Cinéma du look (French: [sinema dy luk]) was a French film movement of the 1980s and 1990s, analysed, for the first time, by French critic Raphaël Bassan in La Revue du Cinéma issue no. 449, May 1989,[1] in which he classified Luc Besson, Jean-Jacques Beineix and Leos Carax as directors of the "look".[2]
| Years active | 1980s–1990s |
|---|---|
| Location | France |
| Influences | New Hollywood, music videos, French New Wave |
Style and origins
editThese directors were said to favor style over substance, spectacle over narrative.[3] It referred to films that had a slick, gorgeous visual style[3] and a focus on young, alienated characters[4] who were said to represent the marginalized youth of François Mitterrand's France.[5] Themes that run through many of their films include doomed love affairs, young people more affiliated to peer groups than families, a cynical view of the police, and the use of scenes in the Paris Métro to symbolise an alternative, underground society. The mixture of 'high' culture, such as the opera music of Diva and Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, and pop culture, for example the references to Batman in Subway, was another key feature.[3]
A parallel can be drawn between these French filmmakers' productions and New Hollywood films including most notably Francis Ford Coppola's One from the Heart (1981) and Rumble Fish (1983), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Lola (1981), as well as television commercials, music videos and the series Miami Vice.[6] The term was first defined by Raphael Bassan in La Revue De Cinema as an insult.[7]
Key directors and key films
editJean-Jacques Beineix
edit- Diva (1981) [8][9][10]
- The Moon in the Gutter (1983)
- 37°2 le matin (English: Betty Blue) (1986)[11]
Luc Besson
editLeos Carax
edit- Boy Meets Girl (1984) [8]
- Mauvais Sang (1986) [8]
- Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) [8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Translated into English: "The French Neo-baroques Directors: Beineix, Besson, Carax from Diva to le Grand Bleu" (pp. 11–23), in The Films of Luc Besson: Master of Spectacle (Under the direction of Susan Hayward and Phil Powrie) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-7190-7028-7
- ^ Berra, John (June 2009). "Book Reviews: The Films of Luc Besson: Master of Spectacle". Scope. No. 14. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ a b c Austin, Guy. Contemporary French Cinema: An Introduction, Manchester University Press, 1999, pp. 119–120, 126-128. ISBN 0-7190-4611-4
- ^ 10 Essential Films For An Introduction To Cinema du Look — Taste of Cinema
- ^ French Cinema in the 1980s - Google Books (pg.109)
- ^ French National Cinema - Google Books (pg.244)
- ^ They've Got the Look–and the Beat|The Current|The Criterion Collection
- ^ a b c d e "Movie movements that defined cinema: Cinéma du look". Empire. August 8, 2016.
- ^ DIVA (1981) — Blu-ray Review — ZekeFilm
- ^ Jean-Jacques Beineix obituary|Movies|The Guardian
- ^ Betty Blue: The Look of Love|Current|The Criterion Collection
- ^ a b Look Again: A Celebration of Cinema Du Look on Vimeo
Bibliography
edit- Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin (2002). Film History: An Introduction (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-038429-0.
External links
edit- "Window Shopping"? -- Aesthetics of the Spectacular and Cinéma du Look by Patricia Allmer, Loughborough University, 2004
- Nikita and The Assassin: Hollywood vs. European Cinema by Will da Shaman, Netribution Film Network, 2000
- Guy Austin, Contemporary French Cinema: An Introduction, A Review by J. Emmett Winn, see Austin pages 5 and 6
- Essays on Luc Besson : Master of Spectacle (review) by William Brown, 2009
- The Cinéma du look and fantasy films by Guy Austin, in Contemporary French Cinema, Manchester University Press, 1996, p. 119
- Diva, Jean-Jacques Beineix in The Cinema of France, by Phil Powrie, p. 154, Wallflower Press, 2006
- Luc Besson : The Cinema du Look or the Spectacle-Image in Cinema after Deleuze by Richard Ruston, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, p. 132