The French New Wave Film Movement Essay Example

the most popular form of entertainment in France. It was not long after the Second World War, and television was yet to impact fully on the society there. Thus, cinema critics such as Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut felt the need for auteur cinema in which the vision of film directors was personal, paramount and required development. Godard, Truffaut, and several others set about shifting the cinema fraternity forever, following in the footsteps of Italian Neo-Realist movement resulting into the new wave.

After the war, liberation brought about an extraordinary craving for self-expression, extensive correspondence, and comprehension. The proliferation of film, unavoidably, turned out to be a part of the debate. Journals, for example, L'Ecran Francais, transformed into a stage for essayists like Andre Bazin to build up their speculations and unleash their enthusiasm for film. Bazin considered a movie to be a work of art, and one that merited accurate analysis. Bazin's interest was in the movie language and favored the discourse of structure over substance. Such a disposition had a tendency to carry him into strife with the overwhelmingly left-wing journalists at the paper, who were more worried about the political point of view of a film.

Film Clubs

Readers of film journals began setting up film clubs all over France. Henri Langlois’ Cinematheque Française was the most famous of the film clubs, and the themes of its films were both eclectic and comprehensive. The movie theater soon became a pilgrimage for dedicated cinema fans. Langlois believed the theater to be a place of learning in addition to watching. He wanted the audience to understand the content of these films. Many prominent figures of the New

Wave first met at the Cinematheque.
Auteur theory.

For the majority of the new wave critics, the auteur concept formed the central theoretical ideology underlying their beautiful views. Andre Bazin presented the argument at the time that a film should represent and reflect the director's personal perception. The phrase “la politique des auteurs was first coined by Truffaut” in one of his articles titled “une certain tendance du cinemae francais”.in his opinion, he expressed the idea that the best directors have a developed individual distinctive style and a consistency of the themes that are represented in their films. This approach represented an individually unique vision that made the director stand out as the author of the movie.

At the time, this was regarded a radical deviation from the norm where producers, screenwriters or Hollywood studios were viewed as the key minds and creators behind the film. These critics utilized this theory as a checklist for the great directors of the time such as Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock. The two directors had in the previous years been viewed as excellent craftsmen but were never considered to be serious artists themselves. The efforts by the young writers to uncover the complexity and quality of work put in by such directors not only changed the perception towards films but also towards cinema itself.

As a result of the radical changes in the perception of films by the masses, the Cahiers du Cinema’s reputation began to grow. The review became an important reading for Hollywood directors such as Joseph Mackiewicz, Fritz Lang, and Nicolas Ray.in fact, each of them has been photographed with a copy of this review in hand.to them, this

was a new experience having individuals discuss their work in-depth. The young enthusiasts impressed them deeply so due to their opinionative and strong and perceptive opinions on the art of film. As the idea of writing cahiers became more widespread, there was an inevitable development of a backlash. Some people considered the reviews to be too extreme. The resentment that resulted from this view led to hatred towards the young critics. A spanning battle between the old French guards and the young radicals arose.

Short Films

The group of young group of writers christened Cahiers du Cinéma did not find contentment in being merely critics. They had an ultimate goal of being filmmakers themselves. During this age in filmmaking, becoming a director had two distinctive routes.one of the infamous method was enduring years of apprenticeship as an assistant director until you were considered worth of making your decisions. However, there was an unorthodox path where one would venture out to experiment with their ideas by borrowing from the government established short film funding scheme.

The latter method often resulted in short films, with the funding obtained from the government. The short film funding scheme was set up by the then government to ensure checks and balances for the quality of movies produced. On the other hand, the scheme provided a means for the production of critically acclaimed documentaries. The documentaries include(Night and Fog, Toute Le Mémoire du Monde, Le Chant du Styrene) by Alain Resnais, (Les Sang des bêtes, Hôtel des Invalides) by George Fraunju, and (Le Monde du Silence) by Pierre Kast.
The young critiques, however, disapproved of the two preset approaches since they believed that people could

bypass the system develop rules and make films that they liked. During the time they worked as writers, they developed contacts. Truffaut worked as an assistant for Roberto Rossellini and Max Ophuls; Chabrol worked as a publicist at the twentieth-century Fox studios while Godard worked as a press agent. On the other hand, Rivet collaborated with Jacques Becker and Jean Renoir.

The young cahiers soon realized that if the wanted to become directors, they would have to specialize on short films using funds they could get their hands on.In 1950, Rohmer preceded the bunch by directing Journal d’un Scélérat. Soon after, the Charlotte et Son Steak followed. Rivet, on the other hand, using a script written by Chabrol directed Coup du Berger .in 1952, a documentary titled Operation Beton directed by Godard hit the cinemas. The film was made using funds he accumulated working as a casual laborer in a dam. The returns from this documentary enabled him to create two other dramas, Tous Les Garcons S’Appellent Patrick, and Une Femme Coquette. With the continued exposure and experience from making their original films, their standard of movies they directed continued to rise.

