Lecture Five - French New Wave Cinema.

Who were the new wave?

• Group of French filmmakers.
• Jean-Luc Goddard, Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohmer.
• All once film critics, background in film theory.
• All wrote for Cahiers du Cinema.
• They were reacting against the French film of 1940's. They were against films shot in a studio, films that were set in the past, films that were contrived and over-dramatised, films that used trickery and special effects.

The French New Wave (late 1950's - early 1960's)

• Henry Langlois and the Paris Cinemateque.
• Andre Bazin and the realist tradition.
• Cahirs du Cinema.
• From Critics ti Auteurs.
• Against the 'Cinema of Quality.'
• Discovery of American genre films. Celebrated this because of how it reflected contemporary urban life.
• Cinematic, rather than, literary values.
• Importance of personal expression.
• Spontaneity and digression.

The 'Look'

• Shot on location.
• Use lightweight, hand-held cameras, sound and lighting equipment.
• Faster fim stocks, less light.
• Film shot quickly and cheaply.
• Experimentation and improvisation was encouraged.
• Casual, natural look.
• Available light and sound.
• Mise-en-scene: french landscapes, cafes.

Editing Style

• Free style.
• Didn't conform to editing rules.
• Discontinuous, jump cuts.
• The overall goal was to make the audience remember that they are watching a film.

Existenialism

• Philosopher Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
• Stressed the individual.
• Experience of free choice.
• Absence of any rational understanding of universe.
• Sense of absurdity in human life.
• In indifferent world, existentialist seeks to: act authentically, use free will, take responsibility for all their actions, avoid playing out roles pre-ordained by society.