How French New Wave changed cinema, a video essay.
Influence
and impact of French new wave on contemporary film (rosie)
In the 1950’s French new wave was introduced and still
impacts films today. French new wave went against traditional film making and
the director was now seen as a kind of author to the film, film was a way to
express their feelings and thoughts. Some of the most influential directors are
François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Because the directors were not
established figures yet budget was low and so they had to make use of what they
could, this gave a rawer film than stereotypical Hollywood films. Editing was
also a very big factor as in introduced the heavy use of jump cuts allowing the
director to distort time.
Breaking
the fourth wall was also a massive factor that reminded the viewer that they
were just watching a film bringing the audience back to a sense of reality,
meaning the viewer can better understand the narrative and see the true intentions
of the film and more than just meaningless entertainment.
The new
Hollywood movement (1967-1980) was heavily influenced by French new wave due to
low budget movies which resulted in a similar format to French new wave, and
the low cost would create a powerful sense of realism. French new wave was widespread
until 1990s.
Postmodern
director, Quentin Tarantino, was heavily influence and used a lot of other
people’s ideas combined to make his own unique style.
Reservoir
Dogs in 1992 is a popular crime film of that decade, due to the low he used real
or natural locations making it reminiscent of French New Wave. The story line is
jumbled and non-linear, following the ‘structure’ of a typical French New Wave
film. The conversation sounded unscripted because of the natural flow and
wardrobe felt real because of the low budget.
The influence and impact the French New was has had on contemporary film Oliwia+Seniz
The French new wave has had a massive impact on contemporary films like Birdman and Pulp Fiction. Pulp fiction goes against classical Hollywood narrative structure. Furthermore, Tarantino's work is largely influenced by the French New Wave. He dedicated his first feature reservoir 'dogs' to Jean Luc Goddard, who is one of the main French New Wave founders. He also named his production company, which is a play on words from one of his favourite French New Wave films, 'Bande a part' and this film also inspired the restaurant dance scene in Pulp Fiction. Tarantino and Goddard share a lot of the same styles, themes, techniques and create complex characters that interact with the viewer. Through these similar techniques Tarantino has been able to support the movement in Hollywood as the French Wave has done and break from the typical means from Hollywood and have more of an unique style.
Pulp Fiction is much like a French New Wave film by the use of non linear structure and very complex characters and these characters also were the usual gangster bad guys which we see in Goddard's films. Then looking on the movie has no relative plot and the narrative is still never really understood. Cinematography from the French New Wave style is clearly shown in the 'Pulp Fiction' opening scene as it runs for several minutes with the conversation between a couple looking to rob the restaurant as seen in Breathless (Goddard's most famous work) Goddard liked to use long takes which is a clear resemblance of the French New Wave, this has clearly been adapted by Tarantino as it's seen in every film he has ever directed.
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Influence and impact
the French new wave has had on contemporary film
French New Wave-
Lucie and Eleanor
The way French new wave films challenge the norms in society
serves as inspiration for contemporary films now. An example of this is Breathless. Breathless
was Godards fist feature and his first demonstration of how to turn the raiment
of the Hollywood dream inside out even though breathless still feels
desperately modern and cheaply made ($48,000), It would have been a failure in
Hollywood but a success in Paris in 1960.
It was being experimental because it went against classical
forms of storytelling in terms of narrative and construction and rules dictated
from Hollywood as it felt like watching a documentary due to the camera being
hand held and him speaking directly to the camera (cinema verite).
Additionally, it is clear to see the French new wave
inspiration in breathless as it has a direct mode of address from the
protagonist to the spectator, breaking the 4th wall, which wouldn’t
traditionally happen in a film.
The beginning of the film echoes the end for instance the presence
of a gun, it is shown at the start when he shoots the police and at the end
when he’s having a shootout with the police, this could also show his obsession
with becoming a criminal shown by his binary opposition. The Opening is in
mainstream texts and sets the scene and gives the audience clues to the
narrative. This is done by It introducing the main characters straight away
giving us an insight and what genre is established along with the location. The
diegetic sound for example traffic is loud which makes it unexpected for the
spectator making them feel like it’s not a movie but reality. when the film
first opens it has already started dialog which shows the characters existing
out of the film world (diegesis).
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INFLUENCE AND IMPACT THAT FRENCH NEW WAVE HAS HAD ON CONTEMPORARY FILMS (Emma and Jade)
The French new wave was a movement and a term often used to associate with a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950`s and 1960`s. They used film as a medium to express their thinking, feelings and critic things that happened around them. The influences of French new wave to the film industry are driven by famous directors such as Truffaut. To this day people still use and adopt characteristics of the moment into their films. French new wave was a rising style of film making as it went against the norms of the traditional Hollywood movies and was used to keep the audience interested and create a different response than normal.
