Arthouse Mafia: Monthly Thematic Explorations

December: French New Wave

French New Wave is a term critics invented for a group of filmmakers from the late 50’s and 60’s who opposed the standard of their time, when most movies were being based on novels. They instead targeted social and political matters of the current era, experimented with visual style and narrative, realism and surrealism, documentary style, and editing often using very long shots without cuts. At the time it was essentially “cinematic modernism.” This was an extremely influential movement lead by renown artists such as Jean-Luc Godard, Francios Truffaut, and Jacques Rivette. There is also a sub-division within the style, Left Bank and Right Bank. The Right Bank tended to be younger, more financially successful, and more famous. They were also referred to as Cahiers du Cinema. The Left Bank on the other hand tended to be older directors that were more contemplative towards the artistic nature of cinema treating it on par with mediums such as painting and literature. These two groups highly respected each other. Alain Resnais is an example of a prominent Left Bank filmmaker, while Godard, Truffaut, and Rivette were all Cahiers.

I was first introduced to the term here on movieforums.com. I forget exactly how long ago it was, but maybe about two years ago. I’ve been gradually exploring it along with other arthouse styles, but I’ve also wanted to take a more in-depth look at it. Arthouse Mafia has been dry for a while now, so I hope this will revive it.

My idea for this is to focus on the style as a category rather than selecting any specific films, although mutually agreeing to watch specific films is something I think should still be encouraged. Below I’ve compiled a list of directors, the films I’ve seen, and the films I plan to watch this month. There are more directors associated with the movement, but since I’m completely unfamiliar with them and don’t know how significant they were I did not include them in the list. If anyone wants to nominate a director to be added that I haven’t mentioned I’ll do so. The list of directors is just a reference point.

Directors
Jean-Luc Godard
Francois Truffaut
Jacques Rivette
Jean-Pierre Melville
Alain Resnais
Luis Malle
Eric Rohmer
Claud Chabrol
Chris Marker
Agnes Varda
Alain Robbe-Grillet
Marguerite Duras
Jacques Demy
Henri Colpi
Robert Bresson (precursor)

Movies I’ve Seen
Godard:
Breathless (1960)
Vivre sa Vie (1962)
Le Petit Soldat (1963)
Les Carabiniers (1963)
Alphaville (1965)
La Chinoise (1967)
Truffaut:
The 400 Blows (1959)
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Melville:
Bob Le Flambeur (1956)
Le Samourai (1967)
Army of Shadows (1969)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Resnais:
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Malle:
Black Moon (1975)

My To-Watch
Le Gai Savoir (1969) by Godard
The Last Metro (1980) by Truffaut
Joan the Maid (1994) Rivette
Va Savoir (2001) by Rivette
Last Year at Merienbad (1961) by Resnais
Murmur of the Heart (1971) by Malle
Au Revoirs les Enfants (1987) by Malle


According to Wikipedia, Truffaut credited Morris Engel’s Little Fugitive (1953) with helping to start the French New Wave. I don’t know if any of Engel’s other works qualify, but this one movie at least seems to be essential to the movement, and so I intend to watch it as part of this study.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_New_Wave

Velvet said he particularly wanted to watch Last Year at Merienbad, and it's a movie I've had my eye on for a while too. It probably won't be the first one I watch, but I'll make an effort to watch it asap.

January, you dummy!

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

I thought you were thinking of participating from January. Velvet and I wanted to start this month. You object? I just spent like... three hours making the thread.

youve seen black moon? Whats it like?

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also sweet thread.

I have pickpocket and last year at merienbad on hold . I can get pretty much any film so sweet

Black Moon is a very unique and interesting film. It has a lot of surrealism and symbolism. I found it to be very exciting and somewhat erotic. I give it and highly recommend it. The only thing is that I'm not actually sure if movies by French New Wave directors count after the 60's. Black Moon does feel more advanced than anything I am sure qualifies.

looked up and it said it ended in 73 not sure if good source

I found this long in-depth article on the history of French New Wave. I'm reading it now.

http://www.newwavefilm.com/about/his...new-wave.shtml

reserving post for list of films I'll see for this

I watched Va Savoir yesterday. It's the first Rivette I've seen. While I definitely noticed the French New Wave tendencies, it did feel too modern.

I can almost guarantee you will love Last Year at Marienbad. A near masterpiece.

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Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

should be picking it up today. Was able to get the out of print criterion.

Hope you enjoy

I'll pick up a few movies today. That article I posted is pretty great for talking about influential movies of the period, so I'll grab some of the ones that were considered particularly vital. I'll definitely grab Last Year at Marienbad.

I rented Shoot the Piano Player (1960) by Truffaut, Beau Serge (1958) by Charbrol, and Last Year at Marienbad (1961) by Resnais.

I'll watch Marienbad tonight for sure.

Hope you enjoy

Appreciate your enthusiasm. Lately the only thing I wish to see is Asami stopping bullets with her hands.

Critique of separation 3 ½ out of 5

This film featured solid shots of the french landscape with some intellectual dialogue. I believe it is called an anti film and it shows within the film through its nihilistic approach at film in general. Such as towards the end where it starts to turn into a sort of rambling of how the film itself is of no importance. Basically this film is self aware ramblings with some very pretty shots of france mixed in with some more politically charged shots. I myself enjoyed it but it’s not a film for everyone.

Minio, you are always so vague.

Who's Asami?

Minio, I really am so glad you are here. MoFo would be nothing without your demigod pressence.

(Bresson) pickpocket ⅘

I enjoyed this film. The film is extremely clean and at all times is clear and makes sense. It deals with almost a societal oddity; A man who has an interest with pickpocketing not just a financial scale but on a seemingly more personal scale. Throughout the film this character is sorta odd but very interesting. The dialogue is good in my opinion and gets you thinking in many places. Overall I liked this film especially the execution of its plot and overall makes for a good film.