Just as Bonnie and Clyde was the defining film of Post Classical Hollywood cinema in the late 1960’s, The 400 Blows is considered the film which truly marked the beginning of the French New Wave. Thematically, the French New Wave can best be defined as one which emphasized existential themes—sometimes stressing the individual, as was the case in The 400 Blows. The stylistic details, such as filming techniques and innovative use of the camera are what most obviously distinguished the works of the French Nouvelle Vague from previous works.
One widely consistent characteristic of films produced during this time was the idea of the very long tracking shots. The tracking shots, primarily created by cameras moving along a rail or on wheels following characters, had a mesmerizing effect when viewed on a large screen. It added a sense of realism to the movies which they were previously missing. For example, the very long and continuous tracking shot following Antoine running down the beach toward the water added a sense of realism and allowed the audience to realize the scope of Antoine’s wonder at viewing the ocean for the first time.
Furthermore, the conclusive zooming in on Antoine’s face which signaled the end of the film left the audience to contemplate what Antoine felt through his facial expression. Notice, also, that all of these events are occurring within the same long take.
0 comments:
Post a Comment