Table of Contents

Preface to the 2022 edition
Preface to the 2009 Edition
Preface to the 1968 Edition

Introduction (updated): Sixty Years of the French New Wave

1. The politique des auteurs: foundational texts
The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: La Caméra-Stylo ALEXANDRE ASTRUC
A Certain Tendency in French Cinema FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT
The Evolution of Film Language ANDRÉ BAZIN
La Politique des auteurs ANDRÉ BAZIN

2. Critical debates: authorship and mise-en-scène
The Delights of Ambiguity: In Praise of André Bazin GÉRARD GOZLAN
Little Themes CLAUDE CHABROL.
Review of Alexandre Astruc’s Une vie JEAN-LUC GODARD.
The Emperor Has No Clothes ROBERT BENAYOUN.
Interview with François Truffaut CAHIERS DU CINÉMA.

3. Authorship-mise-en-scène Case Study: the reception of A bout de souffle
Contrasting Views of A bout de souffle: Jean-Luc Godard LUC MOULLET . A bout de souffle RAYMONDE BORDE . Le Quai des brumes 1960: A bout de souffle by Jean-Luc Godard GEORGES SADOUL.

4. Critical debates: The Missing Perspective, gender and politics
Identikit of the ‘New Wave’ heroine EVELYNE SULLEROT
Goodnight, Doctor Kinsey PIERRE KAST
Three texts by MICHÈLE FIRK
Hiroshima mon amour, the heart and the mind FRANÇOISE AUDÉ

5. Gender Case study: the reception of Agnès Varda
MONOD: La Pointe courte; SADOUL: Cleo de 5 a 7; BORY: Cleo de 5 a 7

Bibliography (updated)

Index (updated)

Promotional Information

An updated and expanded edition of an anthology of essential texts on the French New Wave movement, featuring writings by the critics and filmmakers who shaped this revolutionary moment in cinema history.

About the Author

Peter Graham (1939-2020) enjoyed a varied career as a film critic, food writer, translator and film-maker. His publications include A Dictionary of the Cinema (1964 and 1968), Classic Cheese Cookery (1988 and 2004) and Mourjou: The Life and Food of an Auvergne Village (1998 and 2004).

Ginette Vincendeau is Professor of Film Studies and Director of the Film Studies Department at King's College London, UK. Her recent publications include Paris in the Cinema (co-edited with Alastair Phillips, BFI Publishing, 2018), La Haine (2005) and Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris (BFI Publishing, 2003). She is a regular film reviewer and contributor to Sight & Sound, BBC Radio 3 and 4 and the BBC World Service.

Reviews

This is an indispensable point of reference for anyone interested in the movement.
The book's resurrection in this slightly expanded new version is very welcome, and it remains faithful to one of the series' hallmarks: the imaginative arrangement of the many carefully selected stills.
*Sight & Sound (of the 2009 edition)*

...the re-printed essays in The French New Wave: Critical Landmarks encapsulate an exciting time of cultural change with their fierce opinions and alternative approach towards reading film.
*Scope (of the 2009 edition)*