Left Bank Group Analysis - Research Paper Example

Section/# An Analysis of the Left Bank One of the most prominent developments of filmmaking that has taken place with them the past half-century is necessarily that of the French “New Wave” movement. Like many terms, the New Wave movement was used as something of a blanket term for many films subsequent styles that were developed by French filmmakers beginning in the late 1950s and running all the way through the end of the 1960s. Likewise, as with many movements, the New Wave movement was something of a conscious rejection with regards to the subject matter, stylistics, self-actualization, and experimentation that seemed to be so devoid in the periods prior to the development and nominal success that the New Wave movement was ultimately able to engender. Furthermore, like so many other artistic movements throughout history, the full scope of the importance contributions that the New Wave movement brought to cinematography filmmaking were of course not realized completely or appreciated accordingly during the time that they were being developed. Nevertheless, although many aspects of the New Wave movement were so experimental that they existed only within the confines of the current time in which they were developed, many of the experimental techniques and new ideas with which these filmmakers sought to integrate continue to have found measurable effect on some talk to the current Europe. Accordingly, this brief analysis will seek to understand, identify, and draw inference on the means by which one such group of influential French filmmakers from this New Wave movement contributed to a more complete and nuanced understanding of filmmaking is the hope of this author that such an analysis will engage the reader with the lasting importance that this group of film makers continues to exhibit. As such, the group to be analyzed will be that which was dubbed “Left Bank”. Whereas many individuals familiar with film and the visual arts are well aware of French filmmakers such as Claude Chabrol, Francois Truffaut, and/or Jean-Luc Godard, these represent the more mainstream and financially profitable branches of the French New Wave movement. Accordingly, these “status quo” pioneers as they came to be known, were referred to as the Right Bank; likewise, the group of filmmakers which will be analyzed herein came to be known as the Left Bank (Reeder 63). This was not only a reference to the geographical meaning of where these individuals hailed from within Paris, but also a thinly veiled allusion to the political views espoused by the latter group. One of the greatest differentials came to be seen between the right bank as compared to the Left Bank directors was with regards to the level and approach that these Left Bank directors viewed the relationship between cinema and art. Whereas more traditional numbers of the New Wave movement saw literature and other art forms distinctly separate from cinematography, the Left Bank directors saw them as one and the same attempt to incorporate many of the avant garde and cutting edge techniques and ideas that were being pioneered within the art world within the cinematography that they created (Schwartz 147). However, as much as one might seek to distinguish the Left Bank New Wave filmmakers from their other counterparts within the New Wave movement, the reality of the situation was that they were oftentimes almost identical with regards to the approach to cinematography that they made. In reality, both schools of thought sought integrate a high level of modernism within current cinematography; the only means differential and/or to supreme that existed with regards to this modernism was where the inspiration for it could ultimately be drawn. To the Left Bank filmmakers, this inspiration was available from both existing and previous arts. Regardless of the level to which critics may seek to portray these groups as being in opposition to one another, the fact of the matter is that there was never any ill will between either the right bank or the Left Bank group of filmmakers. Rather, they merely exhibited a different approach with regards to the best means of integrating subject matter with the audience. It should further be noted that the audience of both the right and Left Bank filmmakers were almost invariably young; in such a way, rather than being in conflict with one another, these two groups of filmmakers ultimately competing for a share of profits within a very young audience. As is often the case in art, in more commercially successful alternative, the right Bank group of filmmakers, exhibited a much wider degree of commercials excess and recognition than did the Left Bank filmmakers (Neurpert 141). Though it may have been considered in the time that the right bank filmmakers were ultimately more influential douche the fact of their overall level of success, a greater and more appreciative inquiry of film, reveals that both contributions have impacted heavily on the means by which current filmmakers integrate with the subject matter and seek for spray many aspects that were pioneered by individuals within the Left Bank group of filmmakers. Although there are many aspects of the Left Bank group of filmmakers that made them so unique and groundbreaking within the context of the current time, one of the most important aspects of the exhibited was their level of association with writers, filmmakers, and directors. Although this seems as a wise and reasonable approach, such a level of association was not readily participated in by the broad majority of filmmakers that time. By allowing for a collaborative process in which interests, approaches, and means of expression could be shared between all shareholders within the process, the Left Bank group experienced something of a renaissance with regards to the level of output cooperative input they received on their respective projects. Due to the background and documentary that many of these shareholders had, a litany of experimental approaches were used with regards to the manner in which these individuals integrated with the subject matter. Although it might require a thesis length spots to detail all of these methods of experimentation, can be summarized that they were principally motivated by the level to which modern interpretations of arts were integrated and understood (Romney 22). Regardless, these filmmakers have had and continue to have an important influence on the means by which current and past filmmakers integrate with subject matter, presented to the viewer, and incorporate ideological understandings of current society and art . Though the proceeding analysis has helped the reader understand some of the means by which the Left Bank filmmakers were able to affect lasting noticeable change upon cinematography, it cannot and should not be ignored that the economic realities which defined this group as well as the times in which they came to prominence were of a fundamental importance with regards to the means by which they developed and the subject matter that they sought to integrate with (Jason 105). Like many of the art movements of the 1960s, the Left Bank Group sought to distance themselves from the means by which traditionalists at understood cinematography and integrated with the past 40 years of cinematographic history at that time. Moreover, the liberal ideology the pervaded many parts of Europe in the postwar years, had a profound effect on the means by which these filmmakers integrated with the subject matter and sought to display it with regards to a particular ideological frame of reference. None of these aspects cheapens the work and the impact that these filmmakers have had; rather, it merely helps to underscore the fact that as with any movement, the times in which they lived had a profound impact upon the means by which they sought to integrate with the subject matter and present the subject matter to the ultimate viewer. Works Cited Jason. The Left Bank gang. Seattle, Wash. London: Fantagraphics Turnaround distributor, 2006. Print. NEUPERT, RICHARD. "The New Wave's American Reception." Cinema Journal 49.4 (2010): 139-145. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. REEDER, JAKE. "The Signature Of The French New Wave (Godard's Le Mepris)." Critical Quarterly (2011): 62-70. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. Romney, Jonathan. "All The World's A Stage." Sight & Sound 19.5 (2009): 22-23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. SCHWARTZ, VANESSA R. "Who Killed Brigitte Bardot? Perspectives On The New Wave At Fifty." Cinema Journal 49.4 (2010): 145-152. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. Read More