18 Important Film Movements Every Movie BuffShould Know

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A film movement is a wave of films usually following a particular trend in cinema of the time. Mosttrending movements in cinema are regional but influence world cinema. These films have culturalorigins usually influenced by national tragedy, popular culture, or social issues.

Experimental techniques can be used to create the innovating filming styles. Boundaries in editing arealso pushed to the limit at times to give these films a unique identity. These innovating films impactHollywood and are very important in not only the history but also the future of cinema.

1. German Expressionism

During the First World War, foreign films were not allowed into Germany. A result that would help growthe German film industry. After the war the German economy was struggling. Instead of vacations,people began to go to the cinema, which was a cheap way to escape. A similar boom to the golden ageof Hollywood caused by the great depression.

The films were silent and in black and white due to the era. Sometime filmmakers tinted some scenesin a colour such as yellow to give it a different mood. The art design, style of the actors and use ofshadows made the films look surreal, similar to the surrealist paintings of the time. Because of theexperimentation in art, its speculative that a lot of filmmakers and artists in Europe were experimentingwith drugs at that time.

Sadly some of the films from this time are lost. Studios didnt preserve films in secure temperaturecontrolled warehouses as used today. Documentation and photographs confirm these films onceexisted. One of the most famous German expressionist films, Metropolis (1927 dir. Fritz Lang), hadbeen restored, however in 2005 a reel with more footage was found in New Zealand and in 2008another reel was found in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The last restoration was in 2010.

Major Figures:

F.W. MurnauFritz LangG.W. PabstRobert Wiene

Notable Films in existence today:

Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922 dir. F.W. Murnau)The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920 dir. Robert Wiene)The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920 dir. Carl Boese and Paul Wegenar)Metropolis (1927 dir. Fritz Lang)M (1931 dir. Fritz Lang)

Pandoras Box (1929 dir. G.W. Pabst)

German Expressionism was killed off when the Nazi regime took power but its influence would live on.Frtiz Lang and F. W. Murnau went on to work in Hollywood. The traits of German expressionism can beseen in Alfred Hitchcocks early silent work. Many of Tim Burtons films are thought to be modernexpressionism.

Werner Herzog directed Nosferatu the Vampyre in 1979 as a tribute to Nosferatu and in 2000 themaking of F.W. Murnaus Nosferatu was fictionalized into the film: Shadow of the vampire. Metropolisinspired the art direction on futurist films such as Blade Runner (1982 dir. Ridley Scott) as well asothers.

George Lucas also took inspiration from Metropolis for THX 1138 (1971) and Star wars. In 1984music producer Giorgio Moroder revamped Metropolis. The New restoration was colourized andrescored with 1980s pop music.

Metropolis was even adapted into a manga and in 2001 a feature length anime film titled Metropoliswas adapted from the manga. Francis Ford Coppola wanted to do a live action remake but has sinceabandoned the project after several attempts.

Its very possible that these films will continue to not only inspire but also even be remade. And theresstill the hope that missing scenes and lost films will resurface somewhere in the world. Thankfully TheFriedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation will be active in continuing to restore these important films.

I was called the greatest director in Europe, but I was just a hard worker. Fritz Lang

Check out our essential German Expressionism film list.

2. French New Wave

Young film critics in the late 1950s writing for Cahiers du cinema, had a wide knowledge of films andwere growing tiresome of the monotonousness industry. Keen on innovation, they got to work. Thegroup consisted of friends and help out one another to achieve the goal of changing cinema. OtherFrench filmmakers soon followed.

The films had low budgets but were stylized with tracking shots, fast pans and handheld camera workand most famously, Jump cuts. Many films and Hollywood worked on a formula of editing. The Frenchnew wave broke the rules and would jump cut scenes to change the timing and give the film moreenergy.

