Essay on the French New Wave Film Movement

French New Wave: The French New Wave (or Nouvelle Vague) blossomed for a brief period from 1959 to 1963. The French industry opened its doors to low budgeted productions using cheaper equipment and stock. The Nouvelle Vague took cinema to the streets, instead of to the studio and used natural light instead of studio equipment. Technical developments enabled film-makers to experiment with lightweight equipment. Roy Armes (author and editor) and Monaco are able to explain the Nouvelle Vague in terms of film criticism, looking at French cinema with a critical response. This cinema period could not continue passed 1964, as it was commercially unsuccessful.

bout de souffl film from the movement

Jean-Luc Godard - (1960)

bout de souffl is a film from the French New Wave movement which we can identify when watching the movie. At the start of the movie we see the young Michel Poiccard stealing a family car as he talks to camera, freely expressing his thoughts as he drives around Marseille. As he drives around, the camera moves as if we are in the back seat with Michel. At the start he rubs his thumb across his lips a thinking gesture which we see repeat many times during the movie (another French New Wave aspect repetition). The camera is in the car with him, but there are also 2 other cameras strapped to the car. The cameras capture a sense of rush and haste and now the viewer starts to understand the title Breathless. As the film progresses, we start to feel like we are in the movie and not actually watching it. When Michel addresses the audience it is like hes watching us the roles are reversed; we are now the movie. French New Wave movies, such as this movie, grabbed the viewers attention and astounded them when the characters did abnormal things like talk to the camera. Michel shoots a policeman, so now not only is he a thief, but a murderer also. This portrayal of France and how people kill easily is not something a French audience would want to see. This is the harsh reality the French New Wave is showing. Michels dream is to take Patricia (the girl he is in love with) to Italy and stay there as an immigrant. This is another aspect of the 30s gangster film portrayal as we have seen at the start of the movie when Michel robs the car. In the Art Cinema section of The Cinema Book, Cook (2007, p. 84) outlines that Godard experimented with editing and cinematography to expose the nature of film reality. There is use of real locations in this movie; we see typical Paris attractions and Marseilles countryside. We also see the famous cafe in Paris - La Peau Douce, which is also seen in another French New Wave movie The Soft Skin directed by Franois Truffaut. In The Cinema Book, Cook (2007, p. 204) says there were self-conscious references to Hollywood to provide effective competition for the American films that threatened French cinema screens, this was understandable since the girlfriend was American and there is continuous reference to New York. The American gangster is portrayed when Michel steals money and kills a man. The police are rough and threatening to the viewer just like they usually are in American films. Godard scripted and directed the film and wanted the film to be seen as a tribute to Hollywood, as the French hero in it is destroyed by his obsession with all the American things. bout de souffl has a documentary-style and is set in real life locations. The low-budget lighting, use of natural sound and fast-moving hand-held camera are all played up against the

Hollywood studio image. There are also cultural references and film in-jokes in this movie, as the film director and other production cast members appeared in the movie even Godard appeared as an informer. bout de souffl is an excellent example of a typical French New Wave film. The audience are completely drawn to the two characters and are trying to figure them out as the story goes on. Patricia is Michels mirror-image girlfriend who acts similar to him. Godard shows us the similarities between the two when they continuously look into each others eyes. Although they are both similar, Patricia is much more articulate and more verbal than Michel. The way the two characters treat each other is not what most audiences like to see. Patricia is completely independent and doesnt need Michel all the time. It seems the other way around with Michel. He wants her every attention, even though he claims to be independent himself. We wonder whether or not Patricia ever loved Michel, when we see at the end she turns him in. The lack of response from Michel to Patricia when she confessed her true feelings for him made her confused and therefore called the police. Godard portrays the effect movies have on the two characters. For e.g. the movie-like dialogue when Patricia says I dont know if Im unhappy because Im not free or if Im not free because Im unhappy. Many of the things the characters say seem to have more meaning to them, and I think Godard wanted the audience to look into the dialogue further. I want to know whats behind that mask of yours, when Michel dies from being shot at the end Patricia adopts Michels lip-rubbing gesture. I think Patricia wants to know whats behind her mask also. The fact that his last words were Youre a real scumbag would have been another shock to the audience since men in films usually treated woman with a bit more respect. Cook (2007, p. 204) says French new wave films made explicit reference to other international film movements. In a movie called Camus the Outsider the character Maursault is oddly similar to Michel in bout de souffl. Maursault doesnt regret his actions and the movie ends with a similar tragedy to that in Breathless. Another strange technique that Godard uses a lot is the jump cut. We see when Michel visits the woman in her apartment, when Michel and Patricia are in the car together driving to the press conference and when Patricia meets the guy in the caf there is even more jump cuts. At the time Breathless attracted attention for its bold style and the innovative editing use of jump cuts. Godard was told that the movie was too long, so therefore instead of using the really long takes, the parts that didnt work, were simply cut from the middle of the take. This was a good decision as it made the film seem speedier and it also looked stylistic at the time too. Not only were jump cuts a strange technique, but the French New Wave also brought about character asides where the characters spoke to the audience. It usually consisted of a brief comment, or a few sentences rather than a speech. For e.g. when Michel speaks to the audience directly he says this short sentence If you dont like the seaif you dont like the mountainsif you dont like the citythen get stuffed! basically telling the audience that he doesnt care what they think about the things he admires. Another technique I noticed in this movie was the eyeline match technique a rule in continuity editing. For e.g. when the policemen are looking for Michel, Michel is reading his newspaper and spots them by looking above the newspaper. The audience sees that they are following Patricia and then the next shot is Michel looking over the newspaper with his glasses on, following their every move. Techniques like these brought international acclaim to the Nouvelle Vague.

