French New Wave

Between the years 1958 and 1964, a group of French film-makers created a body of work referred to as French New Wave. These film-makers were François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohmer, who were once all film critics for a magazine called Cahiers di Cinéma. They were driven by the notion forge a new cinema, and went on to influence how a film could be made.

Jean Luc-Godard

The movies featured unprecedented methods of expression, such as long tracking shots (like the famous traffic jam sequence in Godard's 1967 film Week End). Also, these movies featured existential themes, such as stressing the individual and the acceptance of the absurdity of human existence.

Many of the French New Wave films were produced on tight budgets; often shot in a friend's apartment or yard, using the director's friends as the cast and crew. Directors were also forced to improvise with equipment (for example, using a shopping cart for tracking shots).

In Jean Luc-Godard's À bout de souffle, after being told the film was too long and he must cut it down to one hour and a half, he decided to remove several scenes from the feature using jump cuts, as they were filmed in one long take.

The cinematic stylings of French New Wave brought a fresh look to cinema with improvised dialogue, rapid changes of scene, and shots that go beyond the common 180º axis.

But there is no better way of explaining this than by showing it. Here we have a clip of a scene from Godard's À bout de souffle.

Effects that now seem either trite or commonplace, such as a character stepping out of their role in order to address the audience directly, were radically innovative at the time. David Fincher used this technique in his 1999 film Fight Club. To see it, click here.

Modern examples of films that have been influenced by French New Wave are, among others, Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) and Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).

Here we can see a direct homage to French New Wave by Quentin Tarantino.

John Travolta (left) and Samuel L. Jackson (right) play two mob hitmen
in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

Two hitmen on the job.

Another clear-cut example, this time with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey kiss in Michel Gondry's highly
French New Wave influenced film Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind (2004).

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in Godard's masterpiece,
A bout de souffle (1960).

Our own interpretation of a French New Wave picture:

Outdoors and spontaneous, a typical feature of French New Wave pictures.

A very natural looking picture, similar to the
one below:

A real French New Wave picture.

French New Wave has significantly influenced the way cinema has progressed. We owe a lot to these smart and idealistic group of talented film-makers, who have helped shape what a film can accomplish.

 Sources:

French New Wave (Wikipedia)

Close reading of The Birds (Hitchcock 1963)

1. Note the details of each attack: who is attacked and why. When is the first attack? What happens? When do the audience first know an attack is coming? How is this moment foreshadowed?

Melanie is the first person to be attacked in the film, when a seagull swoops down and pecks her head. She was coming back from secretly visiting Mitch's home, who lived on the other side of the lake.

Mitch saw her in the boat, and drove around the lake and waited for her as she came back. When they looked at each other, the seagull suddenly attacked.

2. Write a one sentence description of the protagonists.

Mitch: A handsome man who must learn to make room for the many women in his life.

Melanie: A younge naive woman who means well but has fallen in love with a man in a complicated situation.

Lydia: Mitch's mother, who is overprotective of her child and scared of losing him to any woman.

Annie: A school teacher who has always been attracted to Mitch even though he doesn't feel the same way.

3. How does Hitchcock build tension through editing in the school yard scene?

Hitchcock first places Melanie in front of the school yard, so she is unaware as the birds fly onto the playground one by one behind her. The fact that the birds make no noise as they fly onto the school yard creates even more tension. Then he cuts to the classroom and then back to the school yard, only now it is full of birds:

Melanie doesn't notice this for a while but she does she becomes as tense as the audience is and walks into the school. The entire time we are expecting a massive attack, but Hitchcock does not rush anything: He slowly builds up the tension for a while until the birds finally attack.

4. Can you work out what triggers the attacks?

It seems that the attacks have something to do with the three main women of the movie (Melanie, Lydia and Annie). There is always at least one of those three women present when the attacks happen. I do not know why.