The French Nouvelle Vague—the “Post Classical Hollywood effect”

After reading Jill Forbes’ essay on The French Nouvelle Vague of the 1950’s—one cannot help but notice the similarities between this new era in French film and the successive (and even parallel at a point in the late 1960’s) Post Classical Hollywood era in the United States. In the same way that Post Classical Hollywood came about from the creations of young “movie brats”, the Nouvelle Vague also featured a new wave of young French directors with distinct filmic tastes. Forbes writes, “ …and the Nouvelle Vague quickly became a marketing slogan in the pro-Gaullist press to promote the idea that with the change in the regime in 1958 France had been regenerated and rejuvenated.” [Forbes, 463] Essentially, the French press saw the “fresh” new takes offered by these directors in the form of films such as The 400 Blows(1959) and used them as propaganda for saying that France had undergone a tremendous amount of change. The idea of Post Classical Hollywood also had a similar effect on the American people in terms of “fresh” new ideas and the notion of the rebirth of good American film. Forbes then goes on to mention how the characteristics associated with French films in this era, such as the emphasis on the young heterosexual couples etc. and furthermore, chronicles the historical events in May 1968 which led to the “fall” of the Nouvelle Vague as quickly as it had risen. In this discussion, one can clearly see the parallels and differences which brought about new standards in French and American films.