THE ATTEMPT by France to protect Saddam, even at the cost of a crack-up of NATO and the United Nations, has confused many Americans who had long believed that France was an ally. So speculation abounds: Is Chirac on the take? Is it about the oil contracts? Are French munitions going to show up in the wrong piles in Iraqi arsenals?

There may be a less obvious answer. It appears that the French film industry has tanked in so thorough a way as to be beyond rescue. French foreign policy is simply an attempt to divert attention from this deeply embarrassing fact.