Frances Ha + Francois Truffaut: The American New Wave

Noah Baumbach seemed to want to make a film that lent itself to the New Wave of France in the 1960s, specifically Francois Truffaut.

The people who keep on associating Woody Allen and "Girls" with "Frances Ha" may be missing the mark or haven't considered who influenced Lena Dunham and Woody himself. If you're saying to yourself, "Well, this is the kind of pretentious film school dribble that I avoid when going to a film" click "back" now. This is not a defense of the picture.

Firstly, consider the music that subtly plays while Frances and Ben watch their film on the laptop. It's the soundtrack to Truffaut's directorial debut, "The 400 Blows". Like Frances, the protagonist of "The 400 Blows", Antoine, is aimless, anarchistic and somewhat charming. The difference being that Truffaut made this portrait of a 12 year old boy in Paris. Whereas, "Frances Ha" is a portrait of a 27 year old in New York. The idea of our generations' "adultescence" is found nearly everywhere throughout the film. Compare the tracking shot of Antoine at the end of "The 400 Blows" to those of Frances running down the streets of New York. The only difference being that Frances dances!

When Frances first enters the apartment with Benji and Lev, the poster for "Small Change" is on the wall behind them. This was Truffaut's return to his exploration of qualities between children and adults alike. The living arrangement and the decor of that big loft apartment is something out of Godard's "Band of Outsiders". It is no coincidence that Frances finds herself in Paris halfway through the film. Baumbach is aware of what he's doing, but instead of finding "magic" in Paris, she discovers her loneliness follows her.

But Baumbach doesn't only pay homage to French cinema, seeing as he is a New York native. There are several striking similarities to the American New Wave that was pioneered by NY filmmaker "John Cassavetes", who shot his debut film "Shadows" in Manhattan. Like the French New Wave around the same time, Cassavetes made films about the misunderstood youth of his time. He made films with shoestring budgets and often, like Baumbach, cowrote it with his lead actors. (SPOILER) The epilogue between friends after Frances' dance show is a near mirror to the talk after Gena Rowlands performance in Cassavetes' "Opening Night". Both are about a woman who are trying to make sense out of life.

There are countless other references to this era of filmmaking and with "Frances Ha", Baumbach seems to want to revitalize that time in a more financially and morally bankrupt America with his backdrop. Frances finds it difficult given the times, but in many ways, succeeds to find "small change".