French New Wave Cinema: Origins, Style, and Global Impact

Introduction: French Cinema and the American Challenge

French cinema, by the time the Second World War ended, was faced with a crisis fittingly summarized by posters advertising Mundus-Film, distributors for First National, Goldwyn, and Selig. These posters implied that the cannon operated by America's infantrymen launched film after film targeted at the French. La Cinématographie française (soon to become the leading French trade journal) claimed that every week 25,000 meters of film imported mainly from America were presented in France for each 5,000 meters of locally made French films. French-made films often constituted as little as 10% of the films screened in Parisian cinemas. Henri Diamant-Berger, publisher of the French magazine Le Film, bluntly stated that France could be in jeopardy of turning into a "cinematographic colony" of America (Nowell-Smith).

The French New Wave is one of the film movements that shaped the history of French cinema. Rejuvenating the prestigious French cinema, the New Wave that emerged in the late 1950s to early 1960s invigorated international cinema, film theory, and criticism. This reminds contemporary viewers of the impact of Italian neo-realism immediately following the Second World War. The New Wave caused a dramatic change in filmmaking, both inside France and outside it, encouraging new themes, modes, and styles of production all over the world. All of a sudden, scores of young new directors in their twenties and thirties—such as Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, and Louis Malle—began producing films and launching new movie stars like Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jeanne Moreau.

Because of the introduction of new production norms, in addition to a group of new, young producers eager to participate in this burst of filmmaking, approximately 120 first-time directors began to shoot feature-length motion pictures from 1958 to 1964. Furthermore, several young directors produced multiple films in those years; for instance, Jean-Luc Godard made eight feature films in just four years. Thus, the total output of films created by the New Wave was staggering. An entire generation could experiment with storytelling rules and rethink traditional production norms and film budgets. A whole new range of options was born for movie aesthetics, often combining past techniques, which were restored and reinvigorated for the modern age (Neupert).

Partly owing to a revived interest in France's New Wave on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, the movement garnered increased attention from several historians and critics, including leading French cinema scholars such as Antoine de Baecque, Michel Marie, and Jean Douchet. The French cinema journal Cahiers du cinéma published a special nouvelle vague issue. However, given the New Wave's significance, variety, and depth, many aspects of this movement have not been fully examined. Large survey texts essentially condense the era and its main figures into simple summaries. Works such as French Cinema by Roy Armes, Republic of Images by Alan Williams, and The New Wave by James Monaco, devoted particularly to the New Wave or to French cinema in general, show different perspectives with respect to the movement. Often they focus on those directors who began as Cahiers du cinéma critics before shooting their first features.

For James Monaco, the New Wave really comes down to Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and Jean-Luc Godard; he is not concerned with describing the broader historic movement or its precise dates. Armes divides the New Wave era of France into different renewal clusters, drawn from various new directors. However, for Armes, these directors have their roots in criticism; thus, he too considers only those filmmakers originating from Cahiers du cinéma as "pure" members. Armes avoids describing the movement in critical or historical terms. Williams' survey history is large and comprehensive, establishing major influences and grouping the most prominent directors as "reformists." Williams includes Chabrol, Truffaut, and Malle as distinct from radical directors such as Godard, or more marginal ones like Rohmer (Neupert).

Bibliography

Darke, Chris. "The French New Wave." n.d. Routledge.

Neupert, Richard. A History of the French New Wave Cinema. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2007.

Nochimson, Martha P. World on Film: An Introduction. New York City: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. The Oxford History of World Cinema. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Sellier, Geneviève. Masculine Singular: French New Wave Cinema. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008.