French New Wave retrospective
repository_misc/news//mfile_65
2007-09-09
The first International Kaunas Film Festival, in cooperation with the French Cultural Centre, invites you to watch the retrospective of French New Wave (Nouvelle vague) films. Movies will be shown from October 3rd till 7th at “Romuva“ cinema in Kaunas; later, from October 5th till 11th, New Wave will appear at “Garsas“ cinema in Panevėžys and, finally, from October 12th till 18th, the movies will be shown at “Skalvija“ cinema centre in Vilnius.
The New Wave movement was started by young cinema enthusiasts (cinéphile) at the end of the 60’s, who decided that French movies, which followed the same pattern, had run out of steam, become old-fashioned and dull. The well-known French journal Cahiers du Cinéma printed philosophical discussions about the theory of cinema penned by cinema enthusiasts, among whom were François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.
Characteristic features of New Wave movies are fast, hopping shots filmed with a hand-held camera, natural lighting, authentic places, improvised dialogues, sound recorded live.
1959 year is called the time of New Wave sally; debut films from François Truffaut “400 Blows” (Les 400 coups) appeared in this year. All these movies will be shown at the Kaunas International Film Festival retrospective. Although Robert Bresson is not considered as one of New Wave creators, his movie “Pickpocket” (1959) is still considered very important in the history of cinema and has been included in the programme. Bresson created an individual cinema style and inspired many other French film directors of that time. In Alain Resnais’ documentary “Night and Fog” (Nuit et Brouillard, 1955) you will see how the film director started to create his original aesthetics, which later transfused in the film “Hirosima, My Love”. Finally, the movie which combines New Wave and Technicolor, - Jean-Luc Godard’s “Pierrot le Fou”will also be shown., Alain Resnais “Hirosima, My Love” (Hiroshima mon amour) and Jean-Luc Godard “Till The Last Breath” (À bout de Souffle)
So take a seat, relax and enjoy the French cinema classics.
The Kaunas International Film Festival heartily thanks the French Cultural Centre for the French New Wave retrospective films.