Filmstudion

During the 1950s and 1960s, a cinematic revolution took place in Franceone that still attracts directors and viewers to this day. This movement was known as the La Nouvelle Vague, or the French New Wave: a loosely-linked group of filmmakers who, while never actually organizing together, embraced similar ideals of experimental editing, sociopolitical commentary, and rejection of classical forms of style and narrative.Many directors who are now recognized as leaders in the movement began as film critics at the same magazine, Cahiers du cinema, founded in 1951. These critics included Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette. Chabrol’s Le Beau Serge (1958), about a man who returns to his childhood home and finds his friend miserable after the death of his child, is usually considered the first film of the New Wave.The films were tied together by a rejection of traditional film values. This manifested itself in the form of innovative camerawork, such as long tracking shots and jump cuts; existential themes, focusing on the individual; and a sense of immediacy, including improvised dialogue and rapid scene shifts. New Wave films also took every opportunity to remind their viewers that they are in fact watching a film, adding a metafictional element to the proceedings.The best way to understand the New Wave is simply to watch the films. The following are some of the movement’s best examples:Les bonnes femmes (1960)Claude ChabrolA bout de souffl (Breathless) (1959)Jean-Luc GodardParis nous appartient (Paris Belongs to Us) (1960)Jacques RivetteLes quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) (1959)Francois TruffautContes moraux (Six Moral Tales) (1963-1972)Eric RohmerLa Pointe Courte (1955)Agnes VardaHiroshima mon amour (1959)Alain ResnaisLa jetee (The Jetty) (1962)Chris Marker