Major Figures:

Francois TruffautJean-Luc GodardEric RohmerClaude ChabrolJacques Rivette

Notable Films:

The 400 Blows (1959 dir. Francois Truffaut)Jules and Jim (1962 dir. Francois Truffaut)Breathless (1960 dir. Jean-Luc Godard)Le beau Serge (1958 dir. Claude Chabrol)

Sign of Leo (1962 dir. Eric Rohmer)Paris Belongs to Us (1961 dir. Jacques Rivette)

French new wave didnt die but evolved and changed film editing. Some modern Hollywood films nowfeature jump cuts. In 1983, Breathless had a modernised American remake but was met with mixreviews. However, Quentin Tarantino is a fan of the remake and has even named his productioncompany A Band Apart films which is a play on words of the French new wave film, Bande a part(1964 dir. Jean-Luc Godard).

Jean-Luc Godard continues to make films in a similar style but unfortunately the once innovatingfilmmaker has progressed in his exhibit of Marxist ideology and xenophobia towards Americans.

The film of tomorrow will not be directed by civil servants of the camera, but by artists for whomshooting a film constitutes a wonderful and thrilling adventure. Francois Traffaut

Check out our essential French New Wave film list .

3. New Hollywood

In the 1960s, the United States was radically changing. The old Hollywood studio system had setformulas for filmmaking, which couldnt even compete with television sitcoms of the time. And with thewar in Vietnam and race riots, people grew tired of films like The sound of music. Hollywood wasloosing money and filmmakers who had gone to film school and watched foreign films started directingnew Hollywood.

There was no set style, just influences from foreign films. These films were not for the entire family.Promiscuous sex, drugs and at times violence became apart of these films. The films didnt haveglamorous aesthetics and were gritty.

Major Figures:

Notable Films:

Taxi Driver (1976 dir. Martin Scorsese)Dog Day Afternoon (1975 dir. Sidney Lumet)Easy Rider (1969 dir. Dennis Hopper)The Graduate (1967 dir. Mike Nichols)Bonnie and Clyde (1967 dir. Arthur Penn)Midnight Cowboy (1969 dir. John Schlesinger)Two-Lane Blacktop (1971 dir. Monte Hellman)Badlands (1973 dir. Terrence Malick)The Deer Hunter (1978 dir. Michael Cimino)The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976 dir. John Cassavetes)The Conversation (1974 dir. Francis Ford Coppola)

New Hollywood pushed both American independent and Hollywood films. Hollywood continues to makea few great thought provoking gritty films each year and take influence from world cinema as well asinfluencing films across the world. American new wave never stopped, its just not new.

You dont make pictures for Oscars. Martin Scorsese

Check out our essential New Hollywood film list.

4. Italian Neo-Realism

After the Second World War Italy was in ruins. With an attitude that began to hate happy go luck filmsfrom Hollywood, filmmakers began making poetic realism films.

These films wouldnt be afraid to show realistic and gritty locations. The stories didnt need to have ahappy ending. Poverty, crime, simplistic joys and sadness were seen as realistic and thats what wasportrayed.

Major Figures:

Federico FelliniRoberto RosselliniVittorio De Sica

Luchino Visconti

Notable Films:

Rome, Open City (1945 dir. Roberto Rossellini)The Bicycle Thieves (1948 dir. Vittorio De Sica)I Vitelloni (1953 Federico Fellini)Umberto D. (1952 dir. Vittorio De Sica)

La Terra Trema (1948 dir. Luchino Visconti)

The Italian neo realist filmmakers continued working in the Italian film industry and later were involvedwith co-productions with the French new wave artists whom they had helped inspire.

A big fan of Neo realism is Martin Scorsese who not only made a documentary about neo realism butalso has made mainstream realistic and gritty films inspired by neo realism. Italian neo realism hashelped the French new wave and new Hollywood and continues to influence modern cinema.

Ive lost all my money on these films. They are not commercial. But Im glad to lose it this way. To have

for a souvenir of my life pictures like Umberto D. and The Bicycle Thief. Vittorio De Sica

Check out our essential Italian Neo-Realism film list.

