1. “I pity the French Cinema because it has no money
“I pity the French Cinema because it has no money. I pity the American Cinema because it has no ideas.” – Jean-Luc Godard, Director

2. The French New Wave La Nouvelle Vague
The term first appeared in an article about the French youth
Pierre Billard, a film journalist, later used the term to describe a rejuvenated cinema

3. The French New Wave explodes on the scene
Difficult to name the first French New Wave film or director
Many of the early French Wave directors were young critics-turned- filmmakers
Pierre Braunberger ran a small production studio, Les Films de la Pleiade – nurtured the scene and financed many short films
The French New Wave filmmakers rejected the period pieces of the then current French cinema – they wanted to address the current social and economic issues
Pierre Braunberger

4. The French New Wave Technique
The filmmakers tried to manipulate the film itself
Often shot on very little budget in a short amount of time
Had long tracking shots
Employed the use of jump cuts
Thematically – the films dealt with existential themes, like the importance of being an individual or the absurdity of human existence
The film was more about style than story
Jean-Luc Godard
The 400 Blows

5. Francois Truffaut
The most commercially successful of the New Wave directors
His first film, The 400 Blows was an autobiographical account of his childhood
The 400 Blows excerpt
Focused on the pains of adolescence of trying to find one’s identity in a world of uncomprehending parents, harsh teachers, and dominating authority figures
Hitchcock Truffaut – book-length interview

6. Francois Truffaut - Technique
Handheld cinematography
On location filming
Sophisticated editorial structures – freeze-frames, optical zooms, and rapid intercutting
Considered a romantic – an optimist
Jules and Jim
Inspired by Truffaut – Music Video

7. Jean-Luc Godard
First feature film, Breathless, was his most commercially successful film
Began his career as a film critic – Cahiers Du Cinema
Believed making films was an extension of critiquing films
Was more interested in redefining film structure and style than whether the public understood the film or not
After Breathless, his films had a political stance
Alphaville clip– a science fiction parable about a world ruled by a giant computer that deprives citizens of freewill and turns them into ideological zombies

8. Alain Resnais – Left Bank Cinema
Part of THE LEFT BANK – a contingent of filmmakers associated with French New Wave, but not so focused on changing the style for style’s sake. Tended to see cinema like other arts.
Used miniature flashbacks to create a nonlinear storytelling style
Hiroshima Mon Amour clip
The film focused on a brief relationship between a Japanese architect and a French actress

9. Other New Wave Directors
Claude Charbrol – known as “the French Hitchcock” – started in the new wave, but later became known for highly commercialized stylized thrillers
The Rupture (The Break-up) clip
Chris Marker – a documentarian – known for La Jetee (The Pier)
Heavily influenced 12 Monkeys
Claude Charbrol
Chris Marker

10. Italian Cinema in the 60’s
The influences of Italian Neorealism still were strong, but a few filmmakers began to move away from Neorealism
L’Avventura (The Adventure) – 1960 – Dir: Michaelangelo Antonioni
Federico Fellini – 8 ½ clip
Spaghetti Westerns – Heavily stylized re- invention of the Western Genre –
Known for extreme camera angles and operatic music
Sergio Leone – A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo film

11. The British
Inspired by the French New Wave, England developed the FREE CINEMA Movement
Developed by Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, and Tony Richardson
A raw mixture of dramatic filmmaking and documentary filmmaking –
“Kitchen Sink Dramas” or Kitchen Sink Realism – protagonists were angry young men
It tried to focus on social realism, depicting the WORKING CLASS living in cramped situations, drinking in dirty pubs, tried to explore social issues, including gay rights, and politics
Look Back in Anger (1959)
Anderson
Karel Reisz
Tony Richardson

12. The British Invasion
Americans were influenced by the British styles and music
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night (1964) Dir. Richard Lester

13. The 1960’s in America
The 1960’s in the United States represented a decade of monumental changes, tragedies, cultural events, assassinations and deaths.
Civil Rights era to end segregation
The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict
The assassination of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Woodstock –
Peace and Love
British Invasion – The Beatles