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Nouvelle Vague: The French New Wave, Then And Now

NOUVELLE VAGUE: THE FRENCH NEW WAVE, THEN AND NOW Rating: NNNNN


If you’ve only heard the phrase “nouvelle vague” in the context of those sleepy bossa nova cover albums of vintage punk rock, you really need to spend a few nights at the Cinematheque this summer.

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To mark the 50th anniversary of François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, which launched the French new wave, Cinematheque has assembled a sizable tribute to the movement and its inheritors.

Watershed works by Truffaut, Louis Malle and Jean Eustache will be screened alongside more recent work by Jacques Rivette and Alain Resnais, with contributions both old and new by Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Eric Rohmer. There’s just too much to cover in this space, so I’ll be noting particular highlights throughout the summer at nowtoronto.com.

Is it an excuse for the Cinematheque to drag out some familiar auteurs? Well, yeah. But as far as I’m concerned, Truffaut’s essential Jules And Jim, showing Saturday (July 4), can’t be screened often enough. The same goes for Malle’s masterful Elevator To The Gallows (August 20) and my favourite late-period Godard, Éloge De L’Amour (August 8).

Sure, virtually everything in this catalogue can be found at finer DVD shops around the city, but these films were made to be shown to large groups, preferably in close proximity to cafés willing to host passionate post-screening debates – and as luck would have it, there are several just steps from the AGO.

I’m partial to Midi, just a short walk north on McCaul. There’s nothing like unpacking Godard’s Made In USA (July 30, August 1 and 6, in a new 35mm print) over a really good crème brûlée.

At Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas West. See listings.

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