5. Cinema du look

The 1980s culture changed a lot. Video games, fashion, adverts and music videos became veryimportant in 1980s and early 90s pop culture. Even with government support to help boost Francesfilm industry, filmmakers still had to work their way up on heavily stylized and colourful music videosand adverts. Three young stylised French directors made films which critics began calling a movementof cinema du look.

Style was used to make the films look good. Most films were very colourful just as the current advertsor music videos were. Where as movements before were focused on story, these filmmakers wanted tomake their films look cool and their charters at times looked like pop stars. Modern pop culture wasinterweaved and dramatic looks were abandoned.

Major Figures:

Jean-Jacques BeineixLuc BessonLeos Carax

Notable films:

Betty Blue (1986 dir. Jean-Jacques Beineix)Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991 dir. Leos Carax)Leon: The Professional (1994 dir. Luc Besson)La Femme Nikta (1990 dir. Luc Besson)

The words cinema du look can be used for films today. Bright looking films have seemed to not onlyhave great posters and trailers but also out sell story driven dramas however Star treks lens flares isnot where cinema du look lives on. Spike Lees Do the Right Thing (1989) is a good example.

Its possible that it was either influenced by the on going movement or took similar inspirations for style.Do the Right Thing, then influenced later films in the movement like Leos Caraxs Les Amants duPont-Neuf (1991). Luc Besson continues to make films and continues to create wonderful ascetics.

I think we have the wrong notion of commercial and intellectual or artistic film. Because all films arecommercial. Luc Bensson

Check out our essential Cinema du look film list .

6. Dogme 95

Dogme 95 is one of the few movements to have an official set of rules documented in a manifesto. TheManifesto was written and signed by directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. Dogma, as in aset of principles and the number 95 as in the year.

It was an update of a 1954 article wrote by French new wave director Francois Traffaut. All films had tobe approved to be considered apart of the Dogme 95. Although dogma 95 started in Denmark themovement was worldwide.

The style was set from the rules known as the vow of chastity. But rules were broken and confessionswere made. One of the original rules was to only use 35mm film, which was then changed to videotape.Films were shot handheld without filters and although broken on many occasions, the rules said toshoot on location, with no added sound, lights or props. That caused these films have somewhat of adocumentary style.

As for story, genre movies were a no no and so were superficial actions like murder. The other rulesstated that the telling of the location the film was set in was forbidden and so was the director to becredited. Although the secret is out and we now know which directors take credit.

Major Figures:

Lars von TrierThomas Vinterberg

Notable Films:

Dogma 1 The Celebration (Denmark 1998 dir. Thomas Vinterberg)Dogma 2 The Idiots (Denmark 1998 dir. Lars von Triee)Dogma 4 The king is Alive (Denmark 2001 dir. Kristian Levring)Dogma 6 Julien Donkey-Boy (USA 1999 dir. Harmony Korine.

The movement is now over as of 2005 but the filmmakers around the world that took part have movedon and keep making films. Natural light, hand held shots and documentary style films are more popular.One important thing dogme 95 taught us was that a good story could survive a low budget, somethingthat has inspired new and veteran filmmakers.

Basically, Im afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking. Lars von Trier

18 Important Film Movements Every Movie BuffShould Know

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7. Hong Kong New Wave

Whilst most films in China were made in Mandarin Chinese and filmed on stages, a few Cantonesespeaking Hong Kong filmmakers who had studied European films, decided to break apart from themainstream. The culture and history of Hong Kong is very different from the rest of China and thesefilmmakers show it.

The new wavers made films grittier and in their natural Chinese dialect. They were inspired by Italianand French cinema and used real locations. They pushed for their own identity. A lot of films werethrilling crime films about the Triad gangs or Martial art films. Those that were of a different genera likecomedy or romance would have a fast energy like an action film.

