Sunday, July 28, 2013

What is French New Wave?


Retrieved from http://cargocollective.com/sanamalik/BFI-Cinema-French-New-Wave

The French nouvelle vague or French New Wave (1959 – 1969) is one of the key movements of post-war European cinema. It is widely regarded as one of the most influential movements ever to take place in cinema. The New Wave started with Breathless in 1959 and ended with Weekend in 1969, both directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The effects of the New Wave have been felt since it’s birth as a movement and long after it faded away.

The new wave was spearheaded by a small group of critics who wrote for Cahiers du Cinema, a French film journal. It was an explosion of young vibrant filmmakers, capturing the zeitgeist of times – the Cultural Revolution. It was a motion against the traditional French cinema, which was more literature than cinema. The French new wave gave birth to such ideas as “la politique des auteur,” jump cuts and the unimportance of linear structure, if only to name a few. The influence of French New Wave in cinema can still be seen in films by contemporary directors such as Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci and Quentin Tarantino.

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