Cinema Du Look

Cinéma du Look of the 1980s and 1990s was both a reaction to the New Wave's aesthetic and production methods, as well as representative of socioeconomic and cultural changes in the Francophone world, especially in France under Presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac. While New Wave films can be dialogue-heavy, demanding of audiences, and in some ways limited by low budgets, Cinéma du Look, on the other hand, is loud, bright, expensive, and stylized. It is meant to be a spectacle, in other words. (Research Guides, Library of Congress)

KEY CHARACTERISTICS:

Visual and Aesthetic

StyleSlick & Glossy Imagery: Prioritized hyper-stylized, gorgeous cinematography heavily influenced by fashion photography, music videos, and TV commercials.

High Spectacle: Favored striking visual design, bold primary colors, and atmospheric lighting over traditional narrative depth.

High-Low Culture Mix: Blended classical high art (such as opera) with pop culture, comic books, and modern neon urban subcultures.

Recurring Themes and Settings

Alienated Youth: Focused on young, disaffected protagonists who felt disconnected from mainstream society.

Chosen Peer Groups: Characters reject traditional nuclear family structures in favor of tight-knit underground peer groups or alternative communities.

The Paris Métro: Frequently utilized subway tunnels and underground stations as symbolic, alternative societies separate from the surface world.

Doomed Romances: Centered heavily on intense, fatalistic love affairs. Institutional Cynicism: Depicted authorities and police with deep distrust or contempt. (source: wikipedia)

NOTABLE DIRECTORS AND FILMS:

JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX

- Diva (1981)

- The Moon in the Gutter (1983)

- 37°2 le matin (English: Betty Blue) (1986)

LEOS CARAX

- Boy Meets Girl (1984)

- Mauvais Sang (1986)

- Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991)

LUC BESSON

- Subway (1985)

- Le Grand bleu (English: The Big Blue) (1988)

- Nikita (1990)