Major Figures:

Wong Kar-WaiJohn WooAnn HuiTsui Hark

Notable Films:

Boat People (1981 dir. Ann Hui)Days of Being Wild (1990 dir. Wong Kar-Wai)A Better Tomorrow (1986 dir. John Woo)The Butterfly Murders (1979 dir. Tsui Hark)

This is another movement that never really died. Hong Kong cinema is now a big industry in worldcinema and inspires action films across the globe. Without this movement, Hong Kong would not have

such incredible films as it does to days, which have inspired Quentin Tarantino.

My films are never about what Hong Kong is like, or anything approaching a realistic portrait, but whatI think about Hong Kong and what I want it to be. Wong Kar-Wai

8. No Wave

No wave wasnt just a film movement but also a music and art movement by a group of young creativepeople living on the Lower East Side of New York City. Money was tight but their minds were free.

The films were mostly made on either Super 8 or 16mm film in a guerrilla filmmaking style inspired byFrench new wave. The stories were transgressive. It was a great practice for the filmmakers who wouldgo on to have successful careers. Vincent Gallo and Steve Buscemi both got their start by acting in nowave films.

Major Figures:

Amos PoeJim Jarmusch

Notable Films:

Rome 78 (1978 dir. James Nares)Subway Riders (1981 dir. Amos Poe)Stranger Than Paradise (1984 dir. Jim Jarmusch)

These films boosted American independent cinema and helped push trasngresive films. Jim Jarmuschand Amos Poe continue to work. Vincent Gallo went on to direct a few transgression films after themovement had finished. They didnt wait for a studio, they just did it their way and inspired filmmakersto not focus on mainstream subjects. With a do-it-yourself attitude it was the precursor in Americanindependent cinema to Mumblecore.

When I left Ohio when I was 17 and ended up in New York and realized that not all films had the giantcrab monsters in them, it really opened up a lot of things for me. Jim Jarmusch

9. Nuevo Cine Mexicano

New Mexican cinema is a current ongoing wave of films and filmmakers coming from Mexico thatbegan in the early 1990s. These films stay away from the typical Narcoculture and instead takeinspiration from American and European films.

The films focus on person expression and changed Mexican cinema to a serious force in world cinema.They have a flare of Mexican culture, realism and romanticism.

Major Figures:

Alejandro Gonzalez InarrituAlfonso CuaronCarlos ReygadasGuillermo del Toro

Notable Films:

Danzon (1991 dir. Maria Novaro)The Devils Backbone (2001 dir. Guillermo del Toro)Amores Perros (2000 dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)Battle in Heaven (2005 dir. Carlos Reygadas)Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001 dir. Alfonso Cuaron)Biutiful (2010 dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)Japan (2002 dir. Carlos Reygadas)

These films are still being made and many directors are making their way and working in mainstreamHollywood. It is influencing the film world with a Mexican flare and helping to grow Mexicos filmindustry.

I have a real thing for Mexican directors. And I love Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro GonzalezInarritu. Emma Watson

Check out our essential New Mexican film list.

10. South Korean New Wave

South Korea cinemas started to sell more tickets of domestic films apposed to foreign in 1998. Inrecent years South Korean films have become sought after and watched by film lovers. The peninsulahad been known for years for its animation work for American cartoons like The Simpsons, but nowthey have a live action voice by filmmakers from a unique culture.

What makes the films different is very much the culture. To the North is the oppressed North Korea thatthreatens their country. A few defectors have luckily made it across the boarder. Oldboy shows theisolation similar to North Korea and The Host (2006 dir. Bong Joon-ho) shows fears of invasion. Theyalso have a dark way of telling stories and push the limits.

The films take inspiration from not only western and Japanese new wave films but also from Pansori: aKorean style of story telling. Korean films have rich stories but are at times criticised for going outsidecomfort zones when it comes to violence and horror.

