French New Wave's Lasting Influence on Modern Filmmaking

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[00:00:10]“He immediately talked about, kind of,  the French New Wave portrait of youth type films.” “The beginning of Jules and Jim,  the first three or four minutes, which influence the style of Goodfellas and  Casino and Wolf of Wall Street and so many.” “Godard was so influential  to me at the beginning of my aesthetic as a director, of,  like, wanting to be a director.” Throughout the decades, there have been  many defining film movements in cinema.

[00:00:35]Some have had a longer lasting impact  than others. Out of all of them I’d say one of the most influential of these  movements was the French New Wave, which took place from the late 50s to the late  60s. Its impact can still be seen to this day.

[00:00:50]During this time various directors emerged who  made films that could broadly be classified by their similar philosophy and approach  towards experimentation and style.

[00:01:00]Many of these directors began their careers  as film critics and cinephiles who wrote for the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma where  they rejected mainstream cinema and came up with a sort of film manifesto that  encouraged experimentation and innovation.

[00:01:16]In this video I’ll outline four  things from this film movement that are still present in how movies  are made and thought about today, which were responsible for altering  the course of filmmaking forever.

[00:01:32]“An Inquisition-like regime ruled  over French cinema. Everything was compartmentalised. This movie was made as a  reaction against everything that wasn’t done.” In 1954 director Francois Truffaut wrote  an article for Cahiers du Cinéma called ‘A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema’,  wherein he described his dissatisfaction of the adaptation and filming of safe literary  works in a traditional, unimaginative way.

[00:02:04]Up until then movies were largely credited  to the actors who starred in them, or to the studios and producers  involved in their funding and creation.

[00:02:13]Instead, the cinema of the French New  Wave put forward the idea that the real ‘author’ or ‘auteur’ of a movie should be the  director. They should be the primary creative driving force behind each project by creating  a visual style or aesthetic specific to them.

[00:02:30]Their themes, tone, or overall feeling  from their films should also be consistent and identifiable across  their overall body of work.

[00:02:40]If you could glance at a film and immediately tell who the director behind it was - that  was a sign it was created by an auteur.

[00:02:48]A film by Quentin Tarantino will have  ensemble casts, non-linear storylines, chapter divides, mixed genre conventions  and pay homage to the history of cinema.

[00:03:00]A film by Wes Anderson will have  fast-paced comedy, childhood loss, symmetrical compositions, consistent colour  palettes and highly stylised art direction.

[00:03:11]This idea was revolutionary as  it encouraged directors to tell stories through their own distinctive  voice, rather than acting as craftsmen that followed the same rules and chiselled  out each film the same way for a studio.

[00:03:25]All it takes is watching a few trailers or the  credits in a film to tell that auteur theory is still alive and well. Many movies use the  name of the director as a selling point, even more so than the actors in some cases.

[00:03:40]If we turn to short form filmmaking, a huge  number of directors of commercials or music videos get hired by clients and agencies  because they want their film told in a specific style associated with that director.

[00:03:55]You hire The Blaze to direct if  you want a character-focused, wildly energetic, passionate, personal  journey told with a fluidity of movement.

[00:04:05]You hire Romain Gavras to direct if  you want a carefully coordinated, composed, concept driven set piece.

[00:04:13]But this French New Wave idea of the  director as an auteur is just the first thing that had an undeniable impact  on how cinema today is created.

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[00:05:39]“I really like Bande à part. In particular  it really kinda grabbed me. But one of the things that really grabbed me was that I felt I  almost could have done that. I could’ve attached a camera to the back of a convertible and  drive around Venice boulevard if I wanted to.” In their more financially risky pursuit  to break free from the constraints of the traditional mould of French cinema and  create their own inventive styles as auteurs, many French New Wave directors had  to work within a low budget lane.

[00:06:09]This was also influenced by the financial  restraints of post-World War Two France.

[00:06:15]Rather than seeing it as a disadvantage, a lot of the movies that came out of  this period used their lack of resources to break conventional rules and form their own  style - which we’ll get into more a bit later.

