I'm an aspiring filmmaker from Los Angeles. Recently, I graduated from USC with my Bachelors in Cinema/Television Production and French (yes, I'm a "phile" for all things "cine" and "franco"). I will continue my academic career by pursuing a Masters in Film Studies at UCLA (feel free to call me a traitor).
François Truffaut is considered one of the least radical filmmakers of the French New Wave. Unlike his counterpart, Jean-Luc Godard, Truffaut bypasses political and philosophical discourse in order to create realistic worlds grounded in hectic situations. His characters leave impressions on audiences, and none left as big of an impression as Adèle Hugo did in 1975.
1964 was an important year in the career of French filmmaker Jacques Demy. Having already made two feature films, Lola (1960) and Bay of Angels (1962), Demy made an international splash with his third feature film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Borrowing numerous elements from American musicals, Demy created a sumptuous musical that was, and still is, a treat for the eyes and the ears.
The musician biopic has a long and interesting history: In the 40s and 50s, it was a sugar-coated narrative that idealized the lives of musicians; in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the genre demystified the musician’s life when drugs, sex, and alcohol became more prevalent in popular culture; and in the 90s and 00s, the genre found complacency in clichés and formulaic plot devices. At the dawn of a new decade, Joann Sfar’s Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010) comes as a breath of fresh air.
By 1963, Jean-Luc Godard had established himself as the “rebel” of the Nouvelle Vague. The release of his sixth feature film, Contempt (1963) further cemented this title. Based on Alberto Moravia’s 1954 novel Il disprezzo, Contempt tells the story of Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli), an aspiring French screenwriter living in Italy, who is hired by a crude American producer, Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance), to doctor the script of a big screen adaptation of The Odyssey.