Major Figures:

Park Chan-wookKi-duk KimKim Jee-WoonBong Joon-ho

Notable Films:

Memories of Murder (2003 dir. Bong Joon-ho)A Tale of Two Sisters (2003 dir. Kim Jee-woon)Oldboy (2003 dir. Park Chan-wook)Mother (2009 dir. Bong Joon-ho)Pieta (2012 dir. Ki-duk Kim)Secret Sunshine (2007 dir. Lee Chang-dong)Samaritan Girl (2004 dir. Ki-duk Kim)

The Korean new wave is starting to transform. The South Korean film industry is producing more filmsbecause of the wave and filmmakers Park Chan-Wook and Bong Joon-ho have began work inHollywood. Bong Joon-ho has also worked alongside French filmmakers Michel Gondry and LeosCarax in Tokyo! (2008). The film Oldboy inspired and was remade in 2013 by Spike Lee. There isalso an unlicensed Indian remake.

There is a lot of extreme emotion in Korean film. Its because there are a lot of extremes in Koreansociety. Bong Joon-ho

Check out our essential South Korean New Wave film list .

11. Japanese New Wave

After the American occupation following world war two, the film industry boosted. Samurai films wouldlater go onto inspire star wars. Ozus melodramas would inspire western films. And Kaiju monster andsci-fi films would also gain worldwide notoriety whilst being a metaphor for the destruction of Japanduring world war two as well as boosting the growing toy industry. This was a golden age for Japanesecinema. But other filmmakers wanted to be more expressive with the new freedom.

Thus came the Japanese new wave. They strayed away from the norm and went for more realist grittythrillers. Touching on taboo subjects and controversial themes, they didnt hold back and scored theirfilms with Jazz music. Just as new Hollywood, the Japanese studios stopped only making films thatwere appropriate for families to watch. Killings were no longer implied or suggested by giant monstersor heroic samurais but committed by sick criminals.

Major Figures:

Seijun SuzukiNagisa Oshima

Shohei ImamuraHiroshi TeshigaharaMasahiro Shinoda

Notable Films:

Branded to Kill (1967 dir. Seijun Suzuki)Tokyo Drifter (1966 dir. Sijun Suzuki)Intentions Of Murder (1964 dir. Shohei Imamura)The Face of Another (1966 dir. Hiroshi Teshigahara)Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (1967 dir. Nagisa Oshima)

Double Suicide (1969 dir. Masahiro Shinoda)

The taboo yakuza crime stories inspired many. Hong Kong new wave director John Woo was inspiredto make thrilling triad crime films that would go on to inspire many of Hong Kongs filmmakers likeJohnnie To.

No wave director Jim Jarmusch was inspired to push taboo subjects and filmmaker Quentin Tarantinoalso took inspiration from these films. Japanese new wave has also inspired the new wave of SouthKorea, which at times, feature horrific taboo subject maters.

Why make a movie about something one understands completely? I make movies about things I donot understand, but wish to. Seijun Suzuki

Check out our essential Japanese New Wave film list .

12. Parallel Cinema (India)

The second largest film market is India. The market has attracted the likes of Disney. The biggest partof Indian cinema has always been Bollywood: Hindi language films made in Mumbai (formallyBombay) that base styles on historical Indian epics, ancient Sanskrit dramas, Parsi and Hollywoodmusicals. Indian cinema has become known for lavish dance sequences and romantic music numbers.Films were rushed out for profit and realism was a rarity in Indian cinema.

However realism was apparent in a few films such as 1946s Neecha Nagar which Indian filmmakersfrom the state of West Bengal chariest. Rather than copy the style of Hindi language films like otherareas of India had done during the Indian golden age, Bengali filmmakers were inspired by Bengaliliterature and Italian neo realism and loathed the intrusive dances. The new wave would then extend toother regions in India.

