French New Wave

CLASSIC FRENCH NEW WAVE FILMS

1. Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959) 2. Pierrot le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965) 3. The Cousins (Claude Chabrol, 1959)

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INFLUENCE ON CONTEMPORARY CINEMA

1. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) 2. When Harry Met Sally… (Rob Reiner, 1989) 3. True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993)

Cahiers Du Cinema

Alexandre Astruc obituary | Movies | The Guardian
Alexandre Astruc

Alexandre Astruc was a French film critic and film director. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his idea that directors should wield their cameras like writers use their pens.

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Agnès Varda
1. La Pointe-Courte (Agnès Varda, 1955) 2. Le Bonheur (Agnès Varda, 1965) 3. One Hundred and One Nights (Agnès Varda, 1995)

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Jean-Luc Godard
1. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) 2. Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) 3. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)

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François Truffaut
1. The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959) 2. Day for Night (François Truffaut, 1973) 3. Finally, Sunday! (François Truffaut, 1983)

Summarise what Astruc meant by the term “Auteur” and give some examples of the films cited by the movement as being created by Auteur directors. Remember to illustrate your post.

An auteur is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the “author” of the film, which thus manifests the director’s unique style or thematic focus.

Touch of Evil review – brilliant noir drama restored to Welles's vision | Touch  of Evil | The Guardian
Touch of Evil, (Orson Welles, 1958)
Vertigo and Lust | Zachary Miller
Vertigo, (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
The Searchers (1956) - Classic Cinemas
The Searchers, (John Ford, 1956)

Auteur

Auteur theory theory of filmmaking in which the director is viewed as the major creative force in a motion picture. Essentially it is the idea that the director has complete control and the film is consider as a piece of art.

Examples of Auteurs of the time-

Orson wells– Citizen kane, Touch of evil

Orson Welles – Movies, Bio and Lists on MUBI
citizen kane movie poster - Google Search | Citizen kane, Citizen kane movie,  Citizen kane movie poster

Alfred Hitchcock– Psycho, vertigo , Rear window

Alfred Hitchcock – Yousuf Karsh
Saul Bass's Designs Made America Fall in Love with Alfred Hitchcock - Artsy

cahiers du cinema and auteur theory

Alexandre Astruc’s contribution to the auteur theory centres on his notion of the caméra-stylo or “camera-pen” and the idea that directors should wield their cameras like writers use their pens.

ALEXANDRE ASTRUC TRIBUTE - YouTube
Alexandre Astruc

Examples Of Auteur Directors:

.Jean Luc Godard

Why Breathless (À bout de souffle) should never be forgotten
Breathless (1960)
A Woman Is a Woman (1961) | The Criterion Collection
A Woman Is A Woman (1961)

Francois Truffaut

The 400 Blows movie review & film summary (1959) | Roger Ebert
The 400 Blows (1959)

Agnes Varda

La Pointe Courte (1955) | MUBI
La Pointe Courte (1955)

french new wave auteurs

Astruc said that the camera is a pen that the director holds to over see the whole production of their film and is considered to be an author of a film rather than a director.

Cahiers Du Cinema Auteurs

François Truffaut – The 400 Blows

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About a troubled youth the drama film was released on June 3rd 1959.

Jean-Luc Godard – Breathless (A Bout De Souffle)

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About a criminal trying to pursue his love interest this dramatic crime film was release on march 16th 1960.

Jacques Rivette – Paris belongs to us

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A mystery film released in 1961 on December the 13th.

Jean Douchet – Celine and Julie Go Boating

Released on September 18th in 1974 a fantasy drama film.