Analysis Of Francois Truffaut 's The 400 Blows ( 1959 ) And Jean Luc Godard 's Breathless ( 1960 )

During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that,

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

In “A Century of Cinema”, Susan Sontag explains how cinema was cherished by those who enjoyed what cinema offered. Cinema was unlike anything else, it was entertainment that had the audience feeling apart of the film. However, as the years went by, the special feeling regarding cinema went away as those who admired cinema wanted to help expand the experience.

Breathless is in many ways the antithesis of the classical Hollywood cinema; the changes have a direct effect on the relationship the film has with the viewer. Classical Hollywood cinema includes standards such as continuity editing, highly motivated, character-driven stories and a coherent narrative structure. Breathless defies these elements of traditional filmmaking, instead defining what we know as French New Wave.

In 1959- early 1960 five directors released debut feature length films that are widely regarded as heralding the start of the French nouvelle vague or French New Wave. Claude Chabrols Le Beau Serge (The Good Serge, 1959) and Les Cousins (The Cousins, 1959) were released, along with Francois Truffauts Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows, 1959), Jean-Luc Godards A bout de souffle (Breathless, 1960) and Alain Resnais Hiroshima mon amour (Hiroshima my love, 1959). These films were the beginning of a revolution in French cinema. In the following years these directors were to follow up their debuts, while other young directors made their first features, in fact between 1959-63 over 170 French directors made their debut

During the nineteenth century, Paris further developed into the entertainment capital of the world. Alistair Horne, the author of the Seven Ages of Paris, vividly illustrates several historical moments that occurred in Paris. Through the horrors and triumphs, Paris was able to endure through it all for ages and still emerge greater than before. In comparison, Vanessa R. Schwartz, the author of Spectacular Realities: Early Mass Culture in Fin-de-siècle, demonstrates how the explosive popularity of the boulevard, the newspapers, wax museums, panoramas, and early cinema led to the creation of a new culture in Paris. Driven by consumerism, a cultural revolution was happening, who’s new culture transcended gender and class divisions. Both authors

Vichy France is a period of French history that has only fairly recently begun to be examined for what it truly is: a period in which many of the French turned against their own state and collaborated with the German forces to betray their own country. Until the eighties, the Vichy Regime was regarded as “an aberration in the evolution of the French Republic” (Munholland, 1994) , repressed by the French in an attempt to regain their national pride. ‘Lacombe Lucien’ (1974), directed by Louis Malle is a film which aims to capture the ambiguity of the era through the documentation of fictional collaborateur, Lucien.

After reading the article, “The Culmination of Classic Hollywood: Casablanca” written by Robert Ray, it examines the film Casablanca and the way it demonstrates how Americans felt during World War II. The main issues that both the article and the film address are the issues of lifestyles, ambitions, and class divisiveness.

“Art imitates life”; thus stories on television screens are accurate representations and reflections of societal attitudes, belief systems, and culture at a given moment in time. In addition to imitating life on screen, film noir tackles rising tensions and controversial issues within society. Traditionally, film noir is "an anti-genre that […] produces a psychological, […] moral disorientation, [and] an inversion of capitalist and puritan values, as if it were pushing [the government] system toward revolutionary destruction”. This specific style of television unapologetically presents latent cultural and social issues that directly oppose pre-established values and central belief systems, leading to unprecedented progression of political

Throughout the beginning of time people have used art to express themselves. With each major, and minor, there is an artist that captures the world as it is around him. There are also artists that create fiction to give the world and escape from reality. The medium of art that will be discussed in this essay will be film. Since the invention of Thomas Jefferson kinecto graph and the Lumiere brothers cinemtograph, films have continued to be the most popular entertainment methods in France and America. Since historical events have somewhat of an impact on the content in film, this essay will take a look at the effects of films years before and after World II. World War II was one of the major historical events to have

The French New Wave was a style of film used during the 1950s through the mid 1960s by French directors such as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. During the French New Wave, directors used an independent style of filmmaking called cinéma-vérité to portray a very realistic outlook on the lives of people who were living in France during the era of the New French Wave. In Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, we see right away in the opening scene a prime example of cinéma-vérité. The opening scene depicts the view of a young, mischievous child Antoine Doinel, looking out of a car window while driving through the beautiful city of Paris, France. We see the elegant buildings along the side streets of Paris while seeing the Eiffel Tower in

This film analysis will delineate the diverse directorial decisions of The French New Wave cinema movement, and how they have been utilised and developed to challenge and subvert the typical Hollywood filmmaking conventions and techniques of the 1950s and 60s Hollywood cinema, in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959). Hollywood produced films of the time used a very limited variation in film techniques such as camera, acting, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. This can be mainly attributed to the low innovative thought of creative and expressive camera movements, angles, etc… due to technological hindrances. In particular, this film analysis will de-construct the filmmaking elements of the revelatory French New Wave movement in Truffaut’s The 400 Blows ending scene (01:34:42 – 01:39:32) portraying the main character Antoine Doinel’s escape from juvie and trek to the bespoken beach.

Both Jeanne Moreau and Alain Delon star persona’s are notable for being embodiments of two distinctly different approaches to France’s burgeoning modernity in a post war context. Though each star 's representation of a new form of French modernity deviate due to their different gendered experiences. Their images of modernity challenged traditional codes and conventions of France’s past and represented different and new ideas of the French individual. These challenges were particularly gendered, through their perpetuation of new ideals and images of gender in French society. In the case of Jeanne Moreau, her star image came to represent a new image of the French woman. Moreau’s image represented an idea of femininity that was a radical

At the turn of the century Paris was one of the capitals of culture and art to the outside world. However, the truth of the matter was that this taboo-ridden society was being run by an aristocracy that was repressing the arts. Naturally, when World War 1 broke out, the suppressed French society finally had a release and a rebellion against order arose. WWI specifically affected the theatre of French and it’s aftermath. From the ashes of war the avant-garde theatre grew and styles such as Dadaism and Surrealism were born. It was both the climate of culture before the war and the devastation of the war that lead to the outbreak of avant-garde theatre in France.

Film Noir as a genre is set in a specific period of time. It is also a genre that is considered to be related to a specific society - that of America from 1940-1958. Film Noir as a genre is a term that French critic Nino Frank coined to describe the new “film movement” emerging from Hollywood in the 1940’s, which appeared to be black and white, crime and detective films. But these two prominent characteristics do not form the genre alone. Stylistic film features such as mood, style and tone are very eminent in Film Noir however it was not always considered as a film genre, but this is what makes the film genre so distinctive. Film Noir was a “new movement” or cycle of films as it consisted of expressionistic lighting techniques such as low