manaro @ the cinema

The French New Wave appeared at the end of the 1950's and the term of "New Wave" appeared in 1957. Jean-Luc Godard was one of the french new wave's pioneer with Breathless in 1960. He was in a group composed of critics who published in a review named "Notebooks on Cinema". They critiqued the classic french cinema and argued that the "cinema was in the process of becoming a new means of expression on the same level as painting and the novel" "a form in which an artist can express his thoughts, however abstract they may be, or translate his obsessions exactly as he does in the contemporary essay or novel". 

This artistic movement is opposed at the classic french cinema by many things: the way of filming, the acting, the shooting's place. Indeed, the French New Wave's films are filmed outdoors contrary to the classic films which are filmed in studio); we could say the acting is more natural and look less "like it's acting" and there are many shots where the actor look at the camera. In this movement, the director is the author of his films, and have a certain characteristic.

We could say that Breathless is very different from classic french movies but also from hollywood movies. Even the main actress, Jean Seberg said so: "It's a crazy experience - no spots, no makeup, no sound ! But it's so different from Hollywood's style that I become natural". Indeed, Jean-Luc Godard would write the scenes just before the shooting and almost everything was improvised. Even the film's theme is different from Hollywood : there isn't a high-speed chase in cars with bullets from everywhere but a murder executed simply and rapidly and a criminal walking leisurely in Paris.