Film Movements
French New Wave
- Rejection of traditional filmmaking
- Experimenting
- Existential themes
- Using portable equipment
- Notable directors include: Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Agnes Varda, Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette
Italian Neo-Realism
- Set amongst the poor and working class
- Filmed on location
- Uses non-professional actors
- Explores the moral conditions of post-WWII Italy
- Notable directors include: Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti, Frederico Fellini
British New Wave
- Black and white
- Pseudo-documentary
- On location
- Working classes --> angry young men
- Notable directors include: Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, Richard Lester, Ken Loach, John Schlesinger
Saturday Night & Sunday Morning (Reisz, 1960)
Saturday Night & Sunday Morning (SNSM) perfectly captures the perceived disembodiment of the worker by his employer as a machine rather than a human. In a workplace environment wear wages are based on productiveness, the men in this film are shown to not be treated as equals, nor as real people, but as ways to make money for the company. Reisz uses a non-diegetic voiceover to emphasise this as Finney's character is given a personality, given thoughts and feelings, but isn't allowed to actually show them in the factory. The competitiveness is displayed in the character's critiques on other workers and how they spend their money.
SNSM is all about money, more specifically: a lack of it. Reisz employs all the major conventions within the British New Wave for this film. The black-and-white cinematography, whilst also reflecting cinematic techniques at the time, makes the film look gritty and poor, without the vivid life that colour provides.
On top of that, Reisz uses a pseudo-documentary format in order to make the spectator observe the realism of the scene; this is everyday life in the present and, by using Albert Finney, who was not well known at the time of release, Reisz immerses the audience into a cinematic world that rejects the fact that is cinema and acts like it is objective and real life.
And whilst the film uses non-diegetic music in the background, it is foregrounded by the clinks and clanks of the factory setting which overwhelms every facet of these workers' lives.
Looking at cinematic boundaries, SNSM fits within the subcategory of REBELS ON THE SCREEN as Reisz rebels, albeit only with his thoughts, against the poor working-class conditions he has to live in. This internal rebellion so early on in the film hints at an external outburst in the future as this character is shown to be pragmatic, honest and confident in his own opinions. He is resilient and states "I'd like to see anybody grind me down, that'll be the day" reflecting a post-war British attitude of not letting things get to you.
- Rejection of traditional filmmaking
- Experimenting
- Existential themes
- Using portable equipment
- Notable directors include: Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Agnes Varda, Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette
Italian Neo-Realism
- Filmed on location
- Uses non-professional actors
- Explores the moral conditions of post-WWII Italy
- Notable directors include: Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti, Frederico Fellini
British New Wave
- Black and white
- Pseudo-documentary
- On location
- Working classes --> angry young men
- Notable directors include: Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, Richard Lester, Ken Loach, John Schlesinger
Saturday Night & Sunday Morning (Reisz, 1960)
Saturday Night & Sunday Morning (SNSM) perfectly captures the perceived disembodiment of the worker by his employer as a machine rather than a human. In a workplace environment wear wages are based on productiveness, the men in this film are shown to not be treated as equals, nor as real people, but as ways to make money for the company. Reisz uses a non-diegetic voiceover to emphasise this as Finney's character is given a personality, given thoughts and feelings, but isn't allowed to actually show them in the factory. The competitiveness is displayed in the character's critiques on other workers and how they spend their money.
SNSM is all about money, more specifically: a lack of it. Reisz employs all the major conventions within the British New Wave for this film. The black-and-white cinematography, whilst also reflecting cinematic techniques at the time, makes the film look gritty and poor, without the vivid life that colour provides.
On top of that, Reisz uses a pseudo-documentary format in order to make the spectator observe the realism of the scene; this is everyday life in the present and, by using Albert Finney, who was not well known at the time of release, Reisz immerses the audience into a cinematic world that rejects the fact that is cinema and acts like it is objective and real life.
And whilst the film uses non-diegetic music in the background, it is foregrounded by the clinks and clanks of the factory setting which overwhelms every facet of these workers' lives.
Looking at cinematic boundaries, SNSM fits within the subcategory of REBELS ON THE SCREEN as Reisz rebels, albeit only with his thoughts, against the poor working-class conditions he has to live in. This internal rebellion so early on in the film hints at an external outburst in the future as this character is shown to be pragmatic, honest and confident in his own opinions. He is resilient and states "I'd like to see anybody grind me down, that'll be the day" reflecting a post-war British attitude of not letting things get to you.
Good overview of the three film movements with a highly sustained and detailed analysis of SNSM. There are many points you consider which tap into the mood of the movement- and the idea of the 'angry young man' is one of these. This emerges with John Osborne's play, of the same title and reflects the idea of youth, rebellion and frustrated ambition. Something we also see in A Kind of Loving in Alan Bate's character. Please upload your review of The Human Condition 1.
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