Raoul coutard biography of martin

The French New Wave, or “Nouvelle Vague,” was a revolutionary film movement that emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s, characterized by its innovative techniques, bold experimentation, and rejection of traditional cinema conventions. This movement challenged the established norms of filmmaking and sought to create a new cinematic language that reflected the social, cultural, and political changes of the time. The French New Wave directors, such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Agnès Varda, were driven by a desire to express their personal visions and explore new possibilities in storytelling, visual style, and editing.

The French New Wave had a profound impact on the history of cinema, influencing filmmakers worldwide and reshaping the landscape. Its legacy can be seen in the works of those who embraced its spirit of experimentation, and continued to push the boundaries of what is possible. The movement’s emphasis on personal expression, auteur theory, and the rejection of traditional narrative structures has had a lasting effect on the way films are made and understood, making it one of the most significant and influential developments in the history of cinema.

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Origins and Historical Context

The French New Wave emerged during a period of social and political upheaval in France, marked by the end of the Algerian War and the rise of youth culture. In the late 1950s, France was undergoing a significant transformation, with a new generation of young people challenging the established order and demanding change. This spirit of rebellion and desire for freedom found expression in the French New Wave, as young filmmakers sought to break free from the constraints of traditional cinema and create a new kind of film that reflected their experiences and aspirations.

French cinema before the New Wave was dominated by studio-bound productions that were seen a

Context being everything, I know exactly why I liked Godard Mon Amour a year ago, when it premiered in Cannes: it was because I was convinced I was going to hate it. A film about Jean-Luc Godard and Anne Wiazemsky from the director of The Artist, with teaser stills of Louis Garrel with his hair cropped and tufted to look like the balding mid-’60s JLG—this wasn’t a promising prospect. But if a film confounds your expectations positively, it tends to earn major bonus points. So this time last year, I liked Michel Hazanavicius’s film a lot, with reservations. Now, on a second viewing, my response is more along the lines of, “Ouais bof…” (to be pronounced with a Gallic shrug of not outright dismissal but, let’s say, perplexed impatience).

Godard Mon Amour, it must be said first of all, is a really stupid U.S. release title—although the poster is emblazoned with Godard’s own opinion, stated in 2016 before the project was complete, that the film was “a stupid, stupid idea.” What’s charming about Godard Mon Amour—originally titled Le Redoutable, after a French submarine much discussed in the mid-’60s—is that it revels in its own stupidity. But the knowing faux-dumbness is mixed with no small degree of simple misjudgment.

The film recounts a period in the lives of Jean-Luc Godard and the woman who was his wife for 12 years: young actress Anne Wiazemsky. She had appeared in Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar, before marrying Godard. Godard cast Wiazemsky—who died last October, just as the film was being launched on the post-Cannes festival circuit—in a lead role in his cogitation on Maoist politics La Chinoise,and continued working with her in several other films; they divorced in 1979. Wiazemsky, who also worked with directors including Marco Ferreri and Pasolini, went on to achieve renown as a novelist. She also wrote memoirs about her time with Godard. Hazanavicius’s film is based specifically on her Un an aprè