[00:06:28]They took some cues from the Italian Neorealist  movement that preceded it, which cut costs by shooting on location and working with  non-professional actors in rural areas.

[00:06:40]Likewise, many French New Wave films worked on  location, with a bare bones approach to lighting and homemade, DIY camera rigs. This allowed them  to work quickly, unencumbered by large crews and introduced a more on-the-ground  aesthetic to the filmmaking.

[00:06:57]This further democratised filmmaking and  made it more accessible than ever before.

[00:07:02]It showed that big studios were not  always needed to produce great cinema.

[00:07:07]This democratisation of filmmaking  expanded further throughout the years, until it exploded even more with the introduction  of low budget digital cinema cameras.

[00:07:16]There’s a reason that many low budget indie  films today still use French New Wave films from this period as a primary reference and  inspiration for, not only what is possible to achieve with limited resources, but also the  kind of look and style that comes with it.

[00:07:37]“All these films were very different  of what had been French cinema. What was in common is to use a lot of natural light,  sometimes use non-actors, natural sets, a sort of speed in the inspiration and  the work. That is what was in common.” What emerged from this rejection of cinematic  tradition in a low budget environment were a burst of films that broke existing filmmaking  ‘rules’ and had a vigorously experimental style.

[00:08:12]Part of this was informed by a documentary-esque  approach to cinematography that free-ed the actors up to move and improvise. Like documentaries,  these films were largely shot at real locations, relied on using mostly natural light (which  allowed them to shoot 360 degrees in a space), using a reactive, handheld camera and  sometimes employed non-professional actors who they’d get to improvise  dialogue, blocking and actions.

[00:08:42]All this went against the more formal  conventions that were previously expected of traditional studio films that were  shot in studio sets, off a rigid dolly, with perfect, artificial lighting and precise  blocking of a pre-approved screenplay.

[00:08:59]In this way the French New Wave  paved a path that made it OK for future filmmakers to work in a rougher,  more naturalistic style and broke down the very notion that cinematography  needs to conform to specific rules.

[00:09:17]“I think a lot of it has to do with  the relentlessness of the voice over and the rapid speech and also the pace of the  music under it."

[00:09:32]It feels like it's a sense of freedom. Anything could happen at any moment.  Narrative is completely fractured I think.” French New Wave directors saw exciting  possibilities for using film as a medium - more like painters or novelists did -  which could not only be used to tell stories but also to translate their thoughts or ideas  by experimenting with form and style.

[00:09:56]Much of this was done in the edit.

[00:09:58]Whereas older films may have used a  traditional, linear story, various scenes and exposition to unpack characters,  films like Jules and Jim used voice over, fast paced music and snappy editing to  immediately introduce characters and their relationships in a more fractured  way that compressed time into a montage.

[00:10:21]Directors like Godard broke down the  medium even more into a self conscious, post modern vision by having  characters literally break the fourth wall and talk directly into the  camera, face to face with the audience.

[00:10:35]Instead of attempting to suspend  disbelief, Godard made his audience very aware that what they were watching  was something constructed by an artist.

[00:10:45]Breathless also went against  a universal rule of cinema and used jump cuts, a technique which  cuts forward in time using the same shot, without changing the angle or shot size. The  effect is an abrasive ‘jump’ forward in time.

[00:11:02]This technique influenced future filmmakers  by tearing down the idea that the rules of cinema should be strictly followed. This post  modernism that was pushed by the French New Wave has now seeped into every kind of contemporary visual art - including how many  YouTube videos are now edited.

[00:11:24]Thanks everyone for watching. Let me  know your thoughts in the comments below and if you liked the video hit the  subscribe button for more weekly content.

[00:11:33]I’d like to give a special thanks to  all the Patrons who continue to keep the channel going with their support or anyone  who gets the original In Depth Cine merch.

[00:11:42]Otherwise until next time,  thanks for watching and goodbye.