Ten Milestones in French Cinema

1981 - Birth of the Cinéma du look

More of an aesthetic movement than an ideological one, the Cinéma du look is defined by its emphasis on spectacular visual style, influenced by television, advertising and the rise of the music video. Championed by populist film magazines, and decidedly anti-intellectual, the films do capture a sense of nihilism felt by young people in Mitterand's France, as well as offering postmodern musings on contemporary society. Their apolitical stance led to repeated vitriolic attacks in Cahiers du Cinéma, but audiences seemed to love them nonetheless. Jean-Jacques Beineix, Luc Besson and Leos Carax are the three major names associated with the movement, with "Diva", "Betty Blue", "Subway" and "Bad Blood" being some of the more notable titles.