New generation of French filmmakers divided on 2nd 'New Wave'

'New Wave' or 'La Nouvelle Vague' has been the hallmark of French cinema. In 60s and 70s, a group of filmmakers broke away from all the then established norm of film-making and attempted movies which were radical and experimental.

However, four decades later, while some new generation filmmakers feel it is outdated, others say it is not possible to ape it.

Debutant director David Morely thinks a deliberate attempt in this regard is not possible.

"Today's filmmakers are very ambitious. They are influenced by the American style of film-making as well as the 'New Wave' and unconsciously blend the two," the 32-year-old director of Mutants told PTI.

"It is for the audience to see our movies and decide whether a 'New Wave' has been created or not," he adds.

His senior from the fraternity, Jean-Paul Salome, of Female Agents starring Sophie Marceau, says nothing akin to the 'New Wave' exists today, but he is hopeful.

"The influence of 'New Wave' was very specific. Today nothing like that exists," he said.

However, there is hope as of the 200-odd movies made in France annually, 50-60 are by debutants and some of them are very promising filmmakers, the 49-year-old director said.More specific was 38-year-old Remi Bezancon, whose The First Day of the Rest of Your Life has been sold in 22 countries so far.

"The 'New Wave' is now old, outdated. Though it made a difference in the way movies were made then, today it seems a little old. Another wave, (a movement or revolution) has to come."

The young generation is fed up of the 'New Wave'. We do not want to copy it, he added.

Agrees Catherine Corsini, whose movie Ballades has won an award at Cannes.

"People of the 'New Wave' were extremely powerful. They have renewed cinema in an unbelievable manner. We tried an encore but did not succeed," Catherine, who has made 15 movies so far, said.

"We are living under the heritage (read legacy) of 'New Wave' but are not able to start a new movement," the 53-year-old director said.Another colleague of Catherine, Cedric Kahn, who has been around for over a decade or so and has made seven films, says they have nothing to leave for the next generation.

"We are the children of 'New Wave', pioneered by the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, and highlighted by inventing and adopting free style in every aspect of filmmaking. We are deeply influenced by it as we have inherited it. But, we ourselves have not created anything," he says.

"We do not have anything to leave for the next generation. And that is a problem," he adds.

However, Abel Ferry, another French director feels there is already a 'New Wave' but stops short of crediting filmmakers alone with it.

"While earlier directors alone were responsible for  creating a new style of filmmaking, today it is not so," said Ferry, who has made i a thriller.

 "Today, producers, financers and others too have similar thought process and are encouraging experimentation in filmmaking," he added.