Part 2: Post-New Wave Developments (1970s-1980s)

After the Revolution - Evolution and Reaction

The end of the 1960s marked a turning point for French cinema. The revolutionary fervor of the New Wave had achieved its primary goals: traditional production methods had been overthrown, personal filmmaking was established as a legitimate approach, and French cinema had gained international respect. But success brought new challenges and questions about what would come next.

The events of May 1968 in Paris—when student protests and general strikes brought France to a standstill—provided both a culmination and a watershed moment for New Wave ideals. Many New Wave directors had celebrated youth rebellion and questioned authority throughout the 1960s, but the actual political uprising revealed deep divisions within the movement about the relationship between art and politics.

Jean-Luc Godard embraced radical politics completely, abandoning conventional narrative filmmaking for explicitly revolutionary cinema. His post-1968 films, made collectively with the Dziga Vertov Group, prioritized political message over entertainment value. Works like "Wind from the East" (1970) and "Tout va bien" (1972) challenged audiences with Marxist analysis and experimental techniques that made his earlier films seem conventional by comparison.

François Truffaut moved in the opposite direction, returning to more traditional storytelling while maintaining the personal approach that had made him famous. Films like "The Wild Child" (L'Enfant sauvage, 1970) and "Day for Night" (La Nuit américaine, 1973) showed that New Wave techniques could be applied to classical narrative structures without losing their effectiveness.

This divergence between Godard and Truffaut reflected broader tensions within French cinema about the proper relationship between art and society. Should filmmakers prioritize political engagement or aesthetic achievement? Could personal expression serve political purposes, or did political commitment require abandoning individual concerns?

The commercial film industry also evolved in response to New Wave success. Traditional producers began incorporating New Wave techniques into more conventional projects, creating hybrid films that combined artistic innovation with commercial appeal. This "recuperation" of revolutionary techniques by the establishment was both inevitable and controversial.

New distribution patterns emerged as art theaters proliferated and international co-productions became more common. French films could now reach global audiences more easily, but this also meant competing with international cinema for domestic viewers. The protected environment that had nurtured the New Wave was giving way to more complex market forces.

Young filmmakers emerging in the early 1970s faced a different landscape than their New Wave predecessors. The techniques that had been revolutionary in 1960 were now standard tools, and audiences expected innovation rather than being surprised by it. These filmmakers had to develop new approaches to personal filmmaking that went beyond simply copying New Wave models.

Some directors responded by pushing New Wave techniques to greater extremes. Philippe Garrel created highly experimental films like "The Inner Scar" (La Cicatrice intérieure, 1972) that used minimal dialogue, extended handheld sequences, and non-narrative structures to explore psychological and spiritual themes.

Others integrated New Wave innovations with other cinematic traditions. Maurice Pialat combined New Wave naturalism with rigorous character study in films like "We Won't Grow Old Together" (Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble, 1972), creating a harsh realism that was both personal and socially observant.

The influence of international cinema also became more pronounced during this period. American films like "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) and "The Wild Bunch" (1969) had clearly learned from New Wave innovations but applied them to genres and themes that French filmmakers hadn't fully explored. This reverse influence challenged French directors to expand their own approaches.

Documentary filmmaking experienced its own evolution during this period. The cinéma vérité movement, which had emerged from New Wave technical innovations, matured into a sophisticated approach to non-fiction filmmaking. Directors like Claude Lelouch and Raymond Depardon developed distinctive documentary styles that influenced both fiction and non-fiction cinema.

The institutional framework supporting French cinema also evolved. New funding mechanisms emerged to support innovative filmmaking, while film education expanded at universities and specialized schools. These developments created a more systematic approach to nurturing new talent, but also raised questions about whether institutionalization might stifle the spontaneous creativity that had fueled the New Wave.

Critics and scholars began the process of historicizing the New Wave, analyzing its achievements and limitations with increasing sophistication. This critical assessment helped identify which innovations had lasting value and which had been more tied to specific historical circumstances.

The international context for French cinema also changed significantly. The emergence of New Hollywood in the United States, the continued development of Italian art cinema, and the growing prominence of directors from other countries meant that French cinema was no longer the undisputed center of cinematic innovation.

