For six decades there were rules to film. During this era of creative stagnancy within film, filmmakers did not bear the creative disobedience to question these rules. Rather than being viewed as an art form, the silver screen was used like an unhealthy dose of western medicine; a form of escape rather than a confrontation of the truth. For the majority of moviegoers, this form of entertainment was sufficient. Some were still in shock from the coalescence of picture and sound in 1927, but for post World War II France, thirst for expression had only grown stronger amongst the people of France with the removal of the suppressive German invasion (Hitchman). The French New Wave, also known as the Nouvelle Vague, was the name given to the cinematic upsurge of originality within themes and filming tactics of French directors in the 1950s. …show more content…
By emphasizing the personal and artistic vision of film over its worth as a commercial product, the Nouvelle Vague, New Wave, set an example that inspired others across the world” (Hitchman). Although it started in France, the influences of the New Wave traveled across the Atlantic and submerged North America’s film industry. The argument could be made that “Without the Nouvelle Vague there may not have been any Scorsese, Soderbergh, or Tarantino, and music, fashion and advertising would be without a major point of reference” (Hitchman), which supports the idea that when the French New Wave broke the conventional methods of the film industry, it changed the history of cinema for the
1959 was an exciting year in the history of filmmaking. An extraordinary conjunction of talent throughout the globe existed. In France, Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette, and Resnais all directed their first films, thus establishing the French New Wave. In Italy, Fellini created the elegant La Dolce Vita, and Antonioni gave us L’avventura. Most importantly, though, in America, famed British director Alfred Hitchcock gave us the classic thriller North by Northwest, the father of the modern action film.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
The term film noir means, “black film” and was originally coined by French critic Nino Frank in 1946.. The author of “Film Noir”, Bruce Crowther, points out that “in some cases, the movies were based upon the work of such novelists and short-story writes as James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The work of these and other American writers of the tough-guy and hard-boiled schools were published in France…The prevailing atmosphere of pessimism and doom in these new romans noire translated with ease to the medium of film and prompted the coinage of the term film noir.
One of the most prominent and influential directors in New Hollywood was Italian-American Martin Scorsese. His first major critical success, and what is often considered his “breakthrough” film, was 1973’s Mean Streets. This film helped to establish Scorsese’s signature style in regards to narrative and thematics as well as aesthetically. Scorsese developed a unique and distinct directorial flair to his films, with reoccurring themes, settings, cinematography, and editing techniques, among other elements. This led a number of film critics to declare Scorsese an “auteur,” similar to Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and other auteur directors of the French New Wave.
Neorealism had appeared right after the end of World War II and was started by Roberto Rosselini, the father of Neorealism. With his movie, he started a new trend in Italian cinema. (quote) Although it was not specifically “Neorealist”, it was the start of the movement. Some of key characteristics of a neorealist cinema are as follows, “documentary visual style, the use of actual locations--usually exteriors--rather than studio sites, the use of nonprofessional actors, even for principal roles, use of conversational speech, not literary dialogue, avoidance of artifice in editing, camerawork, and lighting in favor of a simple "styless" style” (1.). These characteristics are what embody true neorealist films, such as Bicycle Thief. Although some of these characteristics still linger in Umberto D, the movie that is considered the “death of the neorealism” (2.). It goes without saying that, regardless of the movement these movies are classified under, these are both spectacular contributions to cinema. However it is Bicycle Thief that shows the prime of what neorealist cinema was like during the movement.
“of exhibitionist confrontation rather than absorption,” (Gunning, Tom 2000 p 232) as Gunning suggests the spectator is asking for an escape that is censored and delivered with a controlled element of movement and audiovisual. Gunning believes that the audience had a different relationship with film before 1906. (Gunning, Tom 2000 p 229)
The French New Wave movement was heavily influenced by a variety of figures, events, and cultural changes that led to its creation. Responding to the lackluster film industry following WWII, critics and directors saw the New Wave aesthetic as an opportunity to revolutionize the world of film by challenging the mainstream film industry and its unquestionable influence.
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
... Kiss. Kiss called attention and became popular through eccentric effects such as explosives, police lights, rocket-firing guitars, and bizarre make-up. The music scene was making a movement to a more flashy appearance rather than simply the music itself. This fit the culture that was stuck on the appearance of things and didn’t want to become too involved.
...ecettes (advance on receipts) system. This initiative funded first time film makers on the basis of a script and enabled hundreds of potential film makers to finance their debut features. These factors combined together to form the climate for production that prevailed in the late 50s but to understand why the nouvelle vague was so embraced by the public we must look at the actual term nouvelle vague. The term nouvelle vague was actually coined by a journalist named Franois Giroud to describe the new and socially active youth class. The idealisms and politics of the post war years like sexual liberation, along with new fashions and American influences like Rock Music and Hollywood combined together to create what has become known as youth culture. It was this new and affluent youth class that created a new market with leisure time and money to spend that so embraced this revolution in Film. It was also in this climate that this new generation of directors emerged from to fill the spaces of the old and out dated. They had an empathy with their audience which is demonstrated by the fact that the term nouvelle vague was so quickly attributed to this movement in film style and form.
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.
‘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.