Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend, released in 1967, embodies the entirety of the French New Wave cinema in its prime, as well as being a masterpiece and a hit worldwide. Strewn with different types of cuts and camera angles, as well as lots of bright colors, Godard creates a humorous, crash-filled piece with a dark underlying plot. The combination of these seemingly opposing factors only adds to the genius of Godard, who throughout the piece alludes to something deeper thematically- the human self-destruction of civilization.
From the very beginning of the movie, in the opening car crash scene, the movie starts with a literal bang. Godard seems to enjoy cars and chasing them and crashing them, just like the car chase from his movie two years prior, Alphaville. From that point forward, the psychopathic couple have tons of different odd encounters, and go through many crash-filled roads on their journey. Godard somehow manages to mesh humor and violence in the movie extremely well, somehow making all the violent acts seem much more nonchalant; for example, when waiting for a ride Corinne casually gets raped, and then the story moves on. The inclusion of all these random, weird, and somewhat terrifying acts only aid in Godard’s view of the “terrible” world and the people that inhabit it. Although these acts are appalling and a little demented, the nonchalant-ness that the tone of the movie gives leaves the audience entranced, and wondering what will happen next.
Aside from the rapturous plot and many side stories of Weekend, the shots and angles that Godard uses definitely help to draw the audience in as well. The entire course of the movie is found with long shot after long shot, each seemingly endless as the screen keeps moving slowly ...
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...though a little wry, was that Roland and Corinne speed by the accident as if nothing happened, not taking a second to reflect at the situation around them and just ready to get back on the road. However, a ton of the greatness of the shot comes from that exactly, the shot. Godard uses the tracking shot a lot throughout the course of the movie, however here, it’s spectacular. It’s longer than ever before, and is extremely smooth and consistent, making it easily the greatest long shot of its time, and definitely earns a spot amongst the tops today. New things keep popping into the screen for the viewer, and keeps them extremely interested and excited for what’s next. This famous and revolutionary shot, as well as others like these, exemplify the greatness of Godard, and are what create the characteristics and add to the supremacy of the French New Wave cinematic era.
Greene, Naomi(1999) Landscapes of loss: The national Past of Postwar French cinema (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press)
Bresson’s other films are made much in the same vein. Though, for example, L’Argent was made in 1983—far from the reaches of the New Wave era—it still has the Bresson-typical ambient sound, tortured main character, and dreariness about it. Jack C. Ellis says that Bresson’s “search for ever greater clarity and simplicity of visual-aural statement, his concentration on only those themes that most deeply concern him, place him among the very select company with which he is being considered.” So, while some directors may be debated upon continually as an auteur, it is clear from the consensus of historians and critics, as well as his consistent work in his thirteen films, that Robert Bresson has secured his role as an auteur.
This is a very emotional song because it is a tribute to the late Paul Walker. It is especially emotional if you have seen the movies or are a fan of Paul. However it is still evocative even if you have never seen Paul Walker before because of how the video is formatted. The director uses cars as an rhetorical tool in the video because Paul was most known for his role in the Fast and Furious series, and he was killed in a car crash because he was speeding. The cars in the video help remind us that he died doing what he loved and that even though he left this world to early he was most likely enjoying himself in the moments before his death.
The picture Crash, produced by Robert Haggis, features the several battles confronted with the current racial stereotypes, in to a collection of numerous connected, social predicaments fall upon by the picture's multi ethnic forged. Robert Haggis uses the dialogue and physical actions of his characters to illustrate the various racial stereotypes that are pre-assigned to each race by every individual. This movie is an enchanting bodily melodrama that reaches the feelings of spirits and its crowd's minds. Several of the components given by Haggis in this movie are impersonated in intense sets. This design of reversing is communicated opposed figures and by his character, the picture's possibly nighttime or daytime environment, and additionally in the hearth and snowfall moments. In this movie, the varied functions performed by the several contests of contemporary America are revealed to the globe by Haggis. Through coldly racial difficulties confronted by his figures, an intentionally affecting movie that drives his crowd to challenge their own ethical principles is created by Haggis. Each contest is signified through the picture and coldly exhibits ethnocentrism and racialism. Paul Haggis incorporates the use of identification, parallel plots, reaction shots, point-of-view shots, shot/reverse shots, diegetic music, and post-modern film in the film. Through his character development, editing and special effects we are drawn into.
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.
...s film is tense enough that you are on edge from the production company logo to the ending credits. Having been horribly desensitized to fictional violence over the years, it is refreshing to see a movie that is not afraid to invoke the natural emotion during a horror film to its most extreme. This also leads to the knowledge that not everything will come out rosy for some, if not all, of our core group.
