The 1950s and 60s in France was a defining period for French Cinema, with the people of France having just overcome the trauma of the second world war which had lasted for six long years. However, the Cold War was taking place and there was a considerable amount of tension between the East and West. Despite this, a reconstruction process had begun; the people of France had started to rebuild their economies and political/social subcultures in society. A revolution had begun; after years and years of rationing, shortages, tension and political outrage, France was finally getting back up on its feet. Technological innovation brought around enormous change in societyy, making consumer goods such a cars, televisions and the like more affordable for the general public. Black and White films were a thing of the past, and wide screen formatting was in use - it was a new Golden age for France and for French Cinema. (internationalschoolhistory.net 2015)
Jean-Luc Godard, was born in the 1930s and began his career in film-making when he co-founded Gazette du Cinema in 1950, which was a short-lived film journal. He later joined Cahiers Du Cinema, where he would find himself writing film critiques alongside the likes of Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol; all of which would become vital figures in the beginning of the French New Wave movement (Lanzoni 2002). Godard was one of the first of the young critics to published in Cahiers Du Cinema, with the January 1952 issue featuring his review of an American film by Rudolph Mate named 'No Sad Songs for Me'. He began his filmmaking career shortly after joining Cahiers, whilst also assisting other filmmakers like Rohmer. Godard's films were often seen as being about the presentation of a narrative, rather than the narrative itself due to his emphasis on technique. Many of films digressed from the main storyline or followed a completely non-linear structure. His first feature film 'Breathless' was possibly considered his most ground-breaking film and incorporated many distinct features from the 'New Wave style'. He employed techniques such as jump cuts, breaking eye-line match rules and 180 degree rules, as well as taking several elements from popular culture, particularly film noir. Godard is considered to be what is called an 'auteur', which generally speaking means that he was a director that influences his films so much that he is considered to be their author and the creative force behind them.
Godard first saw actress Anna Karina in an advert for Palmolive. He contacted her straight away about a small part in his famous 'Breathless', however, she turned the role down as soon as she found out it would involve nudity. She agreed to take the lead role in his next film and they soon started a relationship with each other which would later be used as inspiration in some of his films. However, the first year of their relationship was the happiest and their relationship became more and more strained as time went on. Karina's co-star in A Woman is a Woman spoke about their relationship on-set, saying "They tore each other apart, argued, loved each other, hated each other, screamed at each other". Things became worse when Karina became pregnant. The couple got married, however, Karina experienced a miscarriage which damaged her health considerably and Godard found it difficult to cope, leaving her for several weeks. She then had an affair with a co-star from another film she was working on, and decided that she wanted to marry him and divorce Godard, which subsequently resulted in her attempting suicide. Despite this, Godard and Karina reconciled and continued working on films together until even after their divorce in December 1964. Their last film together was 'Made in the USA 'which was produced in 1966 and it is reported that the atmosphere on set when the couple were together was very unpleasant, with Godard often seen shouting at Karina. He once again used the narrative of the film to explore the relationship he once had with her. Although this would be the last time they worked together, Karina said in an interview many years later 'He was and will remain the greatest love of my life'.
