Characteristics of French New Wave Films

The films of the French New Wave possessed several distinct characteristics that defined the movement. These are the techniques and tropes employed to give the films a recognizably naturalistic style.

Low Budget

France underwent an economic crisis after World War II. Therefore, the amount of investment in filmmaking is very low. Due to budgetary concerns, the directors have borrowed their friends' apartment as a shooting location and used them as the cast and crew. The apartment where Michel Poiccard, the protagonist in A Bout de Souffle (1960), was talking to his girlfriend, Patricia is one of the examples. Besides that, they do not use established actors in French New Wave films. As an example, the characters of Michel and Patricia are played by then-unknown actors, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg to reduce production costs.

The apartment look very narrow and the crew are just few.

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Shoot on Location & Natural Sound
French New Wave filmmakers were inspired by Italian Neorealism, thus they prefer to shoot on location as opposed to studio filming. Shooting in natural locations make the French New Waves films look authentic and natural. Natural lighting is also one of its prominent features. It is meant to emphasize the notion of reality. The spare use of lighting equipment is also due to lack of funding. For example, the setting of A Bout de Souffle (1960) takes place in Paris, as we can see views of the streets and landmarks like the Eiffel Tower  and Arc de Triomphe. Additionally, French New Wave directors recorded the sound during shooting and did not do any alterations to retain the authentic quality of the films. For example, in the airport scene where they interview Mr. Parvulesco, the noises coming from the planes can be heard. 

Mr. Parvulesco's interview took place in airport. 

Anti-authoritarian Protagonist

The protagonists in French New Wave films are mostly marginalized, young anti-heroes who defy the status quo. Usually portrayed as alienated loners, they live with no family ties, behave spontaneously, and act immorally. They are often seen as anti-authoritarian. For example, the protagonist Michel Poiccard, a socially alienated character in A Bout De Soufflé (1960), is a car thief who killed policemen, stole money from his girlfriend, and yet shows no sign of remorse. At the beginning of the film we can see that he is masking his face with a newspaper. This typically criminal behavior shows that he is a morally ambiguous character who is distancing himself from society.

Michel is a car thief and murderer.

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Improvised Dialogue

In opposition to classical filmmaking, directors of the French New Wave did not plan well before shooting and the dialogue was often changed or written the same day it was read. Consequently, the plot might have change several times. The actor’s performance of speech or dialogue pattern in French New Wave films is unique because they are encouraged to improvise their dialogue. Therefore, the dialogue in the film may occasionally seem irrelevant to the storyline. Here is an example of the hotel scene from A Bout De Soufflé (1960) for improvised dialogue:

Improvised conversation in the apartment.

Mise-en-shot

While watching French New Wave films, we can recognize a lot of mise-en-shots in them like the handheld shot, tracking shot, pan shot, long shot and point-of-view shot. We can identify the handheld shot because some scenes look very shaky and unstable. The lightweight hand-held cameras available during the1950s made shooting on location and long tracking shots easy. Generally, there is only one camera used in these films. In A bout de soufflé (1960), the pan shot is used while shooting Michel’s movement pan to right to show that he is chasing a car. Tracking shot is the shooting of the subject’s movement within the frame using a camera dolly. There are many point of view shots in the film too. For example, the point of view shot of Michel when he is driving and another scene of him murdering the policeman.

Long tracking shot is used for this scene.

POV shot of Michel when he is driving.

Editing
Unlike other film styles which emphasize more on continuity editing, French New Wave films are more likely to break the rule of continuity and employ a freer form of editing. They are used to inform audiences the fractured nature of their films. Jump cut is an editing technique used to remove the continuity in time and space between shots. It is used almost throughout A bout de soufflé (1960). At the same time, jump shot scenes also emphasize on the discontinuity of the film’s narrative. Below, there is a scene of Michel and Patricia driving around the streets of Paris.

Jump cut editing skill is used to edit this car driving scene on Streets of Paris.

References:

Bordwell & Thompson (2009) ‘The French New wave (1960-1964)’, Film Art: An Introduction, New York, McGraw-Hill: pp.475-477.

M.Marie(1945) ‘A Technical Practice, an Aesthetic’, The French New Wave: An Artistic School, United Kingdom, TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall :pp.70-95

Nelmes, J. (1996). An Introduction to Film Studies. Characteristics of Film New Wave Cinema. (3rded.) Routledge, pp. 436-437. 

Jean-Luc Godard (Director) & Georges de Beauregard (Producer). March 16, 1960. A Bout De Soufflé (Breathless). France. UGC.