Major Figures:

Satyajit RayRitwik GhatakMrinal Sen

Notable Films:

Aparajito (Language: Bengali 1956 dir. Satyajit Ray)The Rat Trap (Language: Malayalam 1981 dir. Andoor Gospalekrishnan)Parama (Language: Bengali 1984 dir. Aparna Sen)Ajantrik (Language: Bengali 1958 dir. Ritwik Ghatak)Akaler Sandhane (Language: Bengali 1980 dir. Mrinal Sen)Do Bigha Zamin (Language: Hindi 1953 dir. Bimal Roy)Do Aanken Barah (Language: Hindi 1957 dir. V. Shantaram)

The Indian new wave changed Indian cinema forever. Mainstream Indian cinema still consists ofdancing. Even though this movement grew in the 1970s and 80s, it struggled with money anddistribution in the early 1990s but allowed and inspired Indian filmmakers to make films different fromBollywood.

This new wave pushed the way and allowed Indian directors like Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, and ManiRatnam to make thought provoking dramas. As more and more parrell type films are coming out ofIndian and gaining recognition such as 2004s Hindi film Black Friday, there seems to be thepossibility of resurgence. These films also inspired filmmakers outside of India by winning awards atthe top film festivals around the world.

I think they quite like me when I work because Im one of the safer directors to back, because even ifmy films dont bring their costs in back home, once theyre shown outside of India they manage tocover the costs. Satyajit Ray

18 Important Film Movements Every Movie BuffShould Know

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13. Iranian New Wave

Iranian cinema is extremely unique and different. Although it had been going for years, the industrydidnt start up until the ruling regime finally allowed the 1969 release of The Cow. Governmentcensorship is strict but the government started allowing more films to be made. Because of thecountries strict censorship, only a few western films are allowed into the country, however the Internetnow allows Iranians to watched banned films.

Iranian films are made with censorship in mind. Scripts are submitting to the government before theyare allowed to be made. Filmmakers must hide political messages. Women must not be shown notwearing a veil and therefore films normally never show a woman at home, alone with her family. Sexand nudity is never allowed. In the first wave, many films were banned, only a few were released afterheavy editing.

In the second wave, filmmakers not only took inspiration from neo realism but documentaries. Iranianfilmmakers have kept rolling when an actor gets frustrated and loses charter. Improvisation is favoredand in some films we can hear the director in the background talking to the actors. Some films are re-enactments of real life events acted by either actors or those who lived them.

Major Figures:

Jafar PanahiAbbas KiarostamiMohsen Makhmalbaf

Notable Films:

The Cow (1969 dir. Daryush Mehrjui)Offsides (Banned in Iran 2006 dir. Jafar Panahi)Ten (Banned in Iran 2002 dir. Abbas Kiarostami)

Close up (1990 dir. Abbas Kiarostami)A Moment of Innocence (1995 banned until 1997 dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf)A Separation (2011 dir. Asghar Farhadi)This Is not a Film (Illegally made / Banned in Iran 2011 dir. Jafar Panahi and Mojitaba Mirtahmasb)

This is an ongoing wave, which may die under censorship. Some films had to be smuggled out of Iransuch as This is not a film, which was apparently done so with a flash drive hidden inside of a birthdaycake. Some filmmakers are threatened with jail sentences. Director Martin Scorsese has admired thesefilms along with film critic and filmmaker Mark Cousins whom has documented Iranian cinemanumerous times.

Since a lot of the Iranian films are almost documentaries, western documentaries have begun to blurthe lines and make films about real events using real people rather than a traditional documentary. Thiswas done in the 2012 documentary The Act of Killing.

When you take a tree that is rooted in the ground, and transfer it from one place to another, the treewill no longer bear fruit. And if it does, the fruit will not be as good as it was in its original place. This isa rule of nature. I think if I had left my country, I would be the same as the tree. Abbas Kiarostami

14. New German Cinema

On the twenty eighth of February 1962, twenty-six young German filmmakers signed the OberhausenManifesto. This ideal of West German cinema fueled the New German cinema wave, which developedyears later.

Much like other movements they were fed up with the norm. They wanted to make expressive filmsinspired by the French new wave that the studios wouldnt allow.

