billy liar and the british new wave

8/11/2019 Billy Liar and the British New Wave

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Billy Liar and the British New Wave

John Schlesingers 1962 movie was one of the main representatives of the British New Wave

films, the period of which lasted from around 199 to 196!"

New Wave cinema#movement was not a British invention though" $t was imported from the

continent, from two artisticall% and cinematicall% developed counties, $tal% and &rance" 'he

art of Jean#(uc )odard and &rancois 'ruffaut in the late *s and 6*s highl% influenced that of

the British film directors" 'he term New Wave was coined in order to e+press the desire of the

new director generation to rea- up with the conservative film#ma-ing tradition of the

previous decades" With New Wave there came man% new endeavors and film#techni.ues that

revolutioni/ed the movie#industr%" 'hese new solutions of cinema#art were rooted in the

directors artistic lieration from conventions, and in their imaginative and creative souls, ut

not in mone% and new technical inventions of cameras and lenses" 'he inventor% factor was

the human point of view, different in man% wa%s from that of predecessors" $nstead of heav%

cameras and studio#shootings New Wavers tended to use hand%cams which enaled them to

ma-e recordings outside the studio, right out on the streets where, without the usage of

camera trac-s, cameramen could ma-e long and uncut shots during wal-ing, which resulted in

a fluid camera motion, the trademar- of the whole movement, and it is also present in Bill%

(iar" $mprovised dialogues and fascinating solutions, such as -inds of interactive

communication with the viewer, are also characteristics of New Wave"

$n Britain New Wave had the same technical solutions in use and the same o0ectives as the

&rench movement" British filmma-ers wanted to rea- with the post#war tradition of the

middle#class, conservative and ac-ward#loo-ing movies" But it was not merel% the case

post#war Britain went through a drastic change in the second half of the !*s and the *s"


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Social changes were rought aout and empirial Britain was aout to dissolve and disappear"

'he (aour art% under the leadership of 3lement 4ttlee too- over and led the countr% after

3hurchills conservative war#time regime, which was considered unale to asolve the

initiation of a welfare#state" 'hus politicall% man% things changed and the wor-ing class

ecame an appreciated factor of societ%" Not this much happened though to the film industr%"

'his stagnant state of cinema was to e succeeded % &ree 3inema and then the British New

Wave" $n cinematic terms there was a need for a change too, and the social change traceale in

societ% was needful also within the realm of films" 4nd so the middle#class war movies of the

*s, which were shot in order to revive the empirical past of Britain, were put aside to give

place for the period of 5new realism, which lasted from 199 to the earl% 7*s" Within this

5new realism the newl% discovered and glorified wor-ing class was given a central position"

$n the corresponding film, Bill% (iar8, the previousl% enumerated tendencies and the spirit

of the era are traceale" 'he most important motives that are tangile through the movie are

the wor-ing#class identit%, the lieral male#female relationship, social matters after the WW2,

and of course the new, someplace shoc-ing technical solutions"

'he film starts with a scene in which the spirit of the post#war situation can e caught" ld

houses are dismantled and new ones are uilt: this house uilding action was characteristic of

the (aour government, and was part of the reconstruction after the second world war" But it

can also e interpreted as the starting point of the post war proliferation and welfare state, the

s%mol of which ma% also e the radio re.uest programme each household has a device,

which represents welfare" 'he launch of the consumer societ% has other signs, too discos and

the m%riad of outi.ues, in a shopwindow of one of which (i/, pla%ed % Julie 3hristie,

ad0usts her ma-eup" 'his well#off state of Britain and the social realism of the wor-ing class

enales the contemporar% people to act li-e Bill% does in the film" ;e is nothing ut a son of a

lue#collar famil%, ut not an%more does he have to deal with such things and prolems as his


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parents had to" $t is not necessar% for him to find a 0o to do for life for living, ut the

e+tended choice of alternatives ma-es it possile for him to ta-e up an eas%#going attitude

towards life and not to ta-e things too seriousl%" ;e is not an%more the disrespected memer

of societ% and he ta-es his chances of this free and lieral new wa% of life" 'he wor-ing class

hero is not an%more an aw-ward -ind of person as such, who is to e ridiculed % others, and

someod% who turns up in films as redundant and suordinate character, ut ta-es it all as the

main protagonist of most films, 0ust li-e in Bill% (iar"

