Exploring the French New Wave

 

The French New Wave is truly one of the seminal and greatest movements in cinema history. It has paved the way for many directors and filmmakers of all kinds like cinematographers, costume designers, editors, etc... etc. In addition, the French New Wave has created and instigated some of the greatest movies of all time thus establishing itself as a truly significant and ubiquitously iconic movement in cinema of all time. There are a lot of great film movements out there and the French New Wave will always be one of the best ones for real.

The French New Wave began as a critical magazine called Cahiers du Cinema, which consisted of future filmmakers like Francois Truffaut, Jean Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette and Claude Chabrol. Andre Bazin was co-founder of Cahiers du Cinema and provided a sense of influence for the New Wave movement. Also, more future filmmakers of the wave like Agnes Varda, Jacques Demy, Chris Marker and Alian Resnais came from the associated Left Bank film community. Cahiers du Cinema was influenced by the 1948 manifesto by Alexander Astruc called "The Birth of a New-Avant Grade: The Camera Stylo." The manifesto inspired the French New Wave to where it had the same ethics of expressing abstract thoughts and ideas along with translating obsessions just like in essay and literary form that will later be adopted by the French New Wave. The critics were so tired of the conventional filmmaking standards of France that they ended up leaving their jobs as critics thus starting the New Wave as filmmakers. The Right Bank side of the French New Wave like Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol among others were more film crazed and younger while the Left Bank side like Varda, Demy and Marker were not film-crazed and they were older too. The Right Bank believed that Cinema was an artform unto itself but the Left Bank in contrast believed that Cinema can be comparable to other forms of storytelling including literature. However, the two groups never had malice and animosity with one another only for Cahiers du Cinema to advocate for the Left Bank in a supporting way.

The French New Wave was characterized and attributed by unconventional filmmaking styles and traits like experimentation along with personal expression thus eschewing traditional filmmaking standards in the process. Other traits include avant-garde techniques along with existential themes that truthfully deal with individuals and the chaos of human nature. In addition, there was irony and sarcasm along with paying homage to cinema of all kinds including American and Foreign cinema. A lot of French New Wave Films took place in actual locations as way to be more realistic about life in France as opposed to filming in soundstages and backlots which were normal to film in Hollywood. The influences of the New Wave include Alfred Hitchcock, Humphrey Bogart, Italian Neorealism among others too. The filmmaking equipment that was used were handheld cameras in order to create a documentary like atmosphere for verisimilitude and authenticity and there was also discontinuous editing along with long takes that made actors explore scenes. By the way, endings were not always happy, characters and motives were ambiguous, and the addition of subjectivity and realism made the New Wave films feel like real life on screen for the sake of eliciting empathy from the audience. The lack of a huge budget added to the believability thus becoming groundbreaking in filmmaking. Francois Truffaut claimed that the 1953 film Little Fugitive by Ruth Orkin, Ray Ashley and Morris Engel was a huge influence on the French New Wave due to its independent feeling in the process.

The French New Wave films like Francois Truffaut's the 400 Blows (1959), Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), Jean Luc Godard's Breathless (1960) among others were films that were made as ways to come against conventional filmmaking in France at the time. These films were seen as documentary like to where it felt like viewers were watching life itself on screen and the actors that were cast were non-professional ones who ended up making their characters real on screen only adding to the verisimilitude of the New Wave. The films are considered some of the best films ever made and their impact still reigns supreme on films today after all these years to this day. 

The French New Wave has influenced other movements in film history. The influence on other movements ranges from the New Hollywood of the 60s-70s, the Free Cinema Movement from Britain among others. Individual directors like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, John Cassavetes, and Francis Ford Coppola have acknowledged the influence of the French New Wave on their films in terms of artistic and production style. Francois Truffaut told actor and producer Warren Beatty to read the script for Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde only to make the film in the process thus ushering in the New Hollywood Era. If it was not for the French New Wave, then filmmaking would not exist today considering that there are still some directors who still maintain the sense of believability and genuineness that was a huge part of the French New Wave only for the movement to be referenced by other movements and filmmakers in today's age of filmmaking. 

My knowledge of the French New Wave has grown so much ever since I started to watch and study it. I say that because I want to make sure that I enrich and expand my pallet as a way to cover all types of cinema and movements from around the world for the sake of growing as a cinephile in the process. Studying the French New Wave has made me realize that cinema is a global medium that needs to be explored in a well-rounded and consistent manner rather than being limited in a bias and unrealistic manner. What I mean is that a real cinephile accepts the fact that cinema should be covered in any angle while still consistently searching for greatness. I challenge cinephiles to actually study and understand the French New Wave considering that the New Wave will make them realize that great films are not just in America but around the world as well since expanding and enriching the pallet of storytelling will bring rewards and increased knowledge for those who really want to be real cinephiles who love film and have knowledge and literacy of it as well. I recommend cinephiles to always watch and study the French New Wave for the sake of connecting the dots of cinema to know that a lot of the films that they are currently watching have originated from the French New Wave so that their knowledge will increase for the better as they have fun and explore the beauty of cinema. God bless.