By Stone Martindale Aug 30, 2007, 4:41 GMT
Director François Truffaut fell in love with American Cinema at the Henri Langlois' Cinémathèque Française where as a young man, he was exposed to the work of directors John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Alfred Hitchcock.
French actor Gerard Depardieu EPA/DANIEL DEME
After starting his own film club in 1948, Truffaut met André Bazin - a critic and the head of another film society at the time.
Truffaut later joined the French Army in 1950, but spent the next two years trying to escape. Truffaut was arrested for attempting to desert the army. Bazin used his various political contacts to get Truffaut released and set him up with a job at his newly formed film magazine Cahiers du cinema.
It was then that Truffaut became first became a film critic and editor at Cahiers. He was notorious for being brutal and unforgiving in his reviews, especially his take on French cinema of the day.
He was called "The Gravedigger of French Cinema" and was even banned from the Cannes Film Festival in 1958. It was during this time that he developed one of the most influential theories to cinema itself, the auteur theory.
In 1954 he wrote "La Politique Des Auteurs" (The Policy of the Auteurs) in which he stated that the director was the "author" of his work, that great directors such as Renoir, or Hitchcock, have a distinct style and themes that permeate all of their films. Although his theory was not widely accepted at the time, it gained some support in the '60s from American critic Andrew Sarris.
After being a critic for so long Truffaut decided to make films of his own. He started out with the short film "Une Visite" in 1955 and followed that up with "Les Mistons" in 1957.
After seeing Orson Welles' Touch of Evil at the Expo 58, he was inspired to make his feature film debut "The 400 Blows."
TV5MONDE, the only digital, global French-language network, broadcasting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to more than 171 million households in 200 countries worldwide, is the second largest global network in terms of subscribers.
In the United States, TV5MONDE USA is seen throughout the nation on cable systems belonging to Comcast, Time Warner, and Cox, and on satellite via the DISH Network. The channel’s U.S. headquarters are based in Los Angeles.
Come and Surf the French New Wave with one of its pioneers: François Truffaut
Every Thursday in September as they showcase Truffaut’s classic films.
Jules et Jim
Staring César Award Winning Actress, Jean Moreau
The scene is Paris in 1912. Jules, a German and Jim, a Frenchman are both artists and inseparable friends. Both men are in love with Catherine although she finally decides to marry Jules. War comes along to separate this little trio. At the end of the conflict, Jim comes across Catherine and Jules in Germany. The close bond between these three people is stronger than ever, a bond which is only broken when Jim and Catherine are killed in a car accident.
Awards:
Mar del Plata 1962 (prize for direction)
Cantaclaros 1961-1962 in Caracas (Venezuela)
BAFTA Film Award (Best French film, Best Foreign actress for Jeanne Moreau)
Special critic award at Cartagena festival
Danish Oscar: "Bodil 1963" for best European film of the year
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Nastro argento (Best film of the year)
Premieres: Thursday, September 6th at 8:35PM/EDT
La Peau Douce
While on a conference tour, Pierre Lachenay, writer, married man and father, falls head over heels in love with an airhostess. He leaves his wife, settles down to a life of bachelorhood, and alternately visits his wife and his mistress. Powerless to deal with the situation, putting off the crucial decision-making moment, Pierre is killed while in a restaurant...by his wife, just after finally making the decision to return to her and resume married life.
Premieres: Thursday, September 13th at 8:30PM/EDT
Un Belle Fille Comme Moi
Staring César Award Winning Actor, Claude Brasseu
Camille Bliss, a ravishing young woman accused of murder and suspected of other attempted murders finds herself in prison. Stanislas Prévine, a young sociologist preparing a thesis on female criminality interviews her in jail. She starts to talk about her past and the more she recounts, the more Stanislas begins to think she may not be guilty of the last murder for which she has been incarcerated.
Premieres: Thursday, September 20th at 8:30pm/EDT
La Femme D’À Côté
Starring: Oscar® Nominated Actor Gérard Depardieu
Seven years ago, Bernard and Mathilde met, fell madly in love and then violently broke up. Destiny however brings them to the same neighborhood when Mathilde, recently married to Philippe, moves in next door to Bernard and Arlette, Bernard’s new wife. Neighborly relations inevitably develop between both couples…
Premieres: Thursday, September 27th at 8:30PM/EDT
Your Talkback on this Story