The New Wave film movement is the third film movement with world influence after European avant-gardeism and Italian neorealism. Its origins in France were inseparable from the leader Eric Houmai and the Latin Quarter Film Club he presided over.
"The Latin Quarter Film Club is significant, it provides an opportunity for enthusiasts to meet and mingle,......, club quickly became a melting pot of the New Wave, where a circle of young film lovers was born and grew." Jacques Rivitt, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and a number of other new wave directors who have left a name in film history have deep ties with Houmai and the Latin Film Club.
About Houmai
Eric Houmai, maurice Sheikh, is a novelist, film critic, international film master, and representative of French New Wave cinema. Hou Mai's films are full of strong literary and philosophical flavors, as well as subtle captures of life, mainly including the "Moral Story" series, the "Comedy and Proverb" series, and the "Four Seasons Story" series. In 1983, he won the "Silver Bear Award for Best Director" at the Berlin International Film Festival for "Pauline on the Beach"; in 1986, he won the "Golden Lion Award for Best Film" and the International Film Critics' Award for "Green Light"; in 2001, he was awarded the "Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement" at the Venice International Film Festival.
About the Latin Quarter Film Club
In December 1948, Hou Mai began a part-time job as the host of a film club. The opportunity came from St. Barba's Secondary School, where in addition to teaching classical literature, he also taught several film classes, as the school had a long-established film club. Among his students who loved film was an 18-year-old, Frederick M. C. Flescher, dare to think and dare to do, do not conform to the rules. This person loves to shop for old goods, so he has a lot of film in his hand. With his father's financial support, he founded the Ciné-club du Quartier latin (CCQL) and became his first president. The club was chartered on 9 December 1948 and was headquartered at 19 Cugas Street with the goal of becoming an "independent society for students". Maurice Sheikh was one of several founding members, and Flexelto presided over the club's film screenings. Every Thursday at 20:30 at the Sociétés savantes at 8 Rue Danton, and at 17:45 on Fridays at the Palais Cluny, this magnificent screening hall is a magnificent 385-seater, private room and building, and is now run by the Trodek father and daughter, which is notoriously the most shown American Western in Paris.
The club was free for students, and the selection of films was rich and ingenious, and soon attracted many members, with 3,000 people signing up. You can see a wide variety of films here, because Frederick Fleschell can get British films, German films, Soviet films, wartime documentaries, and a large number of American classics from the 1930s. Sheikh kept a number of screen schedules that he had put pen on, and it was clear from this material that the club's film source was indeed very wide. Screenings on Dandong Street on Thursday are dominated by music, fantasy and surreality to satisfy the curiosity of audiences (including films about Stalin or the Nazis), while Friday's show alternates between silent films and American classics. Eric Houmai later recalled: "Audiences can watch a considerable number of films here, and the aim of our club is pure film hobby, showing as many films as possible without prejudice. Here, any film can be screened, without established ideological forms and hierarchical differences. We bring different tastes to the audience, they are surprised, it is a whole new experience..."
Maurice Sheikh and his students, around 1952
Maurice Sheikh is plain-looking, and he combines knowledge and humor well, which makes his audience feel admired. He has published in film criticism publications and has been in frequent contact with the film elite, but these auras have not prevented him from mingling with students, and he has always maintained close contact with the youngest film enthusiasts. Claude Digifery remembers a high-style discussion, led by the "teacher-like" Sheikh, who gave the discourse to a younger audience, but regained control when the atmosphere was loose, giving a "rather professional" analysis or a clear opinion ("the conclusion that 'The Later High Noon' is 'pseudo-rationalist'"). Philip Yüger participated in these screenings as a young man, and he still keeps notes from the time: "Sheikh was not extremely intelligent, but he made a lot of preparation for the screening every time. He often spoke indistinctly and quickly. He looked more restrained, low-key and shy after the screening. But we still learned a lot from each film discussion session, which is what makes the screening attractive. ”
Sheikh put a lot of effort into the hosting of the club, and in March 1950 he became president of the club. He needed to prepare screenings, contact guests, and arrange screening schedules that would attract audiences based on Fleschell's film recommendations. Flescher did not leave him idle at all, as exemplified by this note from the autumn of 1949: "Dear Momo, when you see this note, please write to Mauriac at once and ask him to come over tomorrow night." Because Melville spoke in person, I hope to see him during the discussion. I'll leave it to you. The envelope of the air pressure mail is ready, it says Moriac received, you can use the letter paper inside. Don't forget to go to the post office immediately after writing. Things are urgent. Kiss you, Flescher. However, the sheikh's hard work was not rewarded accordingly, the remuneration was meager, and he often had to deal with the police and the court.
The book Hitchcock, co-authored by Chabrol and Houmai
On 27 January 1950, Sheikh and Frascher received a court summons that they had planned an unauthorized screening of Robert F. Kennedy. Rober A. Stemmle's Berlin Narrative was sued by a representative of a German company in France. The plaintiff's lawyer stated: "The advertisements that the defendant has placed and will run for film screenings have caused significant harm to the plaintiff. "They were ordered to return the film, to stop any related publicity, and to be fined ten thousand francs. The money was paid off by Frederick Flexcher's father, who fortunately ran a good garage on Avenue Saint-Michel... In June 1950, they were fined for posting an advertisement on a campaign billboard on Victor Kuzan Street. Sheikh was reported and was summoned by the police station. But he was unlucky, and a statement from the club was accused of inappropriate speech, and this time he was summoned to the police station and fined again.