During the same period, Truffaut had set up his film company, Les Films du Carrosse, with the assistance of his wealthy new father in law, and in the late spring of 1957, short Les Mistons, in light of a story by Maurice Pons. Satisfied with the success of the film, its monetary benefactor recommended he make another. Truffaut started making a short comic drama set against the scenery of the flooding that had been occurring in and around Paris at the time, however, experienced difficulty

finding the right tone and gave over the footage he'd shot to Godard. Godard felt no commitment to take after Truffaut's script be and instead, made a detached story with an off the wall analysis that broke every one of the traditions took after by conventional filmmaking. This film, Une Histoire d'Eau, was the unique, and most New Wave, of all the short movies created at the time.

Other imperative shorts created during the same period and in years that followed, included Le Bel Indifferent (1957), Pourvu Qu'On Ait L'Ivresse (1958), and Blue Jeans (1958). Soon after, these were followed by movies from Maurice Pialet, Jean-Marie Straub, and Du Cote de Robinson.

New Developments

In the late 1950’s, the new wave directors eventually graduated from producing short films. Initially, during the period, making a movie required the backing of a major production studio. However, after the war, the Gaullist government introduced subsidies aimed at supporting homegrown talent. Money for private investments was more available as the investors found filmmaking was a profitable venture. With the technological developments at the time, filmmaking equipment became cheaper and more readily accessible. A production studio to back a production was therefore eliminated from the equation. Low budgetary requirements for filmmaking made it easier to experiment new ideas.

First Wave

Contemporary scholars often cite Et Dieu.Crea La Femme (1956) as the first new wave based film.it was directed by a young 28-year-old director known as Roger Vadim. The star of the movie was a young 22-year-old former dancer and model and his then-wife, Brigitte Bardot. The film aimed to celebrate youth and rebellion, serving as an inspiration to many young upcoming directors.

A considerably all the

more inspiring figure was Jean-Pierre Melville, whose 1956 crime caper Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) was a point of interest in the French thriller genre. Shot in an area in Paris and the director's own particular local studio, its depiction of a doomed gambler, was both grittily realistic and daringly adapted. The New Wave critics immediately realized that Melville was a serious affair: a dissident with a credible cinematic to live vision all his own.

Miles away from Melville's extremely tough hoodlums were the wonderful, haunting movies of Georges Franju. Fellow benefactor of the Cinématheque François, Franju had moved on from a film archivist to movie producer with shorts like Le Sang des Bêtes shot in a Parisian slaughterhouse. His capacity to consolidate the idyllic and the realistic, and to bring out the uncanny in a practical setting, were seen to full impact in La Tête Contre Les Murs (1958), and Les Yeux Sans Visage (1959).

The Break of the Wave

The term New Wave initially appeared in 1957 in an article in L'Express entitled "Report on Today's Youth." The article, by the writer Francoise Giroud, and the book she published and distributed the next year had nothing to do with the film, and however was about the requirement for a change in the public eye. However, the term was localized by writers who utilized it to refer to the young directors making a storm at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, and soon the expression caught on masses on globally.

The film most responsible for conveying the consideration of the world to this new realistic development were Francois Truffaut's Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows) (1959). It

drummed up some excitement at the celebration that year. Its young star, Jean-Pierre Leaud, was heaved out of the screening in triumph and Truffaut won the best director award. Instantly, the world's media were discussing the New Wave. Incidentally, Truffaut had been banned from the celebration the previous year given his uncomplimentary comments about French silver screen in Cahiers. He rose to be the star director and quickly pushed away the individuals who had opposed him.

In Cannes that year, Alain Resnais' Hiroshima was also screened. Mon Amour received the International Critics' Award. Resnais had become well known as a documentary director with Nuit Et Brouillard (Night and Fog) (1955), the main film to concentrate on the Nazi death camps of the Second World War. Like the narrative, his introduction highlight film utilized imaginative utilization of flashback, to light up topics of time and memory and the repulsiveness of war. The film was acclaimed for its originality and turned into a global hit.

Morality, Love and Murder Themes

Francois Truffaut's films La Peau Douce (Soft Skin) and Jules et Jim had the stories of a disastrous love triangle in a current setting. Despite phenomenal performances and convincing stories, the films were not financially successful. Throughout the following years, Truffaut's vocation slacked as he wrote his book about Alfred Hitchcock while attempting to get his film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to take off.

Jacques Demy had his most noteworthy accomplishment with his third film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg -The Umbrellas of Cherbourg in 1964. The film starred a 20-year-old Catherine Deneuve and recounted a shocking story of ordinary life. However, Demy changes the script into a delicate sentiment

in which all the characters sing their lines in a colorfully painted town. The film was a success and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. He also produced the similarly charming Les Demoiselles de Rochefort in 1967.

