Introduction
This blog's focus will be mainly discussing on French New Wave. According to Parnell (2016), the French New Wave, which is also known as French Nouvelle Vague, was directors who exploded onto the film scene in the late 1950s. It rejected the traditional manner of storytelling and constructed new form of language for film (para.1). It was originated by some leading film producers such as Jean-Luc Godard who wanted to change the French cinema style that was similar to the literature. Before this, film producers only expressed the same ideas that were depicted in novels and paintings (Indie Film Hustle, 2016, para.6). In short, French New Wave put less emphasis on plot and preferring visual aesthetics and mise-en-scene.
Theory Discussion
French New Wave is independent in its economic. Therefore, the film uses low budget in its production. Besides, from the aesthetic perspective, the directors of French New Wave reject the film traditions which emphasize on plots. Since there is least emphasis on plot, the casts improvised the dialogue and plot themselves. In addition, location shooting is used instead of using set studio. Jump cuts could be very much seen from the film. According to Nichols (2010), a jump cut is a mismatch where the shift from one shot to another shot fails to maintain smooth continuity in space or time. In addition, direct sound and ambient light is used in the framing. Long takes which last for more than a minute are used instead of applying continuity by editing different shots together. Lastly, the anti-authoritarian protagonist is the core trait for the this film type.
Synopsis
Michel Poiccard was an irresponsible sociopath and small thief who stole a car and murdered the motorcycle policeman who chased after him. He went to Paris to collect some money, including stealing, in order to leave the country. Then he met with Patricia Fanchini by the street. He seduced her for several attempts then they became partner in love. However, Patricia was always curious about her feeling towards Michel. Michel always persuaded Patricia to leave the country to Rome once he collected the sufficient amount of money. Once Patricia discovered that Michel was under arrest, he betrayed Michel by telling him off to the police. Michel was shot when he tried to escape, and he died breathlessly on the street.
French New Wave is independent in its economic. Therefore, the film uses low budget in its production. Besides, from the aesthetic perspective, the directors of French New Wave reject the film traditions which emphasize on plots. Since there is least emphasis on plot, the casts improvised the dialogue and plot themselves. In addition, location shooting is used instead of using set studio. Jump cuts could be very much seen from the film. According to Nichols (2010), a jump cut is a mismatch where the shift from one shot to another shot fails to maintain smooth continuity in space or time. In addition, direct sound and ambient light is used in the framing. Long takes which last for more than a minute are used instead of applying continuity by editing different shots together. Lastly, the anti-authoritarian protagonist is the core trait for the this film type.
Synopsis
Michel Poiccard was an irresponsible sociopath and small thief who stole a car and murdered the motorcycle policeman who chased after him. He went to Paris to collect some money, including stealing, in order to leave the country. Then he met with Patricia Fanchini by the street. He seduced her for several attempts then they became partner in love. However, Patricia was always curious about her feeling towards Michel. Michel always persuaded Patricia to leave the country to Rome once he collected the sufficient amount of money. Once Patricia discovered that Michel was under arrest, he betrayed Michel by telling him off to the police. Michel was shot when he tried to escape, and he died breathlessly on the street.
Analysis
After World War II, France undergone economic crisis. Investment for filmmaking was very low.
Therefore, many films were produced in low budget. French New Wave directors borrowed friends' apartment for shooting, and used his or her own friends as the cast and crew. For instance, in Breathless (1959), the protagonist, Michel, talked to his girlfriend, Patricia, in the apartment and the room of himself in Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 (Characteristics of French New Wave Films, 2012, para.3).
French New Wave put more emphasis on the casts' spontaneous acts instead of the script and plot. This trait broke the tradition theory for a film. For example, at the beginning of the film, Michel had stolen a car at the city. As he was driving by the rural area, he simply self-mumbled to himself. This scene was believe not to be in the script. "If you don't like the shore, if you don't like the mountains, if you don't like the city, then get stuffed!" and "Little girl hitchhiking! I'll charge a kiss per mile" are the examples of him self-mumbling. The other example would be when Michel and Patricia were in the hotel room. They spontaneously talked to each other and added some non-plot-related dialogues such as "O la la! Just like a man", "I'll count to 8, if by 8 you haven't smile, I will strangle you" and etc.
In addition, location shooting and ambience sound as well as light were applied in the film. According to Characteristics of French New Wave Films (2012), the directors of French New Wave films admired Neorealists, hence they decided to shoot on location. Natural and available light was used so the whole scene looked natural and casual. Furthermore, French New Wave directors recorded the sound during the shooting and did not do any correction. These traits could be observed from the same scene mentioned above. While Michel was driving, no additional lighting or edited sound was used in the film. The location was not set up and audience could see roadwork happening by the roadside (para.2).
Furthermore, there were many jump cuts observed in Breathless (1959). Jump cuts constantly reminds the audiences that they are watching a film. This is complemented by the actor's monologue in the scene. For instance, jump cuts could be seen when Michel was driving his stolen car. When Michel was holding the gun, the next scene cut to the trees and gunshots were heard. Also, Michel's monologue in the car and his stare to the camera reminded the audiences they are watching a film, instead of engaging them into the plot.