Breathless was hailed as a revolutionary outcome of the French New Wave. Jean-Luc Godard altered everyones perception of what a film should look like no matter how many rules it broke.

Before Sunrise film influenced by the movement

Richard Linklater - (1995)

Before Sunrise is a romantic drama film, based on a meeting between a young American man Jesse and Cline - a young French woman. The French New Wave influences this film and is evident when we see similar shots between this movie and bout de souffl. You know it is a low-budgeted film as the two spend the whole movie walking and talking and not much fancy effects or edits are needed. It doesnt reflect typical fancy choreography or show any violence or melodrama. It is simply two people meeting in Vienna without any complications involved. Before Sunrise is very similar to a real life situation and is very realistic when it comes to the conversations the two have. Linklaters dialogue is oddly amusing and interesting. In the movie bout de souffl, the dialogue is quite mysterious and sometimes hard to understand. An amusing idea in the dialogue in Before Sunrise is when Jesse suggests the thought of Celine being with her boring husband in the future and thinking back to when she met him in Vienna. In The Cinema Book (Cook, 2007, p. 201) suggests that the French silent cinema charted from the pre-cinematic origins to the mature avant-garde of the 1920s within an international context as a viewer who has not visited Vienna, I see how beautiful the city is by looking at the shots. I notice how Viennas culture is portrayed also such as the storyteller trying to earn money, the poet writing a poem for them, the gypsy dancing along to the drum and the two eating dinner on the Danube. This is all very realistic. These are not the usual things we experience, but to portray this as real as possible, draws the viewer in even more. Cook (2007, p. 204) conveys that it may be argued that the geographical locations of the Nouvelle Vague films correspond to a tourist view I do think that the movie shows a lot of attractions that tourists would obviously be interested in. Aside from this, the focus is on the two main characters and we are more attracted to their personalities than the attractions themselves. There is a small aspect of French silent cinema in Before Sunrise; we see this when the two are in the booth of the music store. It is a romantic scene where the two look at each other with hidden smirks and dont say anything to each other. This makes the audience blush, as the characters are themselves, a little embarrassed too. The Ferris wheel scene was shot and set up in a real life wheel in a funfair. As the camera pans a shot of Vienna, Celine points out to Jesse the Danube. As they admire the sunset and the lovely view Jesse suggests they kiss, Linklater portrays the reality of two people in a Ferris wheel. The city is presented to the viewer as a series of meetings but not as a travelogue even though we gain a lot of information about the city. To the viewer thinking about this, we wonder how they set it all up successfully without the camera looking shaky. Again this movie makes the viewer think about how realistic it all is, as if were standing right beside the characters in the movie. I like how Linklater shows us at the start of the movie that it is daytime and as we progress it gradually gets darker as if it was all set in one day. In the book, a section of the Nouvelle Vague, Cook (2007, p. 203) mentions that it constituted an attempt to make salable films cheaply through reduced shooting schedules, the use of natural locations, day and night shooting out in the streets and the employment of small units This description of the Nouvelle Vague can relate to Before Sunrise entirely. This

movie has a realistic script and is set in a real location with the use of real light. We see the start of the day when they are on a train in the daylight to the very end when the two drink wine in the park and talk about making love. This type of a cinema was direct and shot with a handheld camera but we can evidently see where the camera is on a tripod when it pans. With the 21st century Nouvelle Vague, Cook (2007, p. 204) says American films overtake French films at the domestic box office. This is a true statement since Before Sunrise is completely youth-orientated and very down to earth so therefore would be more popular than a French movie like bout de souffl. bout de souffl was a typical French New Wave film set in the area of France, whereas in Before Sunrise it is set in Vienna and we see an American man and a French woman in a different setting to bout de souffl. I like the fact that the story was inspired by a real event that happened to the director. As well as real location we now have a real story that many can relate to. As the movie ends the viewer feels like they are continuing the journey with them. They depart at the Wien Westbahnhof train station where a real train is about to leave. The sense of the real noises coming from the train tells the viewer that this is not set in a studio. The movie leaves the audience to decide whether or not Jesse and Cline will actually meet again in six months. After I watched bout de souffl I also questioned the characters personalities. I think Linklater and Godard did an excellent job in keeping the viewer interested. Before Sunrise creates two extremely vivid characters and one of cinemas more believable romances. Not only does Linklater create a portrait of a unique couple but he also creates a sense of hope for viewers wanting to experience a moment like this.
Bibliography:

Cook, P. (Ed). (2007) The Cinema Book. London: the British Film Institution

Filmography:

bout de souffl. (1960) Jean-Luc Godard [Video]. USA: Films Around the World Inc. Before Sunrise. (1995) Richard Linklater [DVD]. US: Columbia Pictures (Theatrical), Warner Bros. Pictures (Current).