The phrase “New Wave” was a blanket term given to a materializing film movement in Europe in the late1950’s and 1960’s, mainly in France, Italy, and England where an abrupt manifestation of brilliant films emerged. This movement consisted of two groups of directors, the Cahiers , majorly consisting of critics turned filmmakers and the Left Bank who consisted of individuals who went straight into filmmaking. Jean-Luc Godard was within the Cahier division. In collaboration with Francois Truffaut, Godard’s highly acknowledged film Breathless became a poster film for the French New Wave and experienced critical and financial success that enabled the movement to flourish. “New Wave filming techniques depended on more than shooting quickly on location,
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“The remarkable thing about the film is not just its simple story but its Bogartesque character: brazen, charming, free, refusing to warp emotions into words or conduct in laws” (Kawin and Mast 412). Throughout the film, Michel is seen doing various what we would call today to be normal in character in that he personifies an antagonist when he demonstrates merely shooting, stealing, and using individuals as something daily. As the film proceeds, Michel is simply detached from the world in which he lives. After meeting with Patricia Franchini, his American girlfriend in Paris, Michel stays hidden under her watch while she is unconscious to his lifestyle whilst he is attempting to flee to Italy and escape due to a murder he committed against a policeman earlier. After realization of Michel’s whereabouts and his puzzling demeanor, Patricia consequently betrays him and gives him in to the police. Michel is prepared to accept his demise in prison but is shot by police in the street and later dies there. “Breathless was hailed as a landmark film right from the start, and even though a summary of its story line sounds rather generic, or at least a bit like a tale by Melville, its overall style and attitude is amazing” (Neupert …show more content…
With no emotional ties, Godard along with use of jump cuts to exemplify to the viewer than no matter the lighting or setting, the film was merely a gathering of pictures and that they were in no way to be fluid. “Much has been made about the use of unflattering lighting, harsh images, wildly mobile camera work, and other significant aspects of Breathless, but one of the most radical strategies was its reconceptualization of the soundtrack”(Neupert 219). Neupert quotes Michel Marie who claims the dialogue alone “constitutes the most revolutionary use of language since the coming of sound…. Poiccard was the first film character to violate the refined sound conventions of 1959 French cinema by using popular slang and the most trivial spoken French”(219). This also produced a totally new linguistic texture among films of that time, in that Godard actually experimented with this film in a lot of ways that countered not only Classic Hollywood Cinema but European cinema of that day as well with disrupting images and
“The remarkable thing about the film is not just its simple story but its Bogartesque character: brazen, charming, free, refusing to warp emotions into words or conduct in laws” (Kawin and Mast 412). Throughout the film, Michel is seen doing various what we would call today to be normal in character in that he personifies an antagonist when he demonstrates merely shooting, stealing, and using individuals as something daily. As the film proceeds, Michel is simply detached from the world in which he lives. After meeting with Patricia Franchini, his American girlfriend in Paris, Michel stays hidden under her watch while she is unconscious to his lifestyle whilst he is attempting to flee to Italy and escape due to a murder he committed against a policeman earlier. After realization of Michel’s whereabouts and his puzzling demeanor, Patricia consequently betrays him and gives him in to the police. Michel is prepared to accept his demise in prison but is shot by police in the street and later dies there. “Breathless was hailed as a landmark film right from the start, and even though a summary of its story line sounds rather generic, or at least a bit like a tale by Melville, its overall style and attitude is amazing” (Neupert …show more content…
With no emotional ties, Godard along with use of jump cuts to exemplify to the viewer than no matter the lighting or setting, the film was merely a gathering of pictures and that they were in no way to be fluid. “Much has been made about the use of unflattering lighting, harsh images, wildly mobile camera work, and other significant aspects of Breathless, but one of the most radical strategies was its reconceptualization of the soundtrack”(Neupert 219). Neupert quotes Michel Marie who claims the dialogue alone “constitutes the most revolutionary use of language since the coming of sound…. Poiccard was the first film character to violate the refined sound conventions of 1959 French cinema by using popular slang and the most trivial spoken French”(219). This also produced a totally new linguistic texture among films of that time, in that Godard actually experimented with this film in a lot of ways that countered not only Classic Hollywood Cinema but European cinema of that day as well with disrupting images and