Long takes for more than a few minutes were applied in the film. It was complemented with handheld camera which showed shaky and unstable feeling. For example, when Patricia was selling newspaper at the city, Michel approached her and started sweet-talking to her. They went to and fro in the scene and the long take continued for a few minutes. The other long take could be seen when Michel was running from the policemen towards the end of the film. He was then shot by the police and ran breathlessly to his death. This particular scene established a feeling of how he suffered escaping until his death.
After World War II, France undergone economic crisis. Investment for filmmaking was very low.
Therefore, many films were produced in low budget. French New Wave directors borrowed friends' apartment for shooting, and used his or her own friends as the cast and crew. For instance, in Breathless (1959), the protagonist, Michel, talked to his girlfriend, Patricia, in the apartment and the room of himself in Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 (Characteristics of French New Wave Films, 2012, para.3).
French New Wave put more emphasis on the casts' spontaneous acts instead of the script and plot. This trait broke the tradition theory for a film. For example, at the beginning of the film, Michel had stolen a car at the city. As he was driving by the rural area, he simply self-mumbled to himself. This scene was believe not to be in the script. "If you don't like the shore, if you don't like the mountains, if you don't like the city, then get stuffed!" and "Little girl hitchhiking! I'll charge a kiss per mile" are the examples of him self-mumbling. The other example would be when Michel and Patricia were in the hotel room. They spontaneously talked to each other and added some non-plot-related dialogues such as "O la la! Just like a man", "I'll count to 8, if by 8 you haven't smile, I will strangle you" and etc.
In addition, location shooting and ambience sound as well as light were applied in the film. According to Characteristics of French New Wave Films (2012), the directors of French New Wave films admired Neorealists, hence they decided to shoot on location. Natural and available light was used so the whole scene looked natural and casual. Furthermore, French New Wave directors recorded the sound during the shooting and did not do any correction. These traits could be observed from the same scene mentioned above. While Michel was driving, no additional lighting or edited sound was used in the film. The location was not set up and audience could see roadwork happening by the roadside (para.2).
Furthermore, there were many jump cuts observed in Breathless (1959). Jump cuts constantly reminds the audiences that they are watching a film. This is complemented by the actor's monologue in the scene. For instance, jump cuts could be seen when Michel was driving his stolen car. When Michel was holding the gun, the next scene cut to the trees and gunshots were heard. Also, Michel's monologue in the car and his stare to the camera reminded the audiences they are watching a film, instead of engaging them into the plot.
Long takes for more than a few minutes were applied in the film. It was complemented with handheld camera which showed shaky and unstable feeling. For example, when Patricia was selling newspaper at the city, Michel approached her and started sweet-talking to her. They went to and fro in the scene and the long take continued for a few minutes. The other long take could be seen when Michel was running from the policemen towards the end of the film. He was then shot by the police and ran breathlessly to his death. This particular scene established a feeling of how he suffered escaping until his death.
The last trait that will be discussed is the anti-authoritarian protagonist, Michel. He was anti-hero, loner with no family ties, who behave immorally. He stole money and car, molested women randomly and murdered policeman for his own good. Many kind of criminal activities could be seen from the anti-hero. He was dominant towards Patricia, the woman he fall into insanely. Unfortunately, Patricia didn't conform to the "patriarchy society" and upheld for what she is correct. She kept questioning her affection towards Michel and she told off Michel to the police.
Conclusion
To conclude, Breathless (1959) is a black and white film which I find it quite absurd as it opposed most of the tradition of film making I was thought. As human are trained to watch continuity film, we could not really adapt to the sudden jump cuts which less likely or do not show connection between scenes. Therefore, French New Wave has reminded me the importance of producing a film based on the perspective of the audiences so that messages can be conveyed better.
Reference
Characteristics of French New Wave Films. (2012). Retrieved from
http://makeawave-frenchnewwave.blogspot.com/2012/08/characteristics-of-french-new-wave-films.html
Indie Film Hustle. (2016). What is the French New Wave? How did the French New Wave movement originate? Retrieved from
https://indiefilmhustle.com/french-new-wave/
Nichols, B. (2010). "Chapter 1 :Film as A Language". Engaging Cinema: An Introduction to Film Studies, New York. W.W.Norton&Company, Inc: pg46.
Parnell, Lindsay. (2016). The French New Wave: Revolutionising Cinema. Retrieved from
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/the-french-new-wave-revolutionising-cinema/
Characteristics of French New Wave Films. (2012). Retrieved from
http://makeawave-frenchnewwave.blogspot.com/2012/08/characteristics-of-french-new-wave-films.html
Indie Film Hustle. (2016). What is the French New Wave? How did the French New Wave movement originate? Retrieved from
https://indiefilmhustle.com/french-new-wave/
Nichols, B. (2010). "Chapter 1 :Film as A Language". Engaging Cinema: An Introduction to Film Studies, New York. W.W.Norton&Company, Inc: pg46.
Parnell, Lindsay. (2016). The French New Wave: Revolutionising Cinema. Retrieved from
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/the-french-new-wave-revolutionising-cinema/
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