What are some great French New Wave films?
 

Maybe its spelled french nu wave, but anyways I just saw visions of light, the cinematography documentary and was curious about the french new wave.

What are some good french new wave films, are fellini or billy wilder films french new wave?

(It was a great documentary and defenitly worth renting if anyone hasn't seen it.)

Huh? What's this about Wilder and Fellini?


Anyway, avoid ALPHAVILLE if you want to save your soul (joke.)

I loved 400 BLOWS. BREATHLESS was allright.

There. Those are the films everybody knows. I got them out of the way for the real cineastes to come in.







Btw: It ain't New Wave, but he's French and I have to mention this . . .


TATI IS NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!

Pro B is a sort of resident expert on french and euro-cinema and he may stop by this thread... you may get a better response in the International forum. I've only got like 5 or 10 french films, so I wouldn't be much help.

Re: What are some great French New Wave films?
 

<u>Rule 1</u>: French New Wave movies are <i>FRENCH</i>. that sorta leaves out Fellini and Wilder.

Here's an article that will give you a general overview along with some specific films you might want to explore.

http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/fnwave1.jsp

start with The 400 Blows as that was where the whole movement really started........and it's an excellent film as well.

Does Diva count? :)

400 Blows
Band of Outsiders
Last Year At Marienbad
Weekend

Jules and Jim

I've seen very few, but 2 that I love are:

Godard's Band of Outsiders
Chabrol's Les Bonnes Femmes

I can't seem to appreciate Truffaut's films. I thought Jules & Jim was fantastic when I saw it as a teenager, but hated it when I saw it again a couple of years ago.

The leading lights of the nouvelle vague were

Truffaut (400 Blows, Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player)

Godard (Breathless, A Woman is a Woman, My Life to Live, Band of Outsiders, Pierrot le Fou)

Chabrol (Les Cousins, Les Bonnes Femmes, Le Beau Serge, Les Biches)

Resnais (Hiroshima mon Amour, Last Year at Marienbad)

Rohmer (La Collectionneuse, My Night at Maud's)

Rivette (Paris Belongs to Us)

Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Young Girls of Rochefort)

Varda (Cleo from 5 to 7, Le Bonheur)

As far as I'm conceerned, the list for Godard could go on indefinitely. He's one of my all-time favorite directors. I like the others somewhat less, but I consider myself a big fan of Chabrol and Rivette particularly.