Criterion Collection Themes - French New Wave
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“Tidal wave” would have been a more appropriate name for this explosion of vibrant, innovative, and highly self-conscious films by young French directors in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The informal movement was spearheaded by a handful of critics from Cahiers du cinéma—Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette—whose incisive writings were matched by their films: bold, modern takes on classical masters that reworked genres like noir and the musical, and experimented with techniques antiquated and discovered. While Godard’s Breathless and Truffaut’s The 400 Blows remain the twin groundbreaking events of the movement, films such as Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima mon amour and Agnès Varda’s Cléo from 5 to 7 were watersheds as well, finding excited audiences hungry for a new, energetic, political cinema opposed to the stuffy “cinema of quality,” as Truffaut put it, of the old guard. Though the movement quickly dissipated, filmmakers like Godard, Rivette, Varda, and Rohmer continue to pioneer today.
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1 new
Alphaville: Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution
1965 — a.k.a. Alphaville, in 13 top lists Check -
2 new
La boulangère de Monceau
1963 — a.k.a. The Bakery Girl of Monceau, in 1 top list Check -
3 new
Bande à part
1964 — a.k.a. Band of Outsiders, in 13 top lists Check -
4 new
La baie des anges
1963 — a.k.a. Bay of Angels, in 4 top lists Check -
5 new
Le beau Serge
1958 — a.k.a. Le Beau Serge, in 3 top lists Check -
6 new
Le bonheur
1965 — a.k.a. Happiness, in 8 top lists Check -
7 new
À bout de souffle
1960 — a.k.a. Breathless, in 29 top lists Check -
8 new
Chronique d'un été (Paris 1960)
1961 — a.k.a. Chronicle of a Summer, in 8 top lists Check -
9 new
Cléo de 5 à 7
1962 — a.k.a. Cleo from 5 to 7, in 15 top lists Check -
10 new
Le mépris
1963 — a.k.a. Contempt, in 17 top lists Check -
11 new
Les cousins
1959 — a.k.a. The Cousins, in 6 top lists Check -
12 new
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
1958 — a.k.a. Elevator to the Gallows, in 10 top lists Check -
13 new
Le feu follet
1963 — a.k.a. The Fire Within, in 8 top lists Check -
14 new
Les quatre cents coups
1959 — a.k.a. The 400 Blows, in 26 top lists Check -
15 new
Hiroshima mon amour
1959 — a.k.a. Hiroshima Mon Amour, in 17 top lists Check -
16 new
Jules et Jim
1962 — a.k.a. Jules and Jim, in 21 top lists Check -
17 new
L'année dernière à Marienbad
1961 — a.k.a. Last Year at Marienbad, in 23 top lists Check -
18 new
Lola
1961, in 10 top lists Check -
19 new
Les amants
1958 — a.k.a. The Lovers, in 7 top lists Check -
20 new
Masculin féminin
1966 — a.k.a. Masculine-Feminine, in 7 top lists Check -
21 new
Pierrot le fou
1965 — a.k.a. Pierrot le Fou, in 16 top lists Check -
22 new
La Pointe-Courte
1955 — a.k.a. La Pointe Courte, in 4 top lists Check -
23 new
Tirez sur le pianiste
1960 — a.k.a. Shoot the Piano Player, in 10 top lists Check -
24 new
La carrière de Suzanne
1963 — a.k.a. Suzanne's Career, in 1 top list Check -
25 new
Les parapluies de Cherbourg
1964 — a.k.a. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, in 18 top lists Check -
26 new
Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux
1962 — a.k.a. Vivre Sa Vie, in 12 top lists Check -
27 new
Week End
1967 — a.k.a. Weekend, in 14 top lists Check -
28 new
Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?
1966 — a.k.a. Who Are You, Polly Magoo?, in 1 top list Check -
29 new
Une femme est une femme
1961 — a.k.a. A Woman Is a Woman, in 4 top lists Check -
30 new
Les demoiselles de Rochefort
1967 — a.k.a. The Young Girls of Rochefort, in 12 top lists Check -
31 new
Zazie dans le métro
1960 — a.k.a. Zazie dans le Métro, in 6 top lists Check
Last updated on May 10, 2014; source