The above quote was spoken by the most celebrated French New Wave auteur filmmaker and Cahiers du Cinema critic, Jean-Luc Godard. There are three periods in which Godard’s work fall into. I will be focusing on the early period of his filmmaking career where some of his best films were made before he began his political films. He is recognized for breaking the rules and conventions of the Classical Hollywood cinema and bringing something new and innovative to French cinema. The quote is echoed upon three of his pioneering films, A Bout de Souffle (Breathless, 1960), Le Mepris (Contempt, 1963) and Pierrot Le Fou (1965). In this essay I will discuss the formal and stylistic innovations of these three films by highlighting some of the best scenes, as well as how they relate to certain theories and themes and their place in the French New Wave.
One of Godard’s most well-known editing techniques in his films is his use of
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Ferdinand turns to face the camera and says, “All she thinks about is fun” and Marianne asks who is he speaking to and he says, “The audience”. Even though I have seen many other examples of Godard breaking the fourth wall, this one caught my attention the most. It is as if Marianne and Ferdinand are fully aware that they are in a film and they engage with the audience. Another example is when Marianne addresses “the audience not with her words, but with her gaze”. This happens when Pierrot asks her if she will ever leave him and she replies, “Of course not”, then the camera cuts to an extreme close-up of her addressing us seen in Figure 2 below. She repeats it two more times to herself. By her simple repetition of that line and looking into the camera, the audience can instantly grasp what the outcome will be. Marianne looks as if she is “seeking an ally in the spectator” (Wills
Les 400 Coups by François Truffaut displays personal cinema by sharing his own thoughts through the eyes of Antoine. As stated in the lecture video, cinema was a way for Truffaut to escape from his unhappy home life. His unfortunate home life is shown through the perspective of Antoine to display how Truffaut may have felt when he was a child. François Truffaut makes the audience feel sympathy and a sense of understanding for Antoine's predicament through the use of realistic and noteworthy sets.
The scene where Victoria is showed on a stage, tied on a chair to a big audience is the turning point of the episode. At this scene, the rhetorical appeals are strongly used by the author. For example, the announcer comes up on the stage wearing an impeccable suit, perfect hair and using a persuasive speech demonstrating knowledge
Throughout the essay, many references and comparisons are made to other films. Also incorporated in the essay is the use of advance terminology; Giving indication that the author is very knowledge about film. Haslem mentions in her essay “Neon Gothic: Lost in Translation”, “In many ways Coppola’s film exhibits marks of classic European art cinema. Specifically, in her interest in stillness rather than action, Coppola recreates a similar impressionistic resonance that was initially established by filmmakers like Carl Dreyer in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and elaborated by Michelangelo Antonioni in films like L’Eclisse (1962) and L’Avventura (1960)”
The film Miracle portrays one of the most significant moments in U.S Olympics history. The thought of a group of college hockey players beating the “lab-made” Russians was almost inconceivable at the time. Although this sporting achievement was immense, the political significance of the Americans beating the Russians was far more significant. Following World War II, Eastern and Western nations faced geopolitical tensions, and eventually, entered into the Cold War. While the U.S and Russia never fired a shot during the Cold War, the tension between the two nations was ever-present.
The movie focuses mainly on Paris in the 1920’s and immerses the main character, Gill, in the times of great painters, writers, musicians, and other influential figures from the period. Although
The film La Haine (1995) directed by Mathieu Kassovitzs is a French movie set in an inter-racial housing project Paris suburb. Against the backdrop of police high handedness , brutality and social inequality fuelled by hate and violence from restive youths, this drama in a new genre known as Benlieue films mirrors the social problems of migrant slum dwellers with disillussioned youths bedeviled with a bleak future and hopelessness. When considering the theoretical framework in which banlieue movie La Haine is set, it’s important to look at the French climate during 1995 as there were numerous happening which occurred that year allowing the feature itself to tap into the zeitgeist, and become extremely relevant through it’s depiction of the urban French ghetto, which is the aesthetic back drop to the film itself. As stated by Hayward in French National Cinema, “What originally appeared as the banlieue film’s strength — a genre that, through its focus on the disadvantaged urban periphery, would allow for an engagement with key socio-political debates of the period (exclusion,
This was an unprecedented practice in cinema, according to Neupert (Ghosh 2013). Thus, it’s obvious that French New Wave cinema has completely original artistic system. Moreover, Godard has completely breaks the traditional stories and translated his writing into pictures and it’s totally different with Hollywood’s standard, according to Basye (2011).
David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) is almost a genre of its own, blurring the line between reality and dreams, and exploring the complexities of Hollywood and its characters. The film is a work of art that combines many themes and genres, such as film noir, psychological thriller, and surrealism. In this essay, I will analyze Mulholland Drive within a historical context using the auteur theory, considering Lynch’s unique vision and artistic control over the production of the film, as well as the changing technologies used in the film's production and exhibition. According to David Bordwell, the Auteur theory is a French film theory that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, which states that the director is the author of a film because in a way
This essay will discuss how the film uses these two techniques, in reference to the film, and to what ideological and political ends are the techniques used in the films with specific references from the film to support the argument. A Man with a Movie Camera is based around one man who travels around the city to capture various moments and everyday
Cinematography is critical to the success of any movie. Cinematography uses composition, lighting, depth of field, and camera angles to determine what the audience sees. Casablanca’s cinematography directs the audience’s attention, shapes the audiences feelings, and reveals the theme of the movie. Cinematography directs the audience’s attention and acts as the viewer’s eyes. The cinematography highlights Casablanca as a dangerous place filled with deception.
Over the fifteen weeks of the first semester of film school, we were taught many interesting types and styles of early world cinema which were extremely informative and influenced the filmmaking style of the whole class and made us better filmmakers instantly. One such ‘ism’ which inspired me the most was German Expressionism which is a unique characteristic of Weimar Cinema. In this essay I am going to talk about the history of this ‘ism’, its impact on cinema, some significant works and how it inspired me and influenced my filmmaking style. German Expressionism is one of the earliest artistic genres to influence filmmaking, and one that ostensibly prepared for some other cutting edge artistic styles and techniques. It is an artistic genre
Andy Guthrie Ms. Spencer CL 240 June 6th, 2023 A cinematic symphony by Denis Villeneuve Very few directors are so aware and confident in the direction or view of their films that you can feel certain as a viewer every aspect is moving towards a common goal. Denis Villeneuve is one of these few. In his pieces Dune, Bladerunner 2049, and Arrival, we are able to witness his masterful collection of filmmaking techniques to move us toward his one goal. To create these cinematic masterpieces Denis Villeneuve employs a unique dialogue of monotone color palettes, creative editing, and cinematic sound, to make the audience ponder the question of what it truly means to be human.
In “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole. The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film.
Baz Luhrmann’s films are known their ability to make a watcher feel as if they are part of the show. Between his use of camera angles, shots and the use of a narrator, it’s no wonder he is able to keep viewers on the edge of their seat. But how does Baz Luhrmann pull off this spectacular feat of his? This is probably explained best by referring to Baz Luhrmann’s films and how he himself has evolved as a director.