By the mid-1970s, it was clear that French cinema had entered a new phase. The revolutionary moment of the New Wave had passed, but its innovations had been absorbed into the broader cinematic culture. The challenge for the next generation would be building on New Wave achievements while developing approaches suited to new social, political, and artistic conditions.

This transition period, sometimes dismissed as less significant than either the New Wave breakthrough or the innovations that would emerge in the 1980s, actually represented a crucial phase in cinema history. It was during these years that the lessons of the New Wave were tested, refined, and integrated into the broader evolution of film as an art form.

The diversification of French cinema during this period also reflected broader social changes. As French society became more multicultural and socially complex, cinema began addressing subjects and perspectives that had been absent from New Wave films. This expansion would prove crucial to the continued vitality and relevance of French filmmaking.

New Voices Rising - The Second Generation

As the 1970s progressed, a new generation of French filmmakers emerged who had grown up watching New Wave films rather than reacting against traditional cinema. These directors faced the unique challenge of building on revolutionary innovations while developing their own distinctive voices in a rapidly changing cultural landscape.

Bertrand Blier represented one important strand of this second generation. His breakthrough film "Going Places" (Les Valseuses, 1974) shocked audiences with its crude humor, casual violence, and amoral protagonists. Starring Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere as petty criminals whose adventures blur the line between comedy and social criticism, the film used New Wave techniques to explore darker aspects of contemporary French society.

Blier's approach differed significantly from his New Wave predecessors. Where earlier directors had often celebrated youthful rebellion, Blier presented characters whose antisocial behavior revealed uncomfortable truths about French society. His visual style incorporated New Wave naturalism but applied it to scenarios that were simultaneously realistic and grotesque.

"Going Places" also marked the emergence of Gérard Depardieu as the dominant French actor of his generation. Depardieu's physical presence and emotional intensity represented a new type of screen personality—more working-class, more physically imposing, and more psychologically complex than the intellectual protagonists who had populated many New Wave films.

Claude Sautet developed a different approach to post-New Wave filmmaking, creating intimate character studies that combined psychological sophistication with visual elegance. Films like "César and Rosalie" (César et Rosalie, 1972) and "Vincent, François, Paul and the Others" (Vincent, François, Paul et les autres, 1974) explored middle-aged relationships with a maturity that distinguished them from the youth-focused concerns of the New Wave.

Sautet's work showed how New Wave techniques could be adapted to address the experiences of an older generation. His films featured the naturalistic dialogue and location shooting that had characterized the earlier movement, but applied these techniques to stories about marriage, career disappointment, and the challenges of maintaining relationships over time.

Maurice Pialat emerged as perhaps the most important director of this transitional period, creating films that pushed New Wave realism to new extremes of psychological honesty. His 1972 film "We Won't Grow Old Together" presented a relationship in collapse with unflinching detail, using handheld cameras and improvised dialogue to capture emotional states that traditional cinema had rarely attempted to show.

Pialat's approach was more rigorous and less romantic than his New Wave predecessors. Where directors like Truffaut often found beauty in human weakness, Pialat presented characters and situations with harsh objectivity. His visual style eliminated the stylistic flourishes that had made New Wave films aesthetically appealing, focusing entirely on psychological truth.

The career of Jacques Doillon illustrated another direction for post-New Wave development. His films explored relationships between adults and children with a sensitivity that built on Truffaut's work while addressing more complex psychological territories. "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" (1976) and other films showed how New Wave techniques could illuminate family dynamics and childhood experiences with unprecedented depth.

Diane Kurys represented an important development in women's filmmaking during this period. Her semi-autobiographical "Diabolo Menthe" (1977) applied New Wave naturalism to the specific experience of teenage girls in 1960s France. The film's success demonstrated that there was an audience for stories that had been largely absent from cinema, even during the New Wave's supposedly revolutionary period.

The emergence of these new voices coincided with significant changes in French society. The social upheavals of May 1968 had created new awareness of class, gender, and generational conflicts that had been less visible during the more prosperous 1960s. Filmmakers of the 1970s had to address these social tensions while maintaining the personal approach that had made French cinema distinctive.

