ABDS CONTEXT FLASHCARDS
When was it released? – 1960
Who was the director? – Jean-Luc Godard
What genre of cinema was it part of? – The French New Wave
When did the French New Wave emerge? – Late 1950s
Why did the FNW emerge? – There was a desire to reject traditional filmmaking
Who were the leaders of the FNW? – François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Jaques
Rivette, and Claude Chabrol
What were characteristics of the FNW? – Jump cuts, long tracking shots, fragmented narrative
structure, hand-held camera, improvised jazz score, dialogue spoken directly to camera,
frequent changes of pace and mood, reference to Americana, representations of the youth,
use of recognisable locations
What were Godard’s intentions with ABDS? – He wanted to break away from polished cinema,
reinvent what films could be, challenge traditional editing, admire and critique Hollywood,
deconstruct myths of masculinity, romance and heroism, feel natural and improvised
Why did Godard want to challenge traditional editing? – He wanted viewers to remember they
were watching a constructed reality
How did Godard ensure that it felt natural? – He wrote dialogue the day before/of filming or it
was improvised
Link to Todorov’s theory? – ABDS follows the 5-stage structure
How does ABDS subvert Todorov’s theory? – The plot meanders, feels loose, and the resolution
is bleak and ambiguous
Link to Propp’s theory? – Michel is the hero, Patricia is the princess, and the villain is
Americana.
How does ABDS subvert Propp’s theory? – Michel is aimless and self-destructive, and Patricia
makes the final move. Godard avoids neat roles, the characters are morally ambiguous and
resist classification
Link to Levi-Strauss’s theory? – Freedom vs confinement, masculinity vs femininity, love vs
betrayal, reality vs illusion.
Link to Neale’s theory? – Godard repeats a cool anti-hero, gun crime and femme fatale from
Noir but it differs through his use of jump cuts, disjointed pacing and intellectual dialogue over
action
Link to Bazin’s theory? – Godard’s signatures include improvisation, meta-cinema and stylistic
fingerprints (jump cuts, handheld cameras)
Link to Tasker’s theory? – Patricia is strong, independent and controls key choices, like turning
Michel in, but she is also romanticised through the camera, emotionally tied to Michel’s fate,
and presented through a ‘soft’ lens
Link to Mulvey’s theory? – Patricia is constantly watched, framed in long takes. Her betrayal is
more about Michel’s fate than her arc
Link to Barthes’ hermeneutic codes? – The mystery of why Patricia betrayed Michel
Link to Barthes’ proairetic codes? – Michel kills a cop, goes on the run and then asks Patricia
to feel
Link to Barthes’ symbolic codes? – Michel’s constant lip-touch is a reference to Bogart, shows
Michel’s self-insecurity
Link to Barthes’ symbolic codes? – American vs French culture, freedom vs consequence
Link to Altman’s semantic approach? – Trench coats, guns, Paris streets, Bogart’s gestures,
voiceover narration
Link to Altman’s syntactic approach? – Alienation, fatalism, masculine identity crisis, power
dynamics in relationships
When was it released? – 1960
Who was the director? – Jean-Luc Godard
What genre of cinema was it part of? – The French New Wave
When did the French New Wave emerge? – Late 1950s
Why did the FNW emerge? – There was a desire to reject traditional filmmaking
Who were the leaders of the FNW? – François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Jaques
Rivette, and Claude Chabrol
What were characteristics of the FNW? – Jump cuts, long tracking shots, fragmented narrative
structure, hand-held camera, improvised jazz score, dialogue spoken directly to camera,
frequent changes of pace and mood, reference to Americana, representations of the youth,
use of recognisable locations
What were Godard’s intentions with ABDS? – He wanted to break away from polished cinema,
reinvent what films could be, challenge traditional editing, admire and critique Hollywood,
deconstruct myths of masculinity, romance and heroism, feel natural and improvised
Why did Godard want to challenge traditional editing? – He wanted viewers to remember they
were watching a constructed reality
How did Godard ensure that it felt natural? – He wrote dialogue the day before/of filming or it
was improvised
Link to Todorov’s theory? – ABDS follows the 5-stage structure
How does ABDS subvert Todorov’s theory? – The plot meanders, feels loose, and the resolution
is bleak and ambiguous
Link to Propp’s theory? – Michel is the hero, Patricia is the princess, and the villain is
Americana.
How does ABDS subvert Propp’s theory? – Michel is aimless and self-destructive, and Patricia
makes the final move. Godard avoids neat roles, the characters are morally ambiguous and
resist classification
Link to Levi-Strauss’s theory? – Freedom vs confinement, masculinity vs femininity, love vs
betrayal, reality vs illusion.
Link to Neale’s theory? – Godard repeats a cool anti-hero, gun crime and femme fatale from
Noir but it differs through his use of jump cuts, disjointed pacing and intellectual dialogue over
action
Link to Bazin’s theory? – Godard’s signatures include improvisation, meta-cinema and stylistic
fingerprints (jump cuts, handheld cameras)
Link to Tasker’s theory? – Patricia is strong, independent and controls key choices, like turning
Michel in, but she is also romanticised through the camera, emotionally tied to Michel’s fate,
and presented through a ‘soft’ lens
Link to Mulvey’s theory? – Patricia is constantly watched, framed in long takes. Her betrayal is
more about Michel’s fate than her arc
Link to Barthes’ hermeneutic codes? – The mystery of why Patricia betrayed Michel
Link to Barthes’ proairetic codes? – Michel kills a cop, goes on the run and then asks Patricia
to feel
Link to Barthes’ symbolic codes? – Michel’s constant lip-touch is a reference to Bogart, shows
Michel’s self-insecurity
Link to Barthes’ symbolic codes? – American vs French culture, freedom vs consequence
Link to Altman’s semantic approach? – Trench coats, guns, Paris streets, Bogart’s gestures,
voiceover narration
Link to Altman’s syntactic approach? – Alienation, fatalism, masculine identity crisis, power
dynamics in relationships
