French Postwar Classicism

 

French Postwar Classicism

                                        Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, 1946)

Classicism comforting after the thematic and stylistic disruption, radical nature or coldness present in some Italian Modernism

Text says:

Italian post war – capturing reality
French post war – stylistic way on covering reality. Style and form

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Identify the characteristics of postwar French cinema in relationship to other movements such as Poetic Realism and the French New Wave.
• Understand the stylistic characteristics of French auteurs such as Jean Renoir and Jean Cocteau.

Mast and Kawin claim that postwar French film differs from Italian postwar film in that it approaches consciousness and reality through the manipulation of style and form. I would rephrase their statement to express that both the French and Italians were concerned with film style and the question of realism. However, the French postwar cinema may be described as less explicitly political as a whole. Instead, politics are communicated through formal experimentation that transcends story and plot. Like the films of Antonioni, what happens in their narratives is less important than how it happens. Mast and Kawin first identify the most important surviving directors of the 1930s as Rene Clair, Jean Renoir, and Jean Cocteau.

Mast and Kawin next turn their attention to three great directors of the French cinema in the fifteen years following the war: Max Ophuls, Robert Bresson, and Jacques Tati. It is important to keep in mind all three had made films before 1945. But Mast and Kawin remind us that while the end of World War II signaled a shift in direction for Italian film, the end of the war extended the French tradition of the 1930s and early 1940s.

1) Mast and Kawin  postwar French vs Italian postwar film
    a) It approaches consciousness and reality through the manipulation of style and form. 
    b)So did the Italians concerned with film and style and realism. 
    c)French postwar - less political as a whole
    d)Politics communicated through Formal Experimentation that transcends story and plot.
(Like Antonioni - WHAT happens in their narratives is less important than HOW it happens. 

Mast and Kawin first identify the most important surviving directors of the 1930s
 Rene Clair, Jean Renoir, and Jean Cocteau.

The second part of class with be 
 Max Ophuls, Robert Bresson, and Jacques Tati.

 1) all three had made films before 1945.
 2) But Mast and Kawin remind us that while the end of World War II signaled a shift in
     direction for Italian film,  the end of the war extended the French tradition of the
     1930s and early 1940s.