Skip to Main Content

CIST Student Sandbox

The Nouvelle Vague Film Movement (French New Wave)

Resources related to the Nouvelle Vague movement including films, styles, directors and actors, as well as artistic and socio-cultural influences.

     NOUVELLE VAGUE or, The French New Wave

                                                                1960's girl in orange turtleneck running    C'est quoi le Nouvelle Vague?

                                                                    Louis Malle, Zazie dans le Métro (1960)

What is the French New Wave?                                                                                                 Beginning in the early 1950’s, the French New Wave was a movement of French filmmakers and creatives who were driven to reject traditional filmmaking through the influence of multiple environmental, financial, and cultural shifts occurring in France, and Europe at large in the period following the Second World War.                                                             

1960's pastel people dancing

Jacques Demy, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967)

France, which had a long and illustrious history of pioneering in arts and culture, found itself financially and imaginatively stagnant in the aftermath of the war. An entire generation of young people had survived years of horror, and yet did not have the means to assert their traditional artistic expression as a means of catharsis. As well, the traumatic experience of the war had caused European artists to reconsider art as an expression of life. In Italy, the Neo-Realist movement was born, emphasizing realistic, naturalistic cinematography, characters, and metaphysical perspectives.    

                                                                                                      marienbad gardens

                                              Alain Resnais, L'Année dernière à Marienbad (1961)

Inspired by the groundbreaking nature of the Italian Neo-Realist movement, French filmmakers adopted this new style, emphasizing mundane life, non-professional actors, and abstract concepts, adapting it to their own individual modes of expression.

While the contributors to the French New Wave created works quite distinct from each other, thematically the films are united by their explorations of existentialism, youth, and rebellion; and stylistically with the use of unconventional narratives, experimental editing, improvisation, and on-location shooting.

                      woman in bed 1960's

Jean-Luc Godard, Deux ou trois choses que Je sais d'elle (1967)

This guide provides resources offering multiple perspectives and approaches to the topic of the French New Wave which are intended to be accessible for both new and seasoned students of the movement. Resources include perspectives on and studies of films, styles, directors and actors, as well as artistic and socio-cultural influences related to the Nouvelle Vague. 

                                                               woman smoking 1960's

                                               Jean-Luc Godard, Deux ou trois choses que Je sais d'elle (1967)