The first film I looked at was the 1962 Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live), which follows the life of a young woman named Nana, who dreams of becoming an actress but instead is stuck working as a shop assistant with a husband and child that she is unhappy with. She leaves this life behind in pursuit of her dream career and independence, however, ends up becoming a prostitute and in fact, becomes more and more dependent on others (particularly men), being sold by one pimp to another until eventually, she is involved in a tragic murder. Throughout Vivre Sa Vie, Godard employs various unconventional techniques and methods to excite the audience. Godard liked the make the audience constantly aware of the fact that they are watching a film, and so Vivre Sa Vie was shot on the streets of Paris and the locations used by him were not closed off from the general public. As a result of this, the general public can often be seen looking at the camera, the actors and the crew with intrigue. Looking back on his film 'Breathless', he felt as though he had moved the camera far too much when filming. He decided that for this film, he would use heavier equipment which was not as easy to move around, he would light scenes correctly and capture audio at the time of filming rather than dubbing over in post-production. (newwavefilm.com 2015) The narrative of the film is split into twelve chapters (tableaux), each listing what and who we are about to see in the following scenes. The story is non-linear; elements are missing and mixed up and it is almost impossible to fill the gaps in with the information provided within the film. Here, Godards intention was for the story to be as if Nana were recalling each scene like a memory. It has an overarching plot, however it lacks cohesion, much like ones memory. As well as presenting the narrative in a unusual way, Godard experiments with various techniques throughout the film. There are lots of long takes, many of which last three minutes and over which would not be so long if the film came from a more traditional cinematographer, as they are often uncomfortable or make the audience lose interest. The first chapter's title screen reads ' Tableau one: A bistro - Nana wants to leave Paul - pinball' . The first descriptor tells us the number of the chapter, then the second tells us the location in which the scene is set. The third descriptor tells us about how Nana is feeling, and finally it tells us about an object of importance. Interestingly, the way that the last three descriptors are arranged vary throughout the film depending on what Godard wants the audience to view as important. For example, in chapter nine, the title reads simply 'Tableau nine: A young man - Nana wonders if she is happy'. He wants the focus to be completely on the young man and on Nana's feelings; everything else is insignificant in comparison.
After the title sequence, the opening scene sees Nana having a conversation with her husband Paul in a cafe but unlike in a conventional film, we cannot see the two characters faces as they talk until the moment at which they decide to separate. This is a theme that continues throughout the rest of the film, excluding one chapter; in the scene following the chapter title, we cannot see the entirety of any characters faces. However, in chapter ten we can see the entirety on Nana's face although it is not a close-up like in the other scenes, but a medium-long shot. This is when Nana finally has a job and things are starting to look up Breaking free of the formal traditions of cinema was a key feature of new wave cinema and can be seen as the contextual counter culture.
When analysing the editing used in the film, it is apparent that Godard's aim was to in fact use as few cuts as possible which is highlighted in the opening scenes of the film, where Nana and Paul are in the bistro together. The camera is completely static until it is Paul's turn to talk, where the focus is shifted to the back of his head with a cut. A few minutes later, when the location changes to the record store that Nana works in, the camera follows the action rather than cutting to get a better point of view. The French New Wave was created by new and upcoming cinematographers who were often on a limited budget and had to make do with what they had. The lack of editing throughout the film immerses the audience into Nana's life, almost in a documentary style. The only thing that highlights the editing in the film is in chapter six where a series of Godard's famous jump cuts are utilised. During this scene, the camera pans right however a small cut takes place with each fire of the machine gun. Godard, being the auter he is described as by many, is almost paying homage to himself by using these jump cuts like he did in 'Breathless'.
Godard's first cinemascope and colour film was his 1961 release 'Une Femme Est Une Femme', which is a musical comedy that follows the story of a young woman named Angela (played by Anna Karina) who desperately wants to have a baby, however, her husband Emile does not feel ready to do so. His best friend, Alfred is also in love with Angela, and throughout the film pursues a relationship with her. After Angela and Emile have an argument which results in them not talking to each other, she gives in to Alfred and sleeps with him. Emile sees that his wife will do anything to have a baby and reconciles with her so that he might have a chance to be a father. In regards to context, the narrative is very similar to Godard's real life and his personal relationship with Karina, who at the time of production became pregnant. The couple were married in March 1961. Roger Ebert suggested that the parallels were not just between the film’s characters and that of the Odyssey, but also with Godard: ‘it is just as tempting to see the frustrated screenwriter as Godard,; the woman as Godard’s wife, Anna Karina, and the producer as a cross between Joseph E Levine and Carlo Ponti, who were both attached to the project’3 (Roger Ebert, netribution.co.uk 2015)
A Woman is a Woman is a very self-conscious film, much like Le Mepris. At the very beginning we hear a woman's voice shout ''Lights, Camera, Action!'', which immediately highlights the fact that we are watching a film. Throughout, the actors constantly acknowledge the audience, ensuring that they do not forget that they are watching a film and not real life, as well as Belmondo winking at the camera. Godard also inserts references to other films, particularly those of friend from Cahiers Du Cinema, Francois Truffaut, in order to destroy the line between film and reality. Actors from other New Wave films make cameo appearances during the film, for example: Jeanne Moreau and Marie Dubois from Jules et Jim (1962).
