What even is a "French New Wave" Film? Such a daunting and formal title for such a relaxed and easy going genre of film. Sometimes called "Le Nouvelle Vague", French New Wave Films emerged in the late 1950s through the 1970s as a movement headed by many young, ambitious directors. These young directors came from the critic group "Cahiers Du Cinéma", and started funding and developing their own films. The movement began in Paris and spread across the European Continent. Some critics turned directors were Jon-Luc Godard who directed "Breathless", and François Truffaut who filmed and directed "Jules and Jim".
Okay, so cool we now know the background of this movement, but what made it so unique? Well good question, because there is a lot that made these New Films almost scandalous and improper compared to the original French Cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism and Hollywood classics, these films followed the "Auteur Theory"; which was a theory of film making in which the director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture. The director would oversee all visual, and audio aspects of the film and convey his message through the actual images and sounds rather than the plot line. This fresh brilliance of technique overshadowed the trivial subject matter of the screen play. This is a major generalization, but I have found that most of these French New Wave Films contain existentialist themes brimming with sarcastic and ironic dialogue. The directors further deepen this theme with "Jump Cuts" to create a disconnected and choppy effect. Existentialism is the belief that the world is an irrational place and no matter what a person may do the universe will take control and choose their fate for them. Thus, with these "Jump Cuts" the director created a horizontal image with breaks and gaps which directly relates to an existential way of life (jumpy, hard to follow sometimes, and no control). Other techniques that were new on the film scene were: Long takes, Natural lighting, Direct sound recordings, Improvised dialogue and plotting, and Shooting on location. Most of these "new techniques" were not in fact by choice. With cheap budgets the New Wave directors could not afford high dollar equipment, or hundreds of actors and extras. Watching these films did not seem like a project to me, it was actually fun (as cliched as that sounds). Click on the next couple of pages and read my reactions to some of the greatest French New Wave Films!!
Okay, so cool we now know the background of this movement, but what made it so unique? Well good question, because there is a lot that made these New Films almost scandalous and improper compared to the original French Cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism and Hollywood classics, these films followed the "Auteur Theory"; which was a theory of film making in which the director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture. The director would oversee all visual, and audio aspects of the film and convey his message through the actual images and sounds rather than the plot line. This fresh brilliance of technique overshadowed the trivial subject matter of the screen play. This is a major generalization, but I have found that most of these French New Wave Films contain existentialist themes brimming with sarcastic and ironic dialogue. The directors further deepen this theme with "Jump Cuts" to create a disconnected and choppy effect. Existentialism is the belief that the world is an irrational place and no matter what a person may do the universe will take control and choose their fate for them. Thus, with these "Jump Cuts" the director created a horizontal image with breaks and gaps which directly relates to an existential way of life (jumpy, hard to follow sometimes, and no control). Other techniques that were new on the film scene were: Long takes, Natural lighting, Direct sound recordings, Improvised dialogue and plotting, and Shooting on location. Most of these "new techniques" were not in fact by choice. With cheap budgets the New Wave directors could not afford high dollar equipment, or hundreds of actors and extras. Watching these films did not seem like a project to me, it was actually fun (as cliched as that sounds). Click on the next couple of pages and read my reactions to some of the greatest French New Wave Films!!