Wednesday 7 December 2011

Lecture 5- Film and Theory 2

French New Wave of the 1940's and 50's


The french new wave (La Nouvelle Vague) was the name for a group of french film makers from the 1950's and 1960's. The french new wave was influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Jean-Luc Goddard, Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer were the names of the film makers in the group they all had once been film critiques and so had a strong background in film


La Pointe Courte (1954) by Agnes Varda was one of the first of the New wave Films.


New Wave is an example of European art cinema. Despite never being a formal organisation they were a perfect example of rejecting classical cinema form.


- The french new wave- Goddard and Francois Truffaut.( who changed cinema forever by using a lightweight camera in real life situations such as the streets of Paris rather than an artificial set like a studio)
Italy in the 1960s- Federico Fellini, Michaelangelo Antonioni, Pier Paolo, Pasolini.
- Other countries- Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), Luis Buñuel (Spain)



French New Wave: Existentialism 
Philosopher Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980
  • - Shot on location
  • - Used lightweight, hand-held camera's
  • - Lightweight sound and lighting equipment
  • - Faster film stocks, less light
  • - Films shot quickly and cheaply
  • - Encouraged: experimentation, improvisation
  • - Casual, natural look
  • - Available lightweight
  • - Available sound
  • - Mise-en-scene: French landscape, Cafes


Cinema Du Papa


The bad reaction of french films of the 1940's this was particularly against films which were set in a studio and were not set in open environments, as well as films that were set in the 
past, overdramatised films and films which used any type of effects.


More New wave films that were produced 1959, Francois Truffaut - The 400 Blows, Alain Resnais - Hiroshima Mon Amour, 1960, Jean-Luc Goddard - Breathless, Francois Truffaut - Shoot the Piano Player, 1961, Jacques Rivette - Paris nous appartient, Jean-Luc Goddard - A woman is a woman, Alain Resnais - Last year at marienbad, 1962, Francois Truffaut - Jules and Jim, Agnes Varda - Cleo from 5 to 7, Jean-Luc Goddard - My life to live

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