the essential
For Christmas, the Cinglés du Cinéma celebrate the New Wave at the CGR multiplex in Castres with a unique retrospective, between unforgettable masterpieces and striking discoveries. Here is the program!
To celebrate the end of year holidays, the Cinglés du Cinéma are offering an exceptional retrospective at the CGR in Castres. From today until December 31, lovers of the seventh art will be able to (re)discover four masterpieces from the French New Wave, a flagship period of 1960s cinema. This program highlights two major figures: Jacques Rozier and François Truffaut.
From the week of December 18, two emblematic films by Jacques Rozier will be screened. Farewell Philippine (1963), shot in Corsica with a modest budget, is a striking work which offers a sincere portrait of France in the 1960s. This first feature film, awarded in 1962 at the Critics’ Week in Cannes, is among the jewels of the New Wave. At his side, Shipwrecked from Turtle Island (1976) offers an offbeat comedy where Pierre Richard and Jacques Villeret play vacationers transformed into modern Robinsons on a desert island.
The following week, it’s time for François Truffaut with two of his major films. First of all, Shoot the pianist (1960), an adaptation of a novel by David Goodis. This film noir, mixing homage to American cinema and New Wave identity, features a moving Charles Aznavour. Finally, Roll on Sunday! (1983), Truffaut’s final achievement, is a light comedy designed as pure entertainment. This latest film brings together Fanny Ardant, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Jean-Pierre Kalfon in a ballet of tasty dialogues and offbeat situations.
A breath of freshness and audacity
The retrospective is also an opportunity to revisit the history of a cinematographic movement that marked its era. The 1950s had already initiated major changes in the practice of cinema: technical progress – increased film sensitivity and lighter equipment – allowed directors to leave the studios and explore new territories. In France, young filmmakers have been able to take advantage of this freedom, including Agnès Varda. With La Pointe Courte (1954), it stunned the public and announced the beginnings of a revolution.
Then, from the end of the 1950s, names such as François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rozier and Claude Chabrol imposed a breath of freshness and audacity. The New Wave was born, shaking up narrative and aesthetic codes to make a lasting mark in the history of cinema.