Louis Malle's wide range of movies in the 1960s such as Vie Privee (A Very Private Affair) and Le Feu Follet (The Fire Within) featured an adequate investigation of an author making an effort not to commit suicide. The universally acclaimed Viva Maria! (1965) Featured Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau in a story of unrest in South America; and Le Voleur (The Thief) (1967), a parody dramatization around a hoodlum gazing Jean-Paul Belmondo. After the disappointing performance of the last film, Malle conceded he was weary of the film industry and went to India in 1969, where he made two uncompromising documentaries about the perverseness he witnessed there.

The 1962 film Boulangere de Monceau (The Bakery Girl of Monceau) by Eric Rohmer was the first of a celebrated praised series of movies produced throughout the following ten years titled Six Moral Tales. Each of the movies investigated the temptations, entanglements, and disappointments confronting concurrent connections. In them, Rohmer built up his artistic style eminent for its prudent camerawork, warmly pleasant tone, and strict devotion to the genuine representation of reality.

More ordinary in his methodology than the other New Wave chiefs, Claude Chabrol's mid-1960's yield neglected to attract equal consideration as his counterparts. Out of venture with the state of mind of the times, for some time, Chabrol seemed to lose heading. At that point, the concept of mental thrillers began starting with Les Biches (1968), and including Le Boucher (The

Butcher) (1969), and La Femme Infidele (The Unfaithful Wife) (1969) which built up his overall reputation.

Jacques Rivette's Paris Nous Appartient in 1960 was a fantastic undertaking and took two years to make. The uneven pace and labyrinthine plot found limited support with film fans. His next film, Le Religieuse (The Nuns) (1966) had a moderately clear storyline. However, his subsequent films such as Out 1, in 1970, L'Amour Fou (Mad Love) in 1968, and Celine et Julie Vont en Bateau in 1974 had a more enduring effect.

A minor dissent in the spring of 1968 by Nanterre University students escalated quickly, prompting major civil turmoil all over France. There was a vicious clash in Paris between student demonstrators and the police on May 10th. Over the next days, discontent with the Gaullist administration spread into the workforce and specialists started joining in the dissent with a progression of strikes and manufacturing plant occupations. At last, the De Gaulle government held firm, and divisions within the liberal opposition made the dissents fade away.
Earlier in the same year, world cinema events set off major riots. It started when Henri Langlois, who had created and sustained the Cinématheque Francaise, lost his job. The loss of job started dissents among film students in Paris who paid for their education through screenings at the Cinematheque, and also New Wave chiefs like Truffaut, Rivette, Godard, and Resnais, who gladly portrayed themselves as the "offspring of the Cinématheque."

Indeed, even the Cannes celebration was drawn into the dissent as Louis Malle, and Roman Polanski surrendered from the celebration jury, and Truffaut and Godard burst into a screening and dangled from the drapes to physically

prevent the celebration from proceeding. World popular film directors such as Hitchcock, Fellini and Kurosawa also supported this protests up until the eventual reinstating of Langlois.

Legacy

A continuing legacy of the French New Wave movement was its inspiration for similar developments in different nations. In America, the "movie brat" era of movie producers that developed in the late 1960's and 70's, was significantly impacted by the narrating systems spearheaded by the Novelle Vague executives. In Europe as well, young filmmakers in Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, among other countries were inspired to move away from the past and tell their particular stories. Further away, in nations like Brazil, Japan, and Canada, relative movements flourished for some time.

In France, the accomplishment of the Nouvelle Vague opened doors for new filmmakers. Most of these new directors made up part of what is viewed as a post-New Wave second wave. They began to like their forerunners, composing for Cahiers du Cinéma, before swinging to filmmaking.

In the 1980's another era of young directors developed in France. Named by the media as the "New Wave", the three essential figures included Jean-Jacques Beineix, Luc Besson, and Leos Carax. They separated themselves from the prior movement, giving hateful speeches on the New Wave in interviews. Their movies, which incorporated the hits Diva, Subway, Betty Blue, The Big Blue, and Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, were condemned for favoring style over substance. Their style of filmmaking got to be known as the 'silver screen du look', and was felt by many fans to offer only smooth visuals and appealing stars.

Conclusion

The tragic demise of Francois Truffaut in 1984 conveyed a conclusion to the vocation of the best

known and best adored of the French New Wave filmmakers. His later work included such highlights as the Oscar-winning Day for Night (1973), the lovely La Chambre Verte (1978), and Le Dernier Metro (1980), an account of the Resistance, which was a basic and film industry triumph in France. Aside from his work, Truffaut himself has turned into a symbol and motivation for energetic, hopeful, youthful directors, resolved to revamp the film industry all over the world.

However, his Nouvelle Vague counterparts still make waves in the twenty-first century. Godard, Rohmer, Chabrol, Rivette, Marker, Varda, Resnais, and others connected with the movement, are all now auteurs in their privilege with a worldwide audience. Their prolific yields keep on testing fans and enhance the limits of expression in cinema. Reviews of their work and new prints of New Wave works of art keep alive a social unrest that delivered a portion of the best movies ever constructed and changed the course of film history