The filmmakers made low budget art films and covered the issue of politics in West Germany,something the studios didnt want. With hard work by creative filmmakers, they did what the studioscouldnt and werent afraid to take the story in new directions. Despite the films all being apart of thesame movement, each director had different styles and made different films.

Major Figures:

Notable Films:

Paris, Texas (1984 dir. Wim Wenders)The Tin Drum (1979 dir. Volker Schlondorff)Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1981 dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)Stroszek (1977 dir. Werner Herzog)

The films were accepted by audiences and gained the recognition that was deserved. German cinemachanged just as New Hollywood had changed Hollywood. Werner Herzog has inspired HarmonyKorine. Fassbinder sadly passed at the age of thirty seven in 1982 from a drug overdoes. The othersstill continue to make films today, inspiring new filmmakers

Id like to be for cinema what Shakespeare was for theatre, Marx for politics and Freud for psychology:someone after whom nothing is as it used to be. Rainer Werner Fassbinder

15. Taiwan New Wave

In the 1980s the home video market boosted but most of the films in Taiwan, the home of the GoldenHorse film festival, were from Hong Kong. Desperate for some of the market, the CMPC (CentralMotion Picture Corporation) funded new filmmakers in order to boost the Taiwanese film industry andcompete with Hong Kong cinema.

Because films were easier to get funding for, these new filmmakers were able to make artisticallyexpressional films taking inspiration from Neo realism. This was the First wave. Whats known as thesecond wave started in 1990 when films began to change to take on the competition of Hollywood. Thesecond new wave still retained artistic expression but was less serious to fight against the blockbustersin box office.

Major Figures:

Ang Lee

Edward YangHou Hsiao-HsienTsai Ming-Liang

Notable Films:

Eternal Summer (2006 dir. Leste Chen)Three Times (2005 dir. Hou Hsio-Hsien)Vive Lamour (1994 dir. Tsai Ming-Liang)Taipei story (1985 dir. Edward Yang)Prince of Tears (2009 dir. Yofan)A City of Sadness (1989 dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien)Yi Yi (2000 dir. Edward Yang)Pushing Hands (1992 dir. Ang Lee)

With a high level of the Taiwanese films being pirated, the wave started to struggle against the highbudgeted foreign films. Although the second wave has died, its possible for a third wave to come asTaiwanese filmmakers still have hope and have become recognized by film festivals around the world.

However, Taiwanese television could become a bigger market than cinema and prevent a third wave incinema. American Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee, one of the most well known out of the second wave,has brought styles from the Taiwanese new wave and adapted them for Hollywood.

I look at American movies, the big muscles, and try to apply that to Chinese film-making. Ang Lee

16. British New Wave

The cinema of the United Kingdom was strong. Walter Disney used his profits from the British boxoffice to re-invest in British made Disney films. Stanley Kubrick moved to Hertfordshire, England withhis British wife and made his films in Britain even if they were set elsewhere like Vietnam. GPO FilmUnit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office, which helped fund the industry. Hammer andEaling studios films were packing cinemas around the world.

However, the films that were being made were much like Hollywood and left out realism. French newwave and Kitchen sink realism of the British theatre, art, novels, film and television of the time

influenced a few filmmakers that shot in a cinema vertie documentary style similar to the free cinemadocumentary movement.

Major Figures:

Ken LoachTony RichardsonLindsay AndersonRichard LesterKarel Reisz

Notable Films:

This Sporting life (1963 dir. Lindsay Anderson)The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962 dir. Tony Richardson)if. (1968 dir. Lindsay Anderson)Kes (1969 dir. Ken Loach)A Hard Days Night (1964 dir. Richard Lester)Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960 dir. Karel Reisz)The L-Shaped Room (1962 dir. Bryan Forbes)Tom Jones (1963 dir. Tony Richardson)

The films helped the British film industry. The movement ended when Hollywood blockbusters andmainstream Bond films won the popularity but ideals of the British new wave continued to inspire andcan be seen every so often in British cinema and televison dramas after the 1960s.

