Research project POSTER
THE FRECH NEW WAVE
Who was integral in the French New Wave cinema movement?
François Truffaut,Jean-Luc Goddard , Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol and Jacques Rivette
Which publication was essential in the expression of their ideas?
Cahiers du cinema à Influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by Andre Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca
It concentrated on film criticism and theory and it was where the founders of the wave published their thoughts and revolutionary ideas as well as the auteur theory.
A certain trend of French cinema à is an article written by Truffaut in which he attacked the state of the current state of French films. His article resulted in a storm of controversy
What was the movement a reaction against?
Classical cinematic form and French cinema of quality, high minded literary period films
Rebellion against the reliance on past forms criticizing especially how these films could force the audience to submit a dictatorial plot line
Standard Hollywood films bound by traditional narrative flow were criticized
What were the most important inspirations for the New Wave?
Italian neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema
They praised movies by Jean Renoir and Jean Vigo and Hollywood
They studied the works of western classics and applied new avant garde stylistic direction. Their films were very low-budget and for them was a more comfortable and honest form of producing art.
The movies featured existential themes, like stressing the individual and an acceptance of the absurdity of human existence
Which were some of the most important films produced by the New Wave movement in the 1950s and 1960s?
A bout de souffle – Jean Luc Goddard 1960
Alphaville – Jean Luc Goddard 1965
Les Quatre Cents Coups – François Truffaut 1959
Jules et Jim – François Truffaut 1962
Hiroshima Mon Amour – Alain Resnais 1959
Pierrot le Fou – Jean Luc Godard 1965
What new film techniques did the French New Wave introduce?
Heavy use of jump cuts (increase the pace of the film)
Use of lightweight cameras (save money)
Mobile cameras (save money)
Film outdoors instead of in studios (save money)
Use of direct sound instead of redubbed later (save money)
Rapid editing
Simple plots instead of depth and difficult plots
How important would you say the legacy of the French New Wave was both in the short and long term?
Short term: the new wave movement influenced American cinema with heavily edited similarities like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) from Arthur Penn and it inspired a new generation of film makers referred to as New Hollywood, such as Altman, Scorsese, Coppola of the late 1960 and 1970
Long term: Many contemporary film makers claim to have been influenced by the French New Wave such as Quentin Tarantino who dedicated his film Reservoir Dogs to Jean Luc Goddard
They created the ‘auteur theory’ which says that the director is the author of the movie and is given the same credit as an artist is for their piece of work. This has made a great influence on the film making industry as films, after that were truly considered as works of art.