William &isher is though not e+actl% the role model for wor-ing class people" ;is insecure

personalit%, his own inner world of imagination presents a 0er-#li-e, %et amiale figure, whose

origin onl% tells the social conditions in which he lives" B% the previousl% mentioned

alternatives that wor-ing class people ma% ta-e, Bill% ma-es his chances, even though onl% in

his imagination" Since he is not ale to escape the difficulties of real life, i"e" parents,

girlfriends, oss, etc", he ma-es up an imaginar% world called 4mrosia, where he can flee

an%time feeling uncomfortale in realit%" 4mrosia, with its totalitarian dictatorship, ma%

an%wa% e a reference to the second ig war" ;owever, Bill%s visions, % the help of the

film#tric-s, not onl% do offer solutions in his mind his lies generated % his imaginative mind

have an impact on realit% too, for Bill% tries to handle the prolems of his life through these

lies" 4nd also with the help of his imagination, man% times Bill% intends to call the flow of

events to a terminal halt, and here the New Waves new methods of filming ma% e caught"


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e mentioned that though these technical tric-s might have een considered as novelt% in

>ngland, earlier filmma-ers alread% in the 2*s had made similarl% shoc-ing surrealist pieces

of art"

'he contrast etween the aristocratic or upper#middle class and the wor-ing class is

represented % the encounter of Bill% and the 3ounsellor in front of the underta-ers office"

;is authoritarian and fatherl% manner is ridiculed % Bill% and his collegue, as a satiric

moc-er% of the past social s%stem" 'he discussion that follows a little later is again a scathing

criti.ue of the past again Bill% and his companion are pla%ing roles as if the% were elderl%

men tal-ing aout the good for nothing %outh of the present who can have the opportunit% to

do whatever the% 0ust want to ut still the% are complaining" Not eing aware, Bill% is also

one these %oungsters, who, without proper strenght and stamina and s-ills, cannot ever reach

his aim of a etter and idealistic life, one li-e he imagines"

n the other hand, as the counterpart of Bill%, there is someone in the film who is ale to

ma-e her dreams come true and to ta-e her chances" 'his is (i/, the third girlfriend of Bill%,

ut the onl% one of them he can imagine his life with" When she returns to the cit%, Bill%s

hope for his dreams to come true arises, for she represents Bill%s real wills and intentions

such as moving to a place where he can e+press himself" ?ntil this point Bill% tries to ma-e

himself elieve that he alone can ma-e his chances and can travel to (ondon to e a famous

scenario writer" 4nd when finall% he manages to get rid of a part of his previous life in his

hometown, that is .uits his wor-place and s%molicall% throws awa% the stolen calendars, he

gets the chance to travel with (i/, a person he is prett% much ali-e, to live in a real land of his

dreams, ut eventuall% remains instead in the dreamland of his imagination" erhaps the loss

of the grandmother gets him ac- on grounds of realit%, and ecause of this does he choose to

sta% in town"


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Women matters are also characterisic feature of the New Wave cinema" Beforehand the

lieral representation of se+ual relations on screen was not desirale, and this was to e

changed after the world war" Woman with se+% outloo- was not an% more a persona non grata

on films, and with their appearance their attitude changed too" Not onl% did the% ecome a lot

more attractive % the application of ever shorter s-irts and tighter louses with igger

d@colletage, ut also, according to the feminist and emancipationist trends the% too- up

manners and customs that had een e+clusivel% attriuted to males" 'he representative of this

new t%pe of woman in Bill% (iar is (i/, and the other girl who alwa%s eats oranges ma% e the

counterpart of her" While the former one owns the features of the new generation of

independence and freedom, the latter girl has the attriutes of the 19 thcentur%


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4t the end of the film some further reference of satire is present" 4nother aspect of the

cinema art is eing moc-ed % the director" 'he scene when (i/ and Bill% are meeting at the

train station is ver% much reminiscent of the ending scenes of melodramatic films, a much

eloved genre of the !*s" 'he reason wh% the ending is not pathetic and melodramatic despite

Bill%s missing the train, is the shifting from serious to humourous"

billy liar and the british new wave

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