Economic factors also influenced this generation's development. The film industry had become more complex and internationally oriented since the New Wave period, creating both new opportunities and new pressures. Directors had access to larger budgets and better equipment, but also faced greater expectations for commercial success.

The relationship between these second-generation directors and their New Wave predecessors was complex. Most acknowledged their debt to earlier innovations while asserting their right to develop different approaches. Some, like Pialat, explicitly rejected the aesthetic beauty that had characterized New Wave cinema in favor of more austere realism.

International influences also played a larger role for this generation. American cinema of the 1970s, particularly the work of directors like Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman, provided examples of how New Wave techniques could be applied to different cultural contexts and genre traditions.

The critical reception of second-generation filmmakers was often complicated by comparisons to New Wave achievements. Some critics felt that these directors lacked the revolutionary spirit of their predecessors, while others argued that they were addressing more complex social and psychological realities than had been possible during the New Wave period.

The diversity of approaches among second-generation directors also reflected the broader social changes occurring in France during the 1970s. As French society became more pluralistic and socially conscious, cinema began reflecting perspectives and experiences that had been marginalized during earlier periods.

This generation's lasting contribution was demonstrating that the innovations of the New Wave could be adapted and evolved rather than simply repeated. By the end of the 1970s, it was clear that French cinema had successfully transitioned from revolutionary breakthrough to sustained artistic development.

The work of these directors also established patterns that would influence French cinema for decades to come. Their integration of social observation with personal storytelling, their development of new approaches to performance and dialogue, and their expansion of cinema's thematic range all became crucial elements of French film culture.

Women Behind the Camera - Breaking New Ground

While Agnès Varda had established an important precedent during the New Wave period, the 1970s and 1980s saw an unprecedented expansion of opportunities for women directors in French cinema. This development reflected broader feminist movements of the era and created space for voices and perspectives that had been largely absent from film history.

Marguerite Duras emerged as one of the most innovative filmmakers of this period, bringing her experimental literary techniques to cinema in ways that challenged conventional narrative and visual approaches. Her 1975 film "India Song" created a unique cinematic language that separated image and sound, using voice-over narration to create complex temporal and emotional layers.

Duras's approach was radical even by New Wave standards. She eliminated synchronized dialogue entirely, instead using overlapping voices, music, and ambient sound to create emotional and psychological atmospheres. Her visual compositions were equally unconventional, featuring long takes of empty rooms, reflective surfaces, and characters whose faces were often obscured or turned away from the camera.

"India Song" and other Duras films like "The Truck" (Le Camion, 1977) demonstrated how cinema could function as a form of literary expression rather than dramatic representation. Her work influenced experimental filmmakers worldwide and established new possibilities for non-narrative cinema.

Coline Serreau represented a different approach to women's filmmaking, creating comedies that addressed feminist themes through accessible, entertaining narratives. Her 1985 film "Three Men and a Cradle" (Trois hommes et un couffin) became an international success by using humor to explore changing gender roles and family structures.

Serreau's work showed how feminist perspectives could be integrated into mainstream commercial filmmaking without sacrificing either entertainment value or political significance. Her comedies addressed serious issues—single parenthood, workplace discrimination, and domestic responsibilities—while maintaining the light touch that made them popular with broad audiences.

The success of "Three Men and a Cradle," which was later remade in Hollywood as "Three Men and a Baby," demonstrated the international appeal of French women's filmmaking and helped establish female directors as commercially viable.

Nelly Kaplan developed yet another approach, creating surreal comedies that combined feminist themes with visual extravagance. Her 1971 film "A Very Curious Girl" (La Fiancée du pirate) used grotesque imagery and satirical storytelling to critique male behavior and social hypocrisy.

Kaplan's background as a documentary filmmaker and film critic informed her fictional work, which often featured strong female protagonists who challenged social conventions through outrageous behavior. Her visual style combined New Wave naturalism with surrealist techniques borrowed from her work with directors like Luis Buñuel.

