My thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for an advance copy of this new look at the French New Wave of cinema and the women who made such in impact, inspiring, acting, creating and making films that still touch the hearts and dazzle in their innovation.

I was a huge fan of movies but my taste in French films was more Luc Besson than Robert Bresson. I'm sorry I thought that was a great line. I think it was a maturity question as I always found the movies too much to absorb, and too much to wrap my head around. I gave up films for quite a while, and it was actually my library giving me the streaming service Kanopy that brought me back to movies, and genres that I had missed. I still am catching up. I'm not sure if I am older, more jaundiced in the ways of the world, or maybe I have just given up on love and can watch these wonderful actress be the spirits they deserve to be without thinking of them as minxes or sex bombs. I can see what I missed so many years before, the emotions, the realness, the rawness. Even the small amount of films directed by women like Agnès Varda, one can see something that most men would never want to show, or ever think about showing. Which is one of the many reasons I enjoyed this book so much. Nouvelles Femmes: Modern Women of the French New Wave and Their Enduring Contribution to Cinema by professor and writer Ericka Knudson is a look at the genre, the women, the art and the times that helped create the New Wave, and its lasting legacy.

The book begins with an overview of French cinema explaining the problems that were happening in France following the Second World War, and its war of colonialism, and its new place in the world. The films were made by older directors, ones who didn't know what was happening, studio fogeys whose time had come and went. There was a new feel, a young feel, with new feelings, new emotions, and new ways to create stories. And a need for new muses. The book than looks at the women of the New Wave, starting with Brigitte Bardot, and the natural look. Anna Karina, whose stage name came from Coco Chanel, who served as muse to Jean-Luc Godard. Included also is a chapter on the previously mentioned Agnès Varda, who pushed her way into the men's world of directing, and with a small amount of money, and no real film permits created the wonderful Cléo from 5 to 7, a movie I