One film that has been influenced by the stylistic and storytelling techniques of the French new wave is Pulp Fiction. This has been influenced by them because it has an unstructured narrative as there are multiple storylines going on at once and the editing allows them to travel between the different storylines. This allows for that audience activity and response as they are made to engage with the film and try and think what has already happened before.
Throughout the narrative it uses long takes and jump cuts. An example of this is the drug overdose scene, this scene allows there to be areas where suspense is made in order to engage the audience. This is when there are about ¾ characters trying to save the women from overdosing, the camera cuts to all of their faces and allows for there to be silence as well which leads you to feel the suspense.
This shows that the French new wave still has an impact on contemporary films and has made a huge impact on how films are structured.
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INFLUENCE AND IMPACT THAT
FRENCH NEW WAVE HAS HAD ON CONTEMPORARY FILMS
(JAMES)
The French New Wave was a group of trailblazing directors who exploded
onto the film scene in the late 1950s; revolutionising cinematic conventions by
marrying the rapid cuts of Hollywood with philosophical trends. Lindsay Parnell
explores how this group of young directors reshaped cinema.
With an emphasis on invigorating cinematic narrative, French New Wave
Cinema rejected traditional linear tropes of storytelling and created a new
language of film. Inspired by both depictions of the common, lower class
workers of Italian Neorealism and Hollywood’s beloved ‘Golden Age’, the French
New Wave became a vibrant influence on international cinema which is still
being felt today.
Originating from the artistic philosophy of ‘auteur theory’; a concept that acknowledges film as a product of the director’s absolute imaginative and inspired aesthetic vision, New Wave filmmakers inspired the cult of the director as artistic icon on a par with writers and painters.
The philosophical importance of the French New Wave, and their role in the development of a theory of film, was in large part due to one of the movement’s most influential and pivotal creators, André Bazin. Bazin, a theorist of cinema and renowned film critic, was the founding father of the French movie magazine Cahiers du Cinéma.
Its initial
publication in 1951 marked a crucial moment in the lives of many acclaimed
French screenwriters and directors. In his belief in film as a highly
intellectual art, Bazin was a meticulous academic of film who believed that
cinema was far more than popular entertainment. Bazin’s emphasis on the crucial
role of a director, the artistic creator who implements his or her own
aesthetic and narrative vision to the screen was debated, interrogated and
explored in various articles of Cahiers du Cinéma, specifically in an essay
published in 1954 by François Truffaut titled, A Certain Tendency in French
Cinema.
·
François Truffaut - Truffaut’s
full-length feature debut The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups), released
in 1959 and one of his most stirring films, tells the story of a neglected
Parisian boy who experiences the hardships of life at a very young age.
·
Alain Resnais - Renais
worked with Robbe-Grillet on another masterpiece that combined literature and
cinema: Last
Year in Marienbad (L’Année dernière à Marienbad, 1961).
·
Éric Rohmer - Rohmer’s
films are known for their postmodern illumination of the narrative process.
Rohmer’s early career of film shorts eventually led to his directorial debut
(which earned him a Best Foreign Film Academy Award Nomination) 1969’s My Night at
Maud’s (Ma Nuit Chez Maud)
·
Claude Chabrol - Jacques Rivette was greatly inspired
by his fellow writers and directors in the New Wave movement. Known for films
featuring free flowing narratives, Jacques Rivette is a legend of modern French
cinema.
·
Jacques Rivette -
- Jean-Luc Godard - His full-length feature debut came with 1960’s À Bout de Soufflé (Breathless); a pop-culture inspired narrative told in a truly revolutionary
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Influence of the French new wave
The French new is arguably the most influential film
movement in terms of its effect on modern cinema, The French new wave began in
the 1950s where a group of French artists began to make mostly low budget films
that were full of expression and meaning, and it was these attributes that
started the new wave of bold and adventurous cinema, this type of film boomed
in France, however in the USA was less taken by
it, with USA being used to big budget conventional films however it
would later on use a lot of French new wave techniques and ideology. During the
60s-70s America went through an Old Hollywood faze and Hollywood film budgets
began to drop and cause many Hollywood film use characteristics of French
cinema. However, it is not until the 90s until directors begin to use French
new wave styles, directors such as Quinten Tarantino that has been accused of
copying French cinema he admits that the plot was heavily inspired by the new
wave however also states that he keeps the style his own but combines all good
aspects to create his own unique vision. The effects of the French new wave are
still present today the hand-held camera is present in films aspects such as
telling the story in reverse and no use of special effects. Some say the French
new wave shaped the foundations of modern day cinema that it is not necessary
to have big lights, experienced actors, enormous budgets, flourished of
technique and movie sets. The postmodern filmmaking’s have resurgence the New
Wave ideas and create new blood for the modern cinema.
Pulp Fiction
The film pulp fiction has been influenced by the new wave
using similar story telling techniques such as the use of flash backs and
revealing small parts of information to create a larger story. Like many of the
French new wave Pulp Fiction has comedic elements, however like the French new
wave Pulp Fiction is made to mock the American dream.
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