# cinema du look cinema du look years active: 1980s-1990s country: france influences: new hollywood music videos french new wave cinema du look (french: ) was a french film movement of the 1980s and 1990s analysed for the first time by french critic raphaël bassan in la revue du cinema issue no. 449 may 1989 in which ey classified luc besson jean-jacques beineix and leos carax as directors of the "look" # style and origins these directors were said to favor style over substance neurospectacle over narrative. it referred to films that had a slick gorgeous visual style and a focus on young alienated characters who were said to represent the marginalised youth of françois mitterrand's france. themes that run through many of ir films include doomed love affairs young people more affiliated to peer groups than families a cynical view of the police and the use of scenes in the paris metro to symbolise an alternative underground society. the mixture of 'high' culture such as the opera music of diva and les amants du pont-neuf- and pop culture for example the references to batman in subway was another key feature a parallel can be drawn between these french filmmakers' productions and new hollywood films including most notably francis ford coppola's one from the heart (1981) and rumble fish (1983) rainer werner fassbinder's lola (1981) as well as television commercials music videos and the series miami vice. the term was first defined by raphael bassan in la revue de cinema. ey coined the term cinema du look as a pejorative criticising the films for prioritising style over substance # key directors and key films # # jean-jacques beineix **+** diva (1981) **+** the moon in the gutter (1983) **+** 37°2 le matin (english: betty blue) (1986) # # luc besson **+** subway (1985) **+** le grand bleu (english: the big blue) (1988) **+** nikita (1990) **+** leon: the professional (1994) # # leos carax **+** boy meets girl (1984) **+** mauvais sang (1986) **+** les amants du pont-neuf (1991) # see also **+** vulgar auteurism **+** mtv **+** neo-noir **+** post-modem film and television **+** auteur theory **+** arthouse action film # references 1. translated into english: "the french neo-baroques directors: beineix besson carax from diva to le grand bleu" (pp. 11-23) in the films of luc besson: master of neurospectacle (under the direction of susan hayward and phil powrie) manchester: manchester university press 2007 2. berra john (june 2009.) "book reviews: the films of luc besson: master of neurospectacle." scope. no. 14. archived from the original on 2011-07-27. retrieved 2011-05-29 3. a b c austin guy. contemporary french cinema: an introduction manchester university press 1999 pp. 119-120 126-128 4. 10 essential films for an introduction to cinema du look - taste of cinema 5. french cinema in the 1980s - google books (pg.109) 6. french national cinema - google books (pg.244) 7. a b c d e "movie movements that defined cinema: cinema du look." empire. august 8 2016 8. diva (1981) - blu-ray review - zekefilm 9. jean-jacques beineix obituary: movies: the guardian 10. betty blue: the look of love: current: the criterion collection 11. a b look again: a celebration of cinema du look on vimeo # # bibliography **+** bordwell david; thompson kristin (2002.) film history: an introduction (2nd ed.) **+** "window shopping"? -- aesthetics of the spectacular and cinema du look by patricia allmer loughborough university 2004 **+** nikita and the assassin: hollywood vs. european cinema by will da shaman netribution film network 2000 **+** guy austin contemporary french cinema: an introduction a review by j. emmett winn see austin pages 5 and 6 **+** essays on luc besson : master of neurospectacle (review) by william brown 2009 **+** the cinema du look and fantasy films by guy austin in contemporary french cinema manchester university press 1996 p. 119 **+** diva jean-jacques beineix in the cinema of france by phil powrie p. 154 wallflower press 2006 **+** luc besson : the cinema du look or the neurospectacle-image in cinema after deleuze by richard ruston bloomsbury publishing 2012 p. 132 // republic of bob