CINÉMA DU LOOK

Thecinéma du lookis a term used to describe films that emphasize visual style—orle look, as well as image, color, and youth. Critics trace the beginnings of thecinéma du looktoJean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 film,Diva. Additional examples of films that fall into this category include Beineix'sLa lune dans le caniveau(1983) and37°2 le matin(1986),Luc Besson'sSubway(1981) andLe Grand Bleu(1988), andLeos Carax'sMauvais sang(1986) andLes Amants du Pont-Neuf(1991). One might also considerJean-Pierre Jeunet'sLe fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain(2001) as part of this trend.

Thelookfilms of Beineix and Besson were at first derided by intellectual French film critics, especially those atCahiers du cinéma, for their alleged fetishism of the image at the expense of artistic, political, or psychological substance.Beineix and Besson both worked in advertising prior to their directing debuts, andle lookwas mocked as the embracement of consumer culture and advertising over intellectual depth and art. Critics argued that the characters in these films—especially those of Besson'sSubway—weredepicted as objects rather than complex individuals. They also objected to what they perceived as meaningless borrowings from, or recycling of, previous film images. The look's perceived reliance on spectacle, surface, the sensual, and the romantic initially repelled critics who valued character development and social commitment. Carax, who had written forCahiers, escaped the critical establishment's denunciations. He was instead regarded as a director who worked artfully with the cinematic image, and as a cinéaste who used the visual in order to convey social meaning.

Beineix countered that his films, in contrast with what he characterized as outdated, albeit belovedNouvelle Vagueor New Wave films so closely associated withCahiers, connected with contemporary film audiences. Indeed, the majority of spectators in the early 1980s were under twenty-five, and bothDivaand37°2 le matinbecame cult films. Critics point out that Beineix's charge mirrors accusations by formerCahierscritics that thecinéma du papawas irrelevant for young audiences in the 1950s. Thecinéma du lookdoes have its champions. Respected scholars maintain thatlookdirectors engaged in the creation of an innovative cinematic language derived from popular culture and influenced by technological advancements. The look's play of images, seemingly detached from any clear significance, in addition to its mélange of high art with popular culture, has led to associations between thecinéma du lookand the postmodern. Indeed, one of the foremost theorists of the postmodern, Frederic Jameson, selectedDivaas France's first postmodern film. Regardless of one's position on the value of thecinéma du look—andthe earlier critical responses have been challenged and reevaluated—it is difficult to deny that Beineix, Besson, and Carax created landmark films.