New Currents Of European Cinema

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,

In David Cook’s, “A History of Narrative Film," it is said that “the prevailing mode of postwar French cinema was literary adaption, which caused French films to become increasingly verbal and theatrical. It was against this tendency- identified as ‘the tradition of quality’ by Francois Truffaut and the other critics writing in Cashiers du Cinema, that the New Wave reacted in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.”

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.

This essay explores the popularity of Australian film, both locally and internationally and asks the question: Is there a crisis in the Australian Film Industry? This essay will go through the current issues the Australian Film Industry and will demonstrate examples of those problems.

This research paper will cover the topic of the American film industry, globalisation and how globalisation has impacted on the change of the American film industry. I will also continue on to how the American film industry and its producers can integrate successfully internationally.

Au Revoir Les Enfants and La Lengua de la Mariposa: A Closer Look at European Films

Escapism: Theme of the French New Wave Movies The 400 Blows and Breathless French New Wave influenced cinema worldwide. French New Wave filmmakers believed in auteur cinema, and they tried to make films in which social and political issues were explored. French New Wave movies were made with a small budget, natural setting, quick shootings, with a small crew, hand-held cameras, and young actors (Philippe, 2010). The French New Wave movies had some common thematic affinities; many of these movies portrayed that authoritative, romantic, and political relationships are distrustful (Thompson & Bordwell, 2010).

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.

To fully comprehend why and how this cinematic motion took place, it is valuable here to establish the wider social climate of France at the time, and the active forces which heavily shaped New Wave cinema. Between the years of 1945 and 1975, France would undergo “thirty glorious years” of economic growth, urbanization, and a considerable baby boom, all of which came to expand and radically alter the parameters of French culture (Haine 33). Beneath the surface affluence however, France was in a state of deep self-evaluation and consciousness. Following WW11, the

The film showcases the temptation of the self-made man ideology that capitalism creates. As the revolution moves forward, Curtis is forced to make tough moral choices that eventually allow him to come to a realization about nature. He sacrifices his best friend’s life in order to capture the head of security forces Minister Mason who is representative of militaristic police state policies and key for the revolution to move forward. The viewer learns of the moral dilemma Curtis had been placed in when he was forced into cannibalism. Despite maintaining egalitarian moral standards as the foundation of the revolution, Curtis begins to realize the brutality of his own nature as he moves forward with the revolution. Upon meeting Wilford, the inventor of the sacred engine and a portrayal of the savior of mankind to the elite, he is told that he is the only person to have ever travelled the full length of the train. Wilford praises Curtis as an individual hero, a self-made man, and ignores all the help Curtis had along the way to get there. Below the surface however, the viewer sees Curtis as a leader who is ashamed of the savagery that his leadership created despite the intent of the initial cause. Curtis accepts that the only way to end the suffering of humanity is to accept his role as the next tyrant to maintain order and keep humanity alive. The scenario is better understood by Minister Mason’s

​Released in 1988 by director Giuseppe Tomatore, “Cinema Paradiso” follows the life of a young boy in Italy who dreams of being a filmmaker. The road the boy, who eventually becomes a famous Italian film director named Salvatore Di Vita, takes to reach his goal is difficult and includes many sacrifices and trade-offs. Today, the film is widely regarded as one of the most popular foreign films ever to be released in the United States. Given that foreign films are fairly common in America, it is fair to consider why “Cinema Paradiso” received such critical acclaim, as well as relative mainstream popularity. “Cinema Paradiso” received critical and popular praise because the film includes several timeless themes

Bazin’s call-out towards Hollywood cinema sparked the rebellious nature of French cinema. Bazin called for low-budget filming, contemporary relevance and something that was dynamic. His call-to-arms was answered by young, opportunistic film critics and filmmakers like Jean-Luc

The romantic idea of the auteur is described by film theoretician, André Bazin, observing the film form as an idealistic phenomenon. Through the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard reference, Bazin primarily refers to an essential literary and romantic conception of the artist as central. He considers the relationship between film aesthetics and reality more important than the director itself and places cinema above paintings. He described paintings as a similar ethical creation to film stating a director ‘can be valued according to its measurements and the celebrity of the signature, the objective quality of the work itself was formerly held in much higher esteem.’ (Bazin, 1967: 250). Bazin contemplates the historical and social aspects that indeed hinder a director’s retribution to their own personalised film, thus en-companying their own ideological judgement upon the world ‘more so in cinema where the sociological and historical cross-currents are countless.’ (Bazin, 1967: 256)

After World War II during the years 1945 to 1951, there was a surge of films being made in Italy. These films usually had a central story line that revolved around social problems and poverty that the Italians were facing then. Another signature from this film movement was the use of non-actors and scenes being shot on location. This film movement is known as the Italian Neorealism. This essay will further elaborate how World War II, poverty and social problems faced by the Italians gave birth to this film movement.

In this essay I will look at the emergence of Italian neo-realist cinema and how Italian Neo-realism has been defined and classified in the film industry as well as how its distinct cinematic characteristics could only have been conceived in Italy and how these characteristics set the neo-realist style apart from other realist movements and from Hollywood.