Diane Kurys brought autobiographical approaches to women's filmmaking, creating semi-documentary films about her own experiences growing up in France during the 1950s and 1960s. Her 1977 debut "Peppermint Soda" (Diabolo menthe) captured the specific experience of teenage girls with unprecedented authenticity and sensitivity.

Kurys's work demonstrated how personal filmmaking techniques developed during the New Wave could be applied to specifically female experiences that had been largely absent from cinema history. Her films addressed adolescence, family relationships, and social expectations from perspectives that differed significantly from male-directed films on similar themes.

The career of Chantal Akerman, though she worked primarily in Belgium, was crucial to the development of feminist cinema in French-speaking contexts. Her 1975 film "Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" presented three days in the life of a widow and mother with rigorously objective observation that revealed the isolation and repetition of domestic life.

Akerman's approach was influenced by both New Wave realism and experimental art practices. Her use of static cameras, real-time duration, and minimal editing created a viewing experience that forced audiences to confront the realities of women's daily experiences rather than consuming them as entertainment.

The institutional support for women filmmakers also improved during this period. Government funding programs began specifically addressing gender inequity in film production, while film schools and cultural organizations created programs designed to support women directors.

The emergence of feminist film criticism, particularly through publications like Cahiers du Cinéma and new feminist journals, provided intellectual frameworks for understanding and promoting women's filmmaking. Critics like Claire Johnston and Laura Mulvey developed theoretical approaches that helped audiences and filmmakers understand how gender operated in cinema.

International connections also became important for French women filmmakers. The emergence of women's film festivals, particularly the International Women's Film Festival in Créteil, created venues for screening and discussing women's films from around the world.

The diversity of approaches among women directors during this period demonstrated that there was no single "feminine" approach to filmmaking. Instead, women directors brought various perspectives, techniques, and themes to cinema, enriching the medium through their diverse contributions.

The commercial success achieved by some women directors, particularly Serreau, also helped change industry attitudes about the viability of female-directed films. This economic validation created opportunities for subsequent generations of women filmmakers.

By the end of the 1980s, women directors had established themselves as permanent and significant contributors to French cinema. Their work had expanded the medium's thematic range, introduced new approaches to narrative and visual style, and demonstrated that diverse perspectives strengthened rather than weakened cinematic art.

The influence of this generation of women filmmakers extended beyond their immediate period, establishing patterns and possibilities that continue to influence contemporary French cinema. Their integration of personal experience with social observation, their development of new approaches to performance and storytelling, and their expansion of cinema's representational scope all became crucial elements of French film culture.

Beyond Paris - Regional Cinema Takes Center Stage

Throughout the New Wave period and into the early 1970s, French cinema had been largely centered in Paris, both geographically and culturally. The sophisticated urban perspectives of directors like Godard and Truffaut reflected the capital's intellectual atmosphere, but they also created a limited view of French experience. The 1970s and 1980s saw a significant expansion of filmmaking beyond Paris, introducing audiences to the diverse regional cultures that comprised French society.

This decentralization was partly practical—the success of location shooting had demonstrated that films could be made anywhere, and regional production centers offered economic advantages over expensive Parisian studios. But it was also cultural, reflecting growing awareness that authentic French cinema needed to represent the full spectrum of French experience.

The career of Bertrand Tavernier exemplified this geographic and cultural expansion. His 1974 film "The Clockmaker" (L'Horloger de Saint-Paul) was set in Lyon and explored the relationship between a traditional craftsman father and his politically radical son. The film's Lyon locations weren't just background—they were integral to its exploration of provincial values and generational conflict.

Tavernier's approach combined New Wave techniques with deeper historical and social analysis. His films often examined how national political events affected ordinary people in specific regional contexts. This approach required extensive research and close collaboration with local communities, creating a more sociologically grounded cinema than much New Wave work had attempted.

His later films like "A Sunday in the Country" (Un dimanche à la campagne, 1984) and "Round Midnight" (1986) continued this integration of regional specificity with universal themes. Tavernier showed how careful attention to local details could create films that were simultaneously rooted in particular places and accessible to international audiences.

Maurice Pialat's work also demonstrated the importance of regional perspectives. His 1980 film "Loulou" was set in the industrial north of France and explored working-class culture with unprecedented authenticity. The film's harsh realism and unsentimental characterization reflected the specific social conditions of its setting.

Pialat's approach differed from Parisian intellectual cinema by focusing on emotional and physical realities rather than ideas or concepts. His characters were driven by immediate needs and desires rather than philosophical concerns, creating a more visceral form of realism than most New Wave films had achieved.

The Provence-based work of Marcel Pagnol gained new appreciation during this period as critics recognized how his 1930s films had anticipated many concerns of regional cinema. Contemporary directors like Claude Berri, who adapted Pagnol's "Jean de Florette" and "Manon of the Spring" in the 1980s, showed how regional stories could achieve both critical respect and commercial success.

These adaptations were significant because they demonstrated that regional cinema didn't have to be marginalized or "provincial" in negative senses. Instead, careful attention to local cultures and landscapes could create films that spoke to universal human experiences while maintaining their specific identities.

The emergence of regional film production centers also created new opportunities for filmmakers who might not have had access to Parisian industry networks. Cities like Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse developed their own film communities, complete with funding sources, technical facilities, and exhibition venues.

This decentralization was supported by government policies that encouraged regional cultural development. The creation of regional film funds and production incentives helped support local filmmaking while maintaining the quality standards that had made French cinema internationally respected.

Documentary filmmaking played a particularly important role in developing regional cinema. Directors like Raymond Depardon created observational films about rural and provincial life that revealed aspects of French society that had been largely invisible in fiction films.

Depardon's approach combined cinéma vérité techniques with anthropological sensitivity, creating films that functioned as both entertainment and ethnographic documentation. His work showed how documentary and fiction techniques could be combined to create new forms of regional representation.

The relationship between regional cinema and immigration also became important during this period. As France became increasingly multicultural, filmmakers began exploring how immigrant communities created new regional cultures that were simultaneously French and connected to other traditions.

Films like "Coup de torchon" (1981) by Bertrand Tavernier, though set in colonial Africa, explored how French cultural values operated in different contexts, while other films began examining immigrant experiences in specific French regions.

The commercial success of regional films also demonstrated that French audiences were hungry for representations of their own diverse experiences. Films that might have seemed too "local" for national distribution proved popular throughout France, suggesting that regional specificity could enhance rather than limit a film's appeal.

International reception of regional French films was also positive, with critics and audiences appreciating the cultural specificity that distinguished them from more generic international productions. This success encouraged continued investment in regional filmmaking.

The influence of regional cinema extended to production methods as well. Directors working outside Paris often had to develop more collaborative relationships with local communities, creating filmmaking approaches that were more socially engaged than the individualistic methods that had characterized much New Wave work.

By the end of the 1980s, regional cinema had become an established and respected part of French film culture. The geographic and cultural expansion it represented had enriched French cinema by incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences that had been absent from earlier periods.

This development also anticipated the increasing globalization of cinema that would characterize later decades. By learning to represent diverse regional cultures authentically, French filmmakers developed skills that would prove valuable as cinema became increasingly international and multicultural.

Reality and Experiment - Documentary and Avant-Garde

The technical and aesthetic innovations of the New Wave had profound effects on non-fiction filmmaking, but the development of documentary and experimental cinema during the 1970s and 1980s also influenced fiction films in crucial ways. This period saw the emergence of distinctive French approaches to documentary that would establish the country as a major center for innovative non-fiction filmmaking.

The cinéma vérité movement, which had emerged from New Wave technical innovations, matured during this period into a sophisticated approach to documenting reality. Directors like Jean Rouch continued developing the observational techniques they had pioneered in the 1960s, but their work became more politically and socially engaged.

Rouch's collaboration with Edgar Morin on "Chronicle of a Summer" (Chronique d'un été, 1961) had established the foundation for French cinéma vérité, but his later work pushed these techniques in new directions. Films like "Petit à Petit" (1971) explored cross-cultural encounters with anthropological sophistication while maintaining the spontaneous quality that made cinéma vérité distinctive.

