Breathless - French New Wave

               In the late 1950s, French New Wave was emerged and it is an important moment in film history even though they are not considered as a film movement. French New Wave is a term refers to films made by a new generation of French filmmakers which were low-budget and went against the literary period pieces being made in France in the 1950s. This group of new generation of French filmmakers were desired to shoot more current social issues on location. Their intention of experiment with the film form which engaged with the social and political upheavals of the era, with the radical experiments of editing, visual style and narration. French new wave was explained as a motion against the traditional French cinema, which was more literature than cinema. Significantly, it was a radical sense of change in cinema that trickles around the globe. In this essay, I would like to discuss some characteristics and traits used in the film “Breathless” which is one of the famous French New Wave film in the history. 

               The French New wave gave birth to such ideas as jump cuts, unimportant of linear structure, discontinuous editing and etc. During that era, the filmmakers have limited budget and equipment can be used during the filmmaking process. In the context of social and economic troubles of post-World War II France, French New Wave technique is the issue of money and production value. The cost of making the film was a major concern. Thus, efforts to save film turned into stylistic innovation. The cinematic styling of French New Wave film brought a fresh look to cinema with improvised dialogue, rapid changes of scene and shots that broke the common camera rules such as 180 degree axis of camera movement, three point camera and etc. Most of the camera techniques used in the French New Wave was not to mesmerize the audiences with elaborate narrative and illusory images, but it is used as a convention to play with audience’s expectations. Besides, the new wave also the invention and use of jump cut. The jump cut is when a scene cut forward in time, whether by a split second or many seconds. The action is linked and relevant with the next scene so that audiences can understand and expect what is happening in the middle of the jump cut. For an example, a gun pointed to a man, but what the viewer sees is the gun being pointed then there is a jump cut to other character failing over. Then, the audience able to assume the man has shot another man. Next, other traits can be found in new wave cinema was the largely use of closely ups and a lack of establishing shots. The filmmakers were not as concerned about establishing spatial and contextual relationship as they were about the mise-en-scene. A viewer was supposed to feel the setting, not necessarily see it. Lastly, the new wave style has borrowed many techniques from the neo-realists as the new wave filmmakers often used handheld cameras to shoot on location. The cameras techniques used were cheap and quick which give a less static and structured feel of the shot. 

               Breathless is a 1960 French film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It is starring with Michel, a youthful criminal who steal a car in Marseille and shot a policeman in dead. Then, he runs from the police. He falls in love with an American named Patricia, a student and aspiring journalist who sells the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. Patricia hides him in her apartment as he simultaneously tries to seduce her and call in a loan to fund their escape to Italy. Patricia says she is pregnant and most probably is Michel’s. She notices that Michel is on the run when questioned by the police. Eventually, she betrays him, but before the police arrive she tells Michel about this. He is somewhat resigned to a life in prison and does not try to escape at first. The police shoot him in the street end, after a long run, he dies out of breath. 

               In this film Breathless, a few traits of French New Wave can be recognized. Firstly, the use of the jump cut. Jump cut was used in the film in order to cut forward in time of the action so that the audiences can understand the linked action of the scene yet the filmmakers can skip the particular action. For an example, when Michel shoots the police who has followed him onto a country home. Throughout the whole scene, the audiences only see the gun being pointed to the police then come with a jump cut to the police failing over. Audiences can still understand the action of the scene with the use of jump cut editing. Next, in the film Breathless, we can recognized a lot of close ups shots were used and lack of establishing shots used. For an instances, in the opening shot of the Breathless, the shot was focus on Michel’s newspaper as he is holding up, a close up of an ad showing a cartoon woman wearing undergarments that is pulled down to reveal the face of our main character. However, the audiences can’t see the establishing shot of the seen. Then followed by a series of cut, mismatches shot and random sound design, and these all concluded that has rejected the way of traditional continuity editing. Lastly, most of the shot in the film Breathless are using handheld to shoot. For instances, in the end of the film as the Michel is run away from the police, the whole scene was shot by handheld and the audiences can see the shakiness and unsteady shot of the scene. 

               The French new wave was to be the most important film movement of the 20^th century. Without it existence, the film would not be free, open or experimental for today. They give a new identity to the film where they stand up for their own designed art form and differ from the others. Therefore, French New Wave is still implementing in the era, not the technique, yet is the idea of experimenting behind these filmmakers.