The French New Wave

The French New Wave still influences directors today. The only movies I've seen by Quentin Tarantino are Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2, but it's clear to me what elements of the French New Wave were incorporated into those films. One similarity is the unconventional editing style. In Kill Bill, many of the scenes were out of sequence, such as in the beginning of the first movie we see Beatrix confronting the second person on her list of people to kill, Vernita Green, and it ends with her killing O-Ren Ishii, the first person on her list; a common characteristic of French New Wave films was a lack of continuity in the story line, but it worked well in order to tell the story the way the director meant it to be told. There are also many jump cut scenes in Kill Bill which are extraneous to the story, yet at the same time serve to tell the story fully. Another aspect the films share is the characters talking directly to the camera. However, a big difference between Kill Bill and Breathless is that in Breathless the dialogue was much more natural, but in Kill Bill, it was very eloquent and felt unnatural.

In both films, the villains of the stories died in similar fashions. When Michel is shot and Beatrix uses the 5 point palm exploding heart technique to kill Bill, music is played in the background to heighten the drama, and for both they walk to their death. When the villains die, the heroines of the films both appear to be somewhat underwhelmed, but we know that inside them, they feel closure because both their tormentors have finally died.

Elements of the French New Wave are also present in the film Amélie. The very obvious example is in the scene with Amélie in the movie, watching the French New Wave film Jules and Jim. Also in Amélie, Amélie looks directly at the camera and speaks directly to the audience, there are many jump cut scenes in the film, and some parts of the film can be enigmatic, such as Raymond Dufayel's painting. Like in the French New Wave, Amélie not only served to entertain viewers, but also to break norms of traditional filmmaking and convey a deeper message.

The French New Wave has a lot to contribute to contemporary filmmaking. With Hollywood pumping out one pleasant yet insipid romantic comedy and action-packed film after the other, there seems to be a dearth of movies with real substance that lies beneath the plot. That's not to say there aren't any really good movies out there, but that mainstream films are created solely to entertain and make money rather than being created to produce art. Going to the movies would be a much more enriching experience if current films were more unconventional and ended with more mystery.