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Film has been one of the most influential forms of modern art. It has told beautiful and captivating stories and can reflect the mood and interests of a culture at any point in time. As people, governments and views change so does the art produced. French film has represented the ideas of the public over the decades. France has undoubtedly been one of the founders of the industry itself, remaining a heavy influence today being the 5th largest producer in the world. An estimate of 200 movies are produced annually. From the first creators of French film to today’s armature artists there are individuals, events and trends that should be recognized for their contributions. The beginning of cinema started in the late 1890s and formed by …show more content…
Hes most famous for La Voyage Dans la Lune (1902) a sci-fi film that follows the surreal journey of astronomers on their way to the moon. Along with the horror short Le Manoir du Diable (1898). Being the creator of special effects as we see them today, he could produce comical and fantastical illusions on screen. Over his life time he made over 400s films, but was forced out of the industry as it grew. Non-the less he is remembered for his imaginative concepts and passion for …show more content…
During this time Dadaism and surrealism were making their way across the art scene. Jean Epstein’s La Chute de la maison Usher(1928) is an example of how horror and surrealism mix. Along with the artistic integrity of avant-garde productions historical and literary adaptions brought back the credibility and quality of French cinema. The mainstream hits of the time were Les Miserables(1925) and Monte Cristo(1929) both by Henri Fescourt. During this period the government put a limit on foreign films playing in theaters in hopes to get the public to support more French
In 1954 François Truffaut, in ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’, elaborated on this idea further with his essay ‘Les Politique des Auteurs’. He argued that ownership in a film, or the creative voice that drives a movie, is always inextricably linked to the director. As such, when looking at any director’s body of work there will be recurring themes, stylistic trends, and preoccupations that define these movies as belonging solely to the director. Accordingly, there are never “good or bad movies, only good and bad directors”. Greatness in a movie is a measure of originality and vision. Village Voice’s Andrew Sarris, in his Notes on Auteur Theory (1962), refined this concept by applying a visual aid of three concentric circles to help identify an auteur - the outer circle being technique, the middle circle, personal style, and the inner circle, interior
One can gather that socialism was on the rise and supported by many of the working class. From the co-op in The Crime of Monsieur Lange to the Communist party’s support of Madame Nozière, public opinion was shifting away from supporting a patriarchal society. What was once taboo became more popular topics of discussion, such as the pornography in Baptiste’s possession, Estelle’s miscarriage of Batala’s child, fathers taking their daughters’ innocence, and ousting men of unnecessary power. A film, while not necessarily factual, focuses on culture and values. Cinema is an art form that reflects what the directors and actors, and by extension, the general public, believe.
Rice, Anne-Christine. La France contemporaine à travers ses films. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2011. Print.
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
From the beginning of cinema as an art form to cinema today, film has evolved and developed drastically. Each era of film from the Silent Film to the French New Wave was influenced by prior film generations and influenced those films that came after it. The era of Silent Film was very basic as it emerged when motion pictures had only begun. Across the sea, the age of German Expressionism, a film genre with features of the Silent Film era which conveyed the German people's struggle after World War I had started. Afterwards, the Studio Era surfaced and portrayed larger than life heroes in narratives with the gloss of a storybook. During the Studio Era, films like these were produced quickly because of success and began to appear mass produced
In 1959- early 1960 five directors released debut feature length films that are widely regarded as heralding the start of the French nouvelle vague or French New Wave. Claude Chabrols Le Beau Serge (The Good Serge, 1959) and Les Cousins (The Cousins, 1959) were released, along with Francois Truffauts Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows, 1959), Jean-Luc Godards A bout de souffle (Breathless, 1960) and Alain Resnais Hiroshima mon amour (Hiroshima my love, 1959). These films were the beginning of a revolution in French cinema. In the following years these directors were to follow up their debuts, while other young directors made their first features, in fact between 1959-63 over 170 French directors made their debut films. These films were very different to anything French and American cinema had ever produced both in film style and film form and would change the shape of cinema to come for years. To understand how and why this nouvelle vague happened we must first look at the historical, social, economical and political aspects of France and the French film industry leading up to the onset of the nouvelle vague.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
...use of documentary style lighting and discontinuous editing that diverges from the Hollywood “invisible” editing. Through understanding the historical climates these two seemingly similar French cinematic movements were in, the psychology of a generation can be visualized in a way truly unique to the indexicality of the cinematic medium.
This New Wave aesthetic solidified film as a mainstream artform, stressing that film was carefully crafted similarly to literature. Individual directors, or auteurs, were expected to “author” their films in much the same way that an author would write a novel. This auteur theory and its accompanying aesthetic became the backbone of the French New Wave and was what drove innovation. Breaking free from the screenwriter, producer, and studio driven systems of the past, and putting the creative power back in the hands of the director was seen as a crucial step in solving Cahiers’ perceived problems with French cinema before the movement.
The film industry continues to change and improve its self through technology, new uses of equipment and different styles of film. The classical Hollywood cinema is one of the earlier styles of film production and often obeyed a strict guideline when producing a film. This style of film used a narrative to tell its story and would have a clear beginning, middle, and end; with the ending generally providing a resolution to a problem introduced. With the war that had women involved in the workplace coming to an end, the Classical Hollywood Cinema portrayed its female leads being dependent on a man. On the other hand, Jean-Luc Godard has and brings a different outlook of film to the screen. Considered an Auteur, Godard goes against the Hollywood
Melody Yueying Chen Lending Emptiness The French is privileged to have their effortless chic and unique style, and nowhere is this better depict by the French New Wave films from the late 1950’s to the late 1960’s. Jean-Luc Godard, one of the greatest names in the history of film, was a pioneer of filmmaking back in the new wave era, and stay influential throughout the century.
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
Born Marie Georges Jean Méliès, Georges grew up longing to be an artist. His talents were first used in art and magic, which in much later years led him to the exploration of combining magic, art, (and a new medium) film. As a boy, he showed much interest in puppetry and painting. As he grew into a young man, his dream was to pursue a career as an artist, but his father owned a successful shoe making business and was forced to take over the company, although he had no intention of following in his father’s footsteps. After the passing of Georges’s father, he sold the shoe business and with the new funds, used the money to buy the Theatre Robert Houdin located in Paris, France. He performed magic shows and was perusing his desired career as an illusionist, but had yet to discover motion pictures which would be a catalyst for changing entertainment as we know it. Georges Melies was a talented magician, and one of the first great pioneers of motion pictures that has influenced modern American films profoundly.
Many people don’t think about it so much, but movies (or just film in general) have become such a big part of our lives that we don’t think much of it because it just feels like a usual part of living. But have you ever wondered why this is, and how far back film started? Movies and film have been around for a long time, have developed in big ways throughout time, and has advanced in such a big and new way to this day.
‘Then came the films’; writes the German cultural theorist Walter Benjamin, evoking the arrival of a powerful new art form at the end of 19th century. By this statement, he tried to explain that films were not just another visual medium, but it has a clear differentiation from all previous mediums of visual culture.