The film was shot in just five weeks, and the actors wore their own clothes. This was common in the Nouvelle Vague, as many filmmakers had low budgets and little time, and many of the actors used were not professionals. Godard had originally planned to shoot the film in an apartment that belonged to an elderly couple, however they changed their minds and a set had to be built in a studio instead. This film was the first of Godard's films to have the sound recorded directly, which explains why in some scenes the crew can be heard. Throughout the film, Godard experiments with the use of sound, particularly with the use of non-diegetic sound, often drifting from non-diegetic to diegetic and vice-versa. In the first scene, Angela is at a bar and non-diegetic music is playing. The sound then switches to diegetic and you can hear the man beside her put his glass down on the bar before the audio switches to non-diegetic music again.
Le Mepris (Contempt) was made in 1963 and is a self-reflexive film, much like Une Femme Est Une Femme, highlights the difference between film and reality. The narrative follows the disintegration of the relationship between the disillusioned wife (Camille) of a screen writer (Paul) who gets roped into a project with an American film producer (Jeremiah). This storyline, like several of Godard's other films, echoes the breakdown of Godard's marriage with his wife, Karina. In fact, cinematographer Raoul Coutard referred to Le Mepris as 'a letter to Godard's wife' (Raoul Coutard, Carleton 2015). Throughout his film-making career, Godard was fascinated with exploring the ways in which women interact with relationships as femme fatales. In Breathless, he looks at how women betray, in Pierrot Le Fou he looks at how women run away and in Contempt, he looks at the way in which women become faithless. However, what makes Contempt different is how Godard emphasises the fact that a man may be at fault for the loss of a woman's love. (Philip Loptate 1997)
Similar to Une Femme Est Une Femme, throughout Le Mepris, Godard illustrates the fact that he is making a film. In the opening scene of the film, he destroys the line between reality and film, as the dolly tracks and camera crew are clearly visible as the actors make their way across the set. This is similar to the way in which he breaks the 'fourth wall' rule in Une Femme Est Une Femme, where he gets the characters to address the audience and the camera, although it is slightly more subtle to a passive audience. In terms of new wave sensibilities, this provides another break with formal structures and traditions of conventional cinema and highlights a radical change approach that the nouvelle vague introduced. In the opening scene of the film, Bardot's body is the main focus. "Ms. Bardot’s body, in that first scene, and Capri, in the concluding scenes, are the natural world that nobody in this movie seems quite capable of harmonizing with, or of seeing, as entirely, irreducibly real, the way Homer did. And it isn’t, of course. As “Contempt” does not allow us to forget, Lang is shooting a movie, and we in the audience are watching one, and here, as in every other movie ever made, we gaze, like Odysseus in this film’s gorgeous final shot, at a reality that’s a projection of our own desires, an Ithaca turned hazy by artifice and distance." (Terrance Rafferty 2008)
The female lead in played by arguably the most iconic actress at the time, Brigitte Bardot. She was very much a sex symbol during the 60s and as result of this, Godard was instructed to include a set number of nude shots of her to attract an audience. Although Godard does include various shots of Bardot's pouting lips, her curves and her bathing or laying around in no clothes, he does so in a way that makes the audience aware of sexual objectification. For example, in the opening scene, a completely unclothed Camille and her husband Paul are laying in bed, as she talks about the various body parts that the heterosexual males that the scene was constructed for would gain scopophilia from, she reminds us that she is aware that she is being looked at and that our view isn't going unnoticed. In this scene, Godard also uses a colour filter. It begins on red, then turned white, and then finally goes blue. Nothing in the narrative of the scene suggests a reason for this tricolour filter, however, Godard uses it to again, interrupt the shot and make the audience aware that they are watching a film.