But the Latin Quarter Film Club is significant, it provides enthusiasts with the opportunity to meet and communicate, and the fines are worth it. Sheikh attracted a large number of young students who loved movies. He became their mentor, leading their discussions, listening to their needs, and understanding their tastes and hobbies. Clubs quickly became the melting pot of the New Wave, where circles of young film lovers were born and grew. Among them was Jacques Riviette, a shy young man from Rouen who quickly became one of the best, most learned and visionary of this group of film lovers. He left his hometown in 1948 with his friend Francis Boucher and soon after arriving in Paris began to participate in screenings at the Parnas Film Studio and the Latin Quarter Club. Jean Gruo recalled him this way: "Thin, melancholy, with a sallow face and a pair of piercing black eyes on his thin face. A stiff smile often appeared on his sad face, and it could be seen that this person was constantly trying to integrate into the world around him, but always felt unpopular. Levitte spoke with a sonorous and forceful tone, in an unmistakable tone, and his views did not seem to change. He slapped his hands as if to say, "That's the way it is." There is also Jean-Luc Godard from the famous (Mono family), who left his hometown from the shores of Lake Le Mans in Switzerland to study in Paris (ethnography and film studies), but more often in the dimly lit cinema halls. Claude Chabrol, also from a well-to-do bourgeois family, gave up the prospect of jurisprudence and moved into film circles. The youngest of the gang was François Truffaut, who became André Bazin's personal secretary at the age of 17, giving him a certain aura that somehow compensated for his mundane and self-taught nature. But in addition to them there are many young people: Suzanne Schiffman, Jean Domarchi, Pierre Bai, André Labalte, Etienne Chaudon, George Kaplan, Francis Boucher, Jean Gruo, Jean Duchet, Claude Digifer...
Left: Eric Houmai and his actors, Two Little Ladies, 1952. Right: Jace Hahn and Eric Houmai, The Lion Constellation, 1959.
Several people have written down the situation at the time at the club that gave birth to a younger generation of film lovers. Claude Chabrol said bluntly: "As one of the most secure clubs in Paris, the financial status of this group is not innocent, there is no clear account. The host can reach for the money unscrupulously. I met Eric Houmai at the screening, a literature teacher, tall, thin, with brown hair, who looked like the vampire Nosferatu. Paul Djagov followed Sheikh to the club, and on January 16, 1950, he was suddenly appointed president, and only then began watching movies, though he never wrote a single review article. Still, he had an impression of the club's condition, and it was largely based on imagination: "The Latin Quarter Film Club is a gathering place for gangsters, and I'm the president of this gang of scoundrels, who from time to time take a sum out of the cash cabinet and use it to make a fool of themselves." Here's the thing: Flescher only has money and women in his head, and neither do I, not to mention Momo – he often brings the daughters of different female concierges to the club... Everyone just thinks about women, thinks about getting money, and in short, it's messy. In February 1950, in the spirit of pure mischief-making, Jeoff made this scene: after the screening of an American war film, in the darkness, the spotlight suddenly turned on, illuminating Jegov in the uniform of a Nazi officer. Just when the audience was surprised and amused, he shouted in an Alsatian accent: "We'll be back!" ”
In July 1949, many of these young men followed Maurice Sheikh to Biarritz for a film festival. The event was hosted by Lens 49, and Sheikh organized the screenings and spoke on several of them: René Claire's first Hollywood work, The Banshee, Robert Bresson's The Women of the Forest of Braunje, and Jean Grammyon's Summer Time. On August 4, 1949, Philip Hugues wrote in his notepad: "I met Maurice Sheikh today, who spoke vaguely in the morning when discussing Bresson, and who, together with Jacques Berzhwa, introduced Claire with him. There are 24 people on the guest list of this film festival, and I rank them in order of importance, with Sheikh in 6th place. He is preceded by Cocteau, Glemillon, Bazin, Berzhwa and Oriol, followed by Astruk, Mauriac, Graham Green, René Clement and others. However, to me, only the name Sheikh on this list is relatively unfamiliar, and the rest of the people I have known for a long time. That's enough to say how impressed I was. ”
On the evening of 29 July, while departing from Paris for Biarritz, Sheikh met Jean Duchet, 20, at austerlitz train station. "I read his articles in Film Magazine and was very impressed, and I attended several film screenings he hosted... I was as shy as he was, but that night I boarded the train to Biarritz and met him, so I came forward to talk. Later, the two of us talked all night in the aisle, starting with "Hot Hands" and "Beauty Plan", and then talking about Rossellini, John Ford, Keaton, Renoir, Mauna... Our views are almost unanimous. I've talked to other film club hosts before, but they tend to be communists or Catholics; unlike Sheikh, the most important thing about him is that he loves movies and understands them. How to watch the movie? What do you see in it? After talking to him, you will suddenly understand that this art no longer needs so-called political correctness, nor is it subject to so-called noble themes, but has its own form. "These film lovers lived in the dormitories of the Biarritz Secondary School: Duchet, Riviette, Truffaut, Chabrol, Philip Hugger, Charles Beech, and others." Shot 49 "The leading figures stayed at the local Palace Hotel and went to a ball at night at lac de la Négresse. Sheikh chose to live at Biarritz Secondary School, and he felt closer to the group of young people. However, Jean Guccido later invited all the important guests to take a group photo on the beach, and on this official photo of the festival, we still saw Sheikh, the big tall man hidden under the hat, on the right hand side of the last row.
* The above article is excerpted from the biography of Hou Mai