Tag Archive: French New Wave


THE CINEMATIC POETRY OF JEAN VIGO

Filed under: Movies, Photography, Poetry, Politics — 1 Comment
September 17, 2012
Jean Vigo

Man with a movie camera – Jean Vigo (1905-34)

Jean Vigo died of tuberculosis at the age of 29, a poet of the cinema whose flame burned brightly but all too briefly.

Between 1931  and 1934,  he made four flops which are now considered cinematic masterpieces and which had a huge influence on French New Wave directors.

His filmography consists of a couple of documentaries, a short film about a school rebellion and a feature-length movie about a married couple on a barge. All these can be viewed in under three hours. Continue reading →

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400 BLOWS FOR FREEDOM

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September 12, 2012

LES QUATRE CENTS COUPS (The 400 Blows) directed by François Truffaut (France, 1959)

TruffautI don’t speak French, but I am reliably informed (by Wiki!) that the original title of this brilliant movie comes from an expression meaning ‘to raise hell’.

To call the 12-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) a hell raiser is a bit of an exaggeration. He is disruptive and difficult but he is a good-hearted kid whose transgressive behaviour shows a keen intelligence more than a malevolent spirit.

His rebellion against the soul-destroying school system and oppressive home environment seems a wholly justified quest for a non-institutionalised education that teaches him more than simply how to conform.

We see him playing truant, sneaking into cinemas and embarking on a non too successful career as a petty criminal.

Truffaut’s remarkably assured debut is loosely based on his own life and fulfilled his aim to show adolescence “as the painful experience that it is”. Continue reading →

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BREATHLESS PULP CINEMA

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February 13, 2011

Dig the shirt, Richard!

Jim McBride’s remake of Jean-Luc Godard‘s French new wave classic ”À bout de souffle” was universally panned on release in 1983 . This partly explains why I’ve only just gotten round to seeing it .  It shows that you should never trust the critics.

It may not work as an art movie but as pulp cinema it is brilliant and, call me superficial, but I have to agree with Quentin Tarantino and say that it surpasses the original.

Ok, it hasn’t got any of Godard’s then revolutionary directorial touches but McBride is no slouch as a filmmaker and knows exactly what look and feel he is going for.

While Godard’s movie now looks horribly dated and pretentious, McBride’s is hilariously absurd and highly watchable. The casting of Richard Gere as flashy Jesse Lujack was the masterstroke. Gere’s over the top performance is compelling in its exaggeration. He’s a jerk with no fashion sense but he has the swagger to carry off the part of the ‘live fast die young’ rebel to perfection. Continue reading →

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