... movie stars like royalty or mythical gods and goddesses, viewing the drama between great archetypal characters in a personal psychic realm. By considering the statements made and their societal impact from a Marxist perspective, Benjamin’s method is highly effective, as it does not simply consider art in terms of pure aesthetics anymore, but considers art’s place in a society capable of mechanically reproducing and endlessly duplicating film, photography, and digital art. His qualm with losing the aura and mystique of an original work is negated by the cult of movie stars, the adoration of fame, the incorporation of soundtracks which embody a particular time period, cinematographic allusions, and time-capsule-like qualities of a film such as Basquiat, a 90s tribute to the 80s, produced both as a part of and resulting from the art movements and trends it addresses.
Since the very first actualities from the Lumière brothers and the fantastical shorts of Maries Georges Jean Méliès, cinema has continually fulfilled its fundamental purpose of artistic reflection on societal contexts throughout the evolution of film. Two French cinematic movements, Poetic Realism (1934-1940) and French New Wave (1950-1970), serve as historical bookends to World War II, one of the most traumatic events in world history. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939) is a classic example of French Poetic realism that depicts the disillusionment in society and government politics by a generation already traumatized by the monumental loss of human life during the First World War. Breathless (Jean Luc Godard, 1960), one of Jean Luc Godard’s most iconic films, portrays the next generation’s consequential feelings of loss and struggle. Both Rules of the Game and Breathless embody the spirit of their respective movements while exploring realism and redefining the purpose of cinema. However, while Rules of the Game contrasts the formative and realistic traditions through long takes and deep focus, Breathless breaks cinematic conventions through distanciation techniques and disjunctive editing to convey disillusionment and cinematic realism. Though these techniques and definitions of realism are seemingly oppositional, Godard and Renoir both hold to the same cinematic purpose of communicating their feelings of disillusionment towards society with the audience.
Through most of the characters’ passion for filmmaking, this movie teaches the audience the great significance of film history. Many people in modern day tend to take film and its history for granted, but they do not realize the depth and effort that mankind has put into such a development. In Hugo, the theme of film history revolves around the entire production, and the audience sees flashbacks of Georges Méliès’ past that reveal his vital role in movie-making. By investing a deep meaning to the tale, viewers start to understand the great emotional and intellectual characteristics of movies. Additionally, Hugo himself delivers a message to his counterpart characters, which also serves as a lesson for the onlookers. He shows the audience that everyone has a part and purpose in this world. Protagonist Hugo Cabret says that “everything has a purpose, even machines. Clocks tell the time, trains take you places. They do what they’re meant to do.” Voicing through Hugo, the filmmakers illustrate how every individual has a reason to live and discover their calling. With a statement about the forgotten grandeur of film history and a valuable message to the crowd regarding one’s purpose, Hugo inspires and presents itself as a noteworthy and unforgettable
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.
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
This "chaos" is also created through the use of frame- a story within a story. Towards the conclusion of the novel, the corners of the story are pulled together and readers are able to close the frame that encapsulated the inner story. The car ride is the result of Ondaatje's ability to transcend time and space- the story ends at the beginning of the novel and begins at the end, as if Patrick has told his story not only to the young girl Hana, but ultimately, to readers.
The reclusive film director Terrence Malick has to date, only directed a small number of films. His twenty year hiatus between directing Days of Heaven (1978) and The Thin Red Line (1998), may provide the explanation for such a sparse back catalogue. Malick’s refusal to talk with the media, has led to hearsay, as to how he occupied his time during the hiatus. Malick’s directing debut Badlands (1973) is a collection of concepts, all carefully moulded together to create one iconic piece of film. This process draws in and also alienates the audience. Malick’s style is positively noted by critics to be influenced by European philosophy. This is clearly due to Malick’s study of philosophy at Harvard and Magdalen College Oxford. There is no given explanation to the mindless violence featured within the film, mainly due to the films resistance to the straight forward approach. The familiar and the unknown are carefully merged together. The only way of gaining an understanding into the hidden meanings within Badlands is by breaking down the film, by looking at the characters, the use of sound, the visual setting and the films genre. The illusionary effect of Malick’s style means that all is not as it seems.
...movie that I fell in love with. But most of all I love how the story line is a great overlap into the cinematically engaging movie. There is a great use of camera, timing, shots and story line that are portrayed in this movie without being too overwhelming. This allows the audience to relax during the movie and just take in the scenes as a story from reality. To this day, and even still doing this paper I still come to find different aspects of the movie that I missed the previous times I have watched it.
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.