If the cinema is any kind of force for social change, then its a force for the bad, because most filmsare about one guy with a gun solving a problem Ken Loach

Check out our essential British New Wave film list.

17. New French Extremity

When audiences first watched The Great Train Robbery in 1903, the ending shot of a man shootingat the screen terrified cinemagoers for dear life. 1990s Goodfellas paid homage to that shot. Despitebeing more violent, audiences were desensitised and had become accustomed to media portraying

these types of acts.

If filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino wanted to shock, they were forced to resort to more extrememethods showing the brutal severing of an ear or a toe. Horror became the biggest selling genrebesides pornography.

French filmmakers became inspired by David Cronenberg and wanted to take things to an extremeleave whilst remaining artistic using transgressive stories. Not all the films are horror but they featureextreme elements and exploits realism during sex, murder, and rape scenes.

Major Figures:

Gaspar NoeXavier GensPascal Laugier

Notable Films:

Frontier(s) (2007 dir. Xavier Gens)Martyrs (2008 dir. Pascal Laugier)Baise-Moi (2000 dir. Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi)High Tension (2003 dir. Alexandre Aja)Irreversible (2002 dir. Gaspar Noe)Pola X (1999 dir. Leos Carax)Trouble Every Day (2001 dir. Claire Denis)

French Extremity is inspiring and expanding. Its now a European movement that includes Lars vonTrier, who has portrayed real sex and an infant child falling from a window. Its also inspiring films worldwide to push the limits. They face criticism and some films struggle with distribution because ofextreme content. However, extremist Filmmakers Alwxandre Aja and Xavier Gens have made it toHollywood.

There is no line between art and pornography. You can make art of anything. You can make anexperimental movie with that candle or with this tape recorder. You can make a piece of art with a catdrinking milk. You can make a piece of art with people having sex. There is no line. Anything that isshot or reproduced in an unusual way is considered artistic or experimental. Gaspar Noe

Check out our essential French Extremity film list.

18. Romanian New Wave

Young filmmakers started the very current Romanian new wave with mixed emotions about capitalism.For many years under the regime of Ceausescu, Romanian cinema didnt exist. In 2004 a short filmTrafic directed by Catalin Mitulescu won the Short Film Palme dOr and inspired other Romanianfilmmakers.

Most Romanian new wave films either tell the stories of the communism that plagued the country for solong or stories of the new Romanian struggle to adapt after the fall of the Berlin wall. The films arerealist black comedies filmed in a minimalist style.

Major Figures:

Cornellu PorumboiuCristian MungiuCristi Pulu

Notable Films:

Tales from the Golden Age (2009 Multiple directors including Cristian Mungiu)The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005 dir. Cristi Pulu)12:08 East of Bucharest (2006 dir. Cornellu Porumboiu)4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007 dir. Cristian Mungiu)California Dreamin (2007 dir. Cristian Nemescu)Childs Pose (2013 dir. Calin Peter Netzer)

More and more films are coming from the Romanian new wave and gaining notable recognition. Afteryears of oppression and government censorship, Romanians are finding ways to express themselveswithout fear of government interference. The movement is not dead yet and will continue and inspire.

I had the experience of working on a film for somebody else, on a foreign production. They were verynice people, but I discovered it is very difficult for me to have somebody else interfere with my film. Iwouldnt like to work on anything unless I have complete control. Cristian Mungiu

Author Bio: The international filmmaker, Anthony Crossland was born 24th November 1989 in Watford,UK and holds duel citizenship with the U.S.A. In 2012 Anthony graduated from Full sail university with adegree in film studies and has since gone on to work in the film and television industry.

Taste of Cinema 18 Important Film Movements Every Movie Buff Should Knowtasteofcinema.com-18 Important Film Movements Every Movie Buff Should Know (1)tasteofcinema.com-18 Important Film Movements Every Movie Buff Should Know (2)