The Waves of Film

I thoroughly enjoyed the material that we covered in class this week. I was raised in a French household and I was exposed, by my parents, to Godard’s work when I was a child. In fact, the French New Wave was the first film movement which really captivated my interest, and Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou will forever be a favorite film of mine.

The French New Wave movement, called “La Nouvelle Vague” in French, emerged in France the 1950s and 1960s, and is seen as one of the most influential cinematic movements to ever exist. This film movement emerged when French film directors grew tired of conforming to conventional filmmaking techniques and style. They were fed up with how repetitive and artificial the films at the time all seemed, and they strove towards delivering a cinema that was more relatable, and natural—much like Italian Neorealism.

The French New Wave is notable for the emergence of a new style of cinematography and editing. The “jump cut” emerged from the French New Wave, which is an abrupt transition from one scene to another, as opposed to the classic “continuity cut”, which is when the flow of a scene or action sequence is maintained, in order to preserve the illusion of reality on screen.

The thing I love the most about the French New Wave, was the liberty that directors and actors took when it came to the characters and stories. French New Wave films usually have eccentric characters, and very loose stories. During this film era, actors were often allowed to improvise dialogue and make changes to the plot. The result of this is a beautiful medley of disorder, and nonchalant French class.

The dramatic change of pace in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s greatly influenced the entire dynamic of Hollywood in the 1970s, and the American New Wave was born. Many major directors of the American New Wave were trained by Roger Corman, such as David Lynch, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Arthur Penn.

This week’s screening, The Poseidon Adventure (1972), was an American disaster film directed by Ronald Neame. The Poseidon Adventure centers on a ship—SS Poseidon—on her way to Athens, from New York. Everything changes during New Year’s Eve celebrations. Not long after the clock strikes midnight and everyone has exchanged new year greetings and wishes, SS Poseidon capsizes after being hit by a tsunami. Panic ensues and the guests are torn about what to do. We follow Reverend Scott as he attempts to lead The Rosens, the Rogos, Susan, Robin, Acres, Nonnie and Martin to safety.

What I really enjoyed about this film—and maybe it’s because I have not seen many disaster films—was that nobody was safe. You never knew who was going to die, or when, and just when you thought the movie couldn’t spare any more characters, another one died a tragic death. It was thrilling, funny, and I had a great time watching it.