Paris In The 1950s

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,

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

1960s cinema reflected the tremendous social changes, transitional cultural values, fun, fashion, and rock ‘n’ roll of the

Between the end of the First World War and Hitler's seizure of power a cultural explosion occurred in Paris that altered our notions of art and reality and shaped our way of viewing the world ever since. In the 1920's, Paris became the undisputed international capital of pleasure and was regarded as the cultural and artistic center of Europe with a reputation for staging one of its most glamorous eras, as well as some of the most spectacular revues in the world. Imagine for a moment, that it really is 1920's Paris. You are leisurely strolling through the gas lit promenades. World War I is over and the exuberance of jazz musicians, symbolist painters, and American expatriates

A filmmaker who was concerned with creating a realistic world in his/her films would probably shoot in the following setting

Paris is known for its beautiful attractions, the diversity from entertainment to people. Go there and what is seen is what was just said. Paris was one of the places to be for a variety of reasons depending on what an individual was going through, or what would be going over there at the time. A war had just ended and all of what was wanted was joy, happiness, and the freedom to express an individual and their values. This was the time to talk about things that went on in the past and the changes that were occuring. During the 1920s, Paris was a huge inspirational and forever changing place to be in that created many artists and attractions of its time.

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

French New Wave was a cinematic movement that was active between the late 1950’s and the late 1960’s though the origins go back to german occupied France from the early 1940’s. Following the liberation of 1944, France saw the end of restrictions of media imposed by german occupation and the cinema became more popular than ever, with a stockpile of banned American films starting to flow in and France ramping up film production once again. Despite this by the early 1950’s it became more popular opinion by both critics and audiences that had become, for a lack of a better word, stale, getting bogged down in an endless cycle of “ generic historical reconstructions and uninspired literary adaptations… French Cinema was said to be in desperate need of a new direction ” (Neupert, 17). During this time the film magazine, Cahiers du Cinema, was founded. Some of its young writers, such as

Das Neue Kino cannot be characterized by a single ideology or style because the efforts of the filmmakers of this movement were singular, yet the movement in its own respect expressed a wide sense of dislocation induced by post-war tendencies of German culture to repress its past. The New German Cinema movement derives from the Young German Cinema movement, which attempted to create a new cinema; however, resulted in a failed Germany film that lacked a German audience. It was the combined efforts of the Oberhausen group and the younger filmmakers of the Authors Film Publishing Company that would eventually birth the New German Cinema.

They knew a lot about film theory and history but not a lot about film production. This allowed them to experiment and try new ways to make films. They also began to break traditional rules in filmmaking.”(Tu) At first audiences were confused by this new style, but now many of the innovative conventions of the French New Wave are normal cinematic devices that we all understand today, like the jump-cut, long take, voice over and handheld location shooting. The 400 Blows, is not a film one is going to understand while watching for the first time, that is where the true beauty lies. As Antoine grows up he will be able to understand his life with a reflective mentality, just as we the viewer will understand the film the more we think about it. The goal of the French New Wave was to have cinema become as worthy of academic study as any other art form. “Existentialism was also a major influence on the French New Wave. French New Wave incorporated working on location as opposed to in the studio. Lightweight hand held cameras were used. Available light was preferred to studio-style lighting and available sound was preferred to extensive audio dubbing. Following characters down streets, cafes and shops were done in the French New Wave just as was in this film 400 Blows. Also long takes like when Antoine was

Since the very first actualities from the Lumière brothers and the fantastical shorts of Maries Georges Jean Méliès, cinema has continually fulfilled its fundamental purpose of artistic reflection on societal contexts throughout the evolution of film. Two French cinematic movements, Poetic Realism (1934-1940) and French New Wave (1950-1970), serve as historical bookends to World War II, one of the most traumatic events in world history. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939) is a classic example of French Poetic realism that depicts the disillusionment in society and government politics by a generation already traumatized by the monumental loss of human life during the First World War. Breathless (Jean Luc Godard, 1960), one of Jean

The journey and the development of the cinematic genre now called the ‘French Poetic Realism’, unraveled in a French film sector battling for its place in a post-war world, in competition with the American and German industries. While the sector tried to recuperate from the strike of a chaotic political and social environment, the increasing prevalence of smaller companies provided filmmakers such as Chenal, Vigo, Duvivier and Renoir with the necessary environment to experiment and produce creative works of art. Generally marked by the feeling of nostalgia, the genre debuted by these artists, composed a style of production in which the contemporary life and the society were reviewed and questioned under a prevalent sentiment of disappointment and regret. In this paper we will be outlining the artistic and technical aspects of Renoir’s ‘La Grande Illusion’ in order to tie its distinctive features to the movement while also drawing conclusions on the directors view on the pre-war environment present in Europe.

Annotated Bibliography: How do French, Italian, Japanese, and Indian arthouse-auteurist films affect the development of New Hollywood auteur films.

The tenants of this movement were loose at best and mostly consisted as a tendency that a handful of independent filmmakers used in their films. Their influences came primarily from literature of the time and the fantastic styles of Impressionism and Surrealism. From great literature came the scripts and stories for this movements. Great writers like Emil Zola and Leo Tolstoy had their tales appear on the screens of French theaters.