So for every single Cinema Studies class I’ve taken, we’ve had to do reading logs. This year I assumed it was the same, only to find out that no, reading logs are not compulsory, or even expected. But I’d already done a reading log for Week 1, and I think that keeping track of readings is a good idea. So I will document my readings here, partly to give me motivation to actually read them, and partly to let my thoughts out about them.

Week 1

Conomos, John. “Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, or the Sea, Antoine, the Sea…” Senses of Cinema 6 (May 2000), http://sensesofcinema.com/2000/6/francois-truffaut/blows/ (accessed Feb 26, 2013)

and

Neupert, Richard John. “Francois Truffaut: The New Wave’s Ringleader.” A History of the French New Wave Cinema. University of Wisconsin Press 2007, 161-206

I actually didn’t know Truffaut started off as a critic. I’ve often heard that critics are just people that couldn’t get a job in the field they critique, so it’s nice to see that there are critics that successfully crossed over into creating. It’s clear he was passionate about film from a young age, and although I didn’t really connect with Les Quatre Cent Coups on my first watch, I can appreciate Truffaut’s style, especially on further rewatches. I find the evolution of film particularly interesting too. In Truffaut’s time, French film was quite high-brow, and Truffaut’s films were more “popular”, but nowadays, New Wave is seen as quite a sophisticated, high brow genre.

We spoke a lot about “auteurs” in Authorship, and although I’ve only seen one or two Truffaut films, his style is quite unmistakeable. In particular, the long tracking shot near the end of the film as Antoine runs from the guard is beautifully composed, and really captures the idea of Truffaut’s wanting to film things that do happen – it gives the whole scene a sense of place and of solidness. I enjoy these moments in the film that hearken back to Renoir’s words: “My aim was to give the impression that I was carrying a camera and microphone in my pocket and recording whatever came my way, regardless of its comparative importance.” Other scenes I thought linked back to this sentiment, such as Antoine and his friend coming out of a theatre, or that magnificent overhead tracking shot as the gym teacher gradually lost his herd of students, may not have been particularly significant to the plot, but were an excellent way of showing moments of life.

The second reading I found fascinating and quite illuminating. I don’t know as much about New Wave as I’d like to, nor as much about Truffaut as I’d like. I think the fact that his life is so closely studied is interesting, especially as I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole “art and the artist” affair: how the art can often reflect the artist, and specifically if the artist is not a good person. (I had Woody Allen in mind when I wrote this. I know he’s never been formally convicted of anything, but still.)

I enjoyed learning more about him, especially his huge, long-lasting, far-reaching effect on film reviewing. Of course, as with most filmmakers then (and now), his break into filmmaking came through nepotism, more or less, but it’s still a great story. As the reading went on, I had more trouble understanding the references to the films,  so I’m looking forward to watching more French New Wave films in order to understand this reading better later on.