Chronologically:
First half of the 20th century Georges Méliès - A Trip To The Moon
Jean Renoir - Boudu Saved From Drowning
Jean Cocteau - La Belle et la Bête
French New Wave Jean-Luc Godard - Breathless
François Truffaut - The 400 Blows
Jean-Pierre Melville - Le Samourai
Post New Wave Jean-Jacques Beneix - Diva
Jean-Pierre Jeunet - City Of Lost Children and Amelie
Jacques Tati - Playtime
Gaspar Noe - Enter The Void
The impact of French cinema (with all it's various movements and sub-categories) cannot be overstated. The New Wave alone is arguably the most influential period in world cinema. It's influence on modern Hollywood is profound.
There is an unmistakable through line of experimentation and avant-garde techniques which runs from Méliès' pioneering early special effects to Jeunet's surreal worldview.
Even the New Wave was a rebellion against the standard narrative form popularized by classic Hollywood.
....but the world goes 'round
Updated On: 4/7/11 at 01:35 PM