Godard famously said 'A movie should a beginning, middle and an end, though not necessarily in that order' (Phillip Loptate 1997) Despite this statement, the narrative in Contempt, unlike many of Godard's films, is linear and has clear beginning, middle and end. However, a large section of the film is made up of a scene in which Camille and Paul have an argument where we can see their relationship disintegrate. This scene, being over half an hour long, would be deemed excessively long in traditional cinema, however, in the French New Wave movement it was commonplace to include extremely long scenes or long takes and in this case it is a poignant part of the film. Another interesting thing to note about the structure of the film is that Godard employs the use of flashbacks via post-production editing, for example: when Camille is in Prokosch's garden and reminisces about the day she's had.
In conclusion, Godard's films, much like many other new wave filmmakers', reflected his own personal experiences in life and focussed specifically on his relationship with his wife and muse, Anna Karina. It is also apparent that Godard preferred for his audience to be aware of the fact that his films were not reality, despite the fact that his storylines often echoed and explored his own reality.
It is clear that his films, as well as the films of many other New Wave filmmakers had a massive impact on society and the audiences who watched them. The French New Wave was very much inspired by producers such as Renoir and critics such as Alexandre Astruc who emphasised the importance of making films personal, using small film crews and being spontaneous, and then the New Wave filmmakers went on to inspire and influence more modern filmmakers and directors such as Quentin Tarantino who made use of their new techniques such as jump-cuts, long takes, using colour filters and drifting from non-diegetic to diegetic sound. Therefore, it is obvious that the French New Wave movement influenced and changed cinematography and film making forever by introducing a new way of communicating a story and allowing filmmakers the freedom to experiment.
References:
- Contempt (Le Mepris). 1963. Jean-Luc Godard. France. Les Films Concordia, Rome Paris Films, Compagnia Cinematografica.
- My Life To Live (Vivre Sa Vie). 1962. Jean-Luc Godard. France. Les Filmes de la Pleiade, Pathe Consortium Cinema.
- A woman is a woman (Une femme best une femme). 1961. Jean-Luc Godard. France. Euro International Film, Rome Paris Film.
- Lanzoni, Remi Fournier. French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present. New York: Continuum, 2002.
- Luzi, Evan. 'The French New Wave: A Cinematic Revolution'. The Black and Blue. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
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- Sterrit, David. The Films of Jean Luc Godard. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print.
- http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.396947-Vivre-sa-vie-Living-and-Loving-the-Life
- Newwavefilm.com,. 'VIVRE SA VIE (My Life To Live) - Jean-Luc Godard'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
- the godard experience. 2015. the godard experience. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.carleton.edu/curricular/MEDA/classes/media110/Friesema/contempt.html. [Accessed 23 November 2015
- International School History - Western Europe 1939-2000 - Spain, Germany and Britain. 2015. International School History - Western Europe 1939-2000 - Spain, Germany and Britain. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.internationalschoolhistory.net/western_europe/europe/rebuilding_europe.htm. [Accessed 23 November 2015].
- A short history of French cinema | Film | The Guardian. 2015. A short history of French cinema | Film | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/22/french-cinema-short-history. [Accessed 23 November 2015]
- The Escapist : Forums : User Reviews : Vivre sa vie: Living and Loving the Life. 2015. The Escapist : Forums : User Reviews : Vivre sa vie: Living and Loving the Life. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.396947-Vivre-sa-vie-Living-and-Loving-the-Life. [Accessed 22 November 2015].
- Netribution > Features > Essays > Cinephilia of Le Mepris. 2015. Netribution > Features > Essays > Cinephilia of Le Mepris. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.netribution.co.uk/features/essays/le_mepris.html. [Accessed 23 November 2015].
- A Woman Is a Woman - From the Current - The Criterion Collection . 2015. A Woman Is a Woman - From the Current - The Criterion Collection . [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/330-a-woman-is-a-woman. [Accessed 01 December 2015].
- Lopate, Phillip. 'Brilliance And Bardot, All In One'. The New York Times 1997. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
- Rafferty, Terrence. 'Man, Godard And Nature (And Bardot, Too)'. The New York Times 2008. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
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