. One Lelouch fan was shut out; he hadn't heard about the promotion until he showed up to buy a ticket.
"I already loved Lelouch, and now I like him even more," said Paul Tardy, a 21-year-old actor. Lelouch's offer "doesn't surprise me at all."
Moviegoer Boriana Sougareva showed up earlier and made it inside.
"You have to take advantage of opportunities like this," she said.
For years, Lelouch's films have taken a drubbing from reviewers in France, who describe them as sappy, sentimental and bland.
But critics' gripes about the new film — the first installment of a trilogy called "Le Genre Humain (Humankind)"— went too far, Lelouch said.
The film, featuring Mathilde Seigner and Arielle Dombasle, debuted at the Deauville Film Festival on Sept. 3, where Lelouch was president of the jury.
The French daily Liberation said the movie "flopped pathetically," and Le Monde called it "indigestible," though some other reviewers have been a bit more charitable.
"For years and years, critics have regularly attacked my films, and for years and years the public has come to my rescue," Lelouch said.
"If the public likes the film, I'll be the happiest man in the world," he said. "It's the only thing that counts."
His 1966 movie, "Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman)," won the Oscar for best foreign film, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize and the hearts of a generation touched by his tale of star-crossed lovers.