Cinema du Look Sound Design

Throughout all of the Cinema du Look films I was assigned to watch, I learned that during this time the filmmakers used a unique sound design, very individualized to the director’s personal taste. In Boy Meets Girl, Luc Besson used minimal music and soundtracks, rather he used exaggerated real-life sounds. The use of real noise emphasizes the relatability that the audience has to the characters. Usually, the only music heard in this film is actual music that the characters play for themselves off of a radio or record player.

DIVA

LEON

 

 

Cinema du Look- What to look out for

What to look out for while watching Cinema du Look films:

• Vivid colors (in exception for Boy Meets Girl which is in black and white)
• Realistic sounds / Little music
• Metro system / Underground
• Guns
• Emotional close-up shots
• “Doomed” love
• Little narration
• Use of old-timey radios
• Wide-shots of the city and nature
• Very unique characters (look and personalities)

Cinema du Look Critical Essays

Critical Essays on Cinema du Look

Contemporary French Cinema: An Introduction by Guy Austin

In a section of this book, Guy Austin talks specifically about Cinema du Look and what it was all about. He talks about the themes of young love and troubled youth, and also comments on the use of the Paris metro system. Austin also discusses a few of the critiques made against the main three directors of this time (Besson, Carax, and Beineix), including superficiality and the lack of political awareness seen in their films. He does not take sides within this essay, rather he creates multiple perspectives regarding Cinema du look.

<https://books.google.com/books?id=-Bbxa3q3ZZAC&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=cinema+du+look&source=bl&ots=ge3ylq6i-y&sig=OW20dl6rfFirGNGdmxOIAQmLmK4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0t9yXuNbOAhVLQiYKHf9PBG4Q6AEIYDAM#v=onepage&q=cinema%20du%20look&f=false&gt;

“Window Shopping”? — Aesthetics of the Spectacular and Cinéma du Look

Patricia Allmer, Loughborough University, UK

In this essay, Patricia Allmer discusses critiques made against Cinema du Look films based on the main directors backgrounds in advertising and political affiliation. Several people have critiqued the actual art seen within the films, calling it a mode of advertisement, however while you watch the film there are no real purchases being talked about. I personally think this is silly, art is art. There are also critiques on the lack of political awareness seen in the films, rather the image of a cynical government is seen in Cinema du Look films. Allmer does not fight against these critiques, but rather back them up with text-evidence.

Click to access allmer.pdf

 

 

Cinema du Look- Filmmakers and their Films

Background:

French cinema that describes visual styles- or “le look”- and emphasizes image, color, and youth. This type of style was mocked as the embracement of consumer culture and advertising over intellectual depth and art. Funny enough, this was because Besson and Bienex both worked in advertising before producing films. Critics always argued that in “look” films, the characters were portrayed simply as objects and were not shown as complex individuals. The directors of this time argued, saying that their alienated characters represented the actual youth of France at this time. Themes that were similar for this tradition included doomed love affairs, young people with peer groups rather than families, a cynical view of the police, and the use of the Paris Métro to symbolize an alternative, underground society.

Key Filmmakers and their Films:

Jean-Jacques Beineix:

• Diva (1981)- This screenshot from the film clearly represents the use of the Metro underground tunnels that these French filmmakers commonly liked to use throughout their movies.

• Betty Blue (1986)- I chose this scene below to represent the “doomed love affairs” theme that seemed to scatter throughout Cinema du Look. This movie is your classic youth vs world, and it seemed a little similar to Bonnie and Clyde while I watched the trailer.

Luc Besson

• Subway (1985)- This is a screenshot from a party scene towards the beginning of the film. I think it really emphasizes the “look” that filmmakers in Cinema du Look were trying to go for. Personalized style and colors, as well as the close-up camera angles. It causes for the audience’s eyes to pan the entire screen, catching different colors and movement.

• The Big Blue (1988)- I chose this shot because it shows the individuality of Cinema du Look. Besson was very creative, as you can see below, the main character’s roof turned into the ocean and he is reaching up to touch it. Besson really creates the thematic idea of youth and wishfulness.

• Nikita (1990)- This shot represents another example of “doomed love affairs”. This movie has romance, action, and it is a bit comical too. Besson shows the life of the youth in France at this time, and the similar clashing themes of love and violence appear consistently.

Leos Carax

• Mauvais Sang (1986)- This scene was my favorite out of this entire list. I love how Carax used music to guide his character. This gives his film a unique style that he used to portray the youth in this film.

• Les Amanrs du Pont-Neuf (1991)- This scene really emphasizes youth and the carefree attitude of them during this time. Carax also uses color in the hundreds of fireworks that go off at the same time to create a visually-attractive scene.

All of these films were unique in their own ways and I think that was the point of creating in “Cinema du Look”. Everything has it’s own style and its own “look”.