Thw New Wave
Paul Monaco, p. 36, 60
The New Wave directors were connected to the concerns of the intelligentsia, even if their social backgrounds were not elitist.
The were not members of an educated elite.
Please check social backgrounds of Chabrol, Godard, Resanis, Roehmer, Truffaut?
They rebelled against the older and traditional form of dependecy on literary texts by substituting a more lively and vibrant film language, though verbal and dialogue were still important in NW, but different lingo than Cocteau.
Innovation, radical departures length of shots and scenes, aural components of sound track
The movies that frmed the first crust of NW are not of uniform artistic quality, success,mpact and role in the directors later development and career
Nor has each work occupy the same position in the pantheon of classic films (Monaco, p. 60)
In the broader cultural contex, NW brought modernism to the cinema.
Modernism was the century’s most prescent and predominant art form.
It helped that NW was a commercia success internationally, not just in France, the essental forerunner of an international movie ndustry that targeted films for specific audiences.
NW marked the first triumph (Beatles were the second) of West Europe reversing the flow of post-1945 cultural impetus
NW commanded respect: NW led to the rise of art movie houses in the US in the early 1960s.
Its success and influence were international
But it remained peculiarly French
It encouraged more serious study and criticism of cinema as an art form, not commercak industry.
NW appealed to young, educated, urban aidience, in France and internationaly.
It’s important that the first films were commercially successful
What distinguished the NW was:
Artistic quality
Commercial appeal
Innovation
Commitment of audiences for cultiral support
(Monaco, p. 36)