The influence of this documentary work on fiction filmmaking was significant. Directors like Maurice Pialat incorporated observational techniques into fictional narratives, creating hybrid approaches that blurred the boundaries between documentary and fiction. This integration enriched both forms by combining the immediacy of documentary with the structural possibilities of fictional narrative.

Raymond Depardon emerged as one of the most important documentary filmmakers of this period, developing a distinctive approach that combined journalistic rigor with artistic sensitivity. His work as a photojournalist informed his filmmaking, creating documents that were simultaneously informative and aesthetically compelling.

Depardon's "Reporters" (1981) provided an inside look at photojournalism that revealed both the excitement and ethical complications of documenting world events. His approach was notably self-reflexive, examining the role of media in shaping public understanding of political and social issues.

His later work, including the series of films about French regional life, showed how documentary techniques could illuminate everyday experiences that were rarely examined in either news media or fiction films. This ethnographic approach influenced fiction filmmakers who sought to represent contemporary French society with greater authenticity.

The career of Chris Marker represented another crucial development in French documentary during this period. His essay films combined documentary footage with literary narration, still photography, and experimental editing to create a unique form of cinematic expression.

"The Koumiko Mystery" (Le Mystère Koumiko, 1965) and "A Grin Without a Cat" (Le Fond de l'air est rouge, 1977) demonstrated how documentary could function as a form of historical analysis rather than simple recording. Marker's work influenced filmmakers worldwide and established new possibilities for non-fiction cinema.

Marker's integration of different media forms also anticipated later developments in digital filmmaking and multimedia art. His experiments with combining film, video, photography, and text created template for new forms of documentary expression that would become important in subsequent decades.

The experimental film community also flourished during this period, supported by institutions like the Cinémathèque Française and various art centers that provided exhibition venues for non-commercial work. Directors like Philippe Garrel created highly personal films that pushed the boundaries of narrative and visual convention.

Garrel's work, including "The Inner Scar" (La Cicatrice intérieure, 1972) and "Blanche" (1971), combined New Wave techniques with surrealist and avant-garde approaches borrowed from other art forms. His films were often autobiographical, exploring personal relationships and emotional states through abstract visual imagery.

The influence of experimental filmmaking on commercial cinema was significant, even when it wasn't immediately obvious. Techniques developed in avant-garde contexts often found their way into more conventional productions, enriching the visual vocabulary available to all filmmakers.

The relationship between documentary and fiction also evolved in important ways during this period. Films like Claude Lelouch's "A Man and a Woman" (Un homme et une femme, 1966) had already shown how documentary techniques could enhance romantic narratives, but later work pushed this integration further.

The emergence of "fake documentary" or "mockumentary" approaches also began during this period, as filmmakers experimented with using documentary techniques to tell fictional stories. This development would become more prominent in later decades but had its roots in the 1970s experimentation with form and content.

International influences on French documentary and experimental filmmaking were also significant. The work of American direct cinema practitioners like D.A. Pennebaker and the Maysles Brothers provided examples of different approaches to observational filmmaking, while experimental filmmakers like Stan Brakhage and Michael Snow offered alternative models for non-narrative cinema.

The institutional support for documentary and experimental filmmaking also improved during this period. Television became an important venue for documentary work, while government funding programs began supporting non-commercial filmmaking more systematically.

The influence of video technology also began to be felt during the 1980s, as portable video equipment became more accessible and of higher quality. This development would eventually transform both documentary and experimental filmmaking, but its early impact was already visible in the work of some innovative filmmakers.

The critical reception of documentary and experimental work also evolved during this period. Film critics began taking non-fiction filmmaking more seriously as an art form, while academic film studies programs expanded their coverage of documentary and avant-garde cinema.

By the end of the 1980s, documentary and experimental filmmaking had become established as important components of French cinema culture. Their influence on fiction filmmaking was evident in the increased sophistication of observational techniques, the integration of different media forms, and the growing acceptance of non-traditional narrative approaches.

This development also positioned French cinema well for the technological and cultural changes that would characterize the following decades. The experimental spirit that had characterized this period would prove valuable as filmmakers adapted to digital technology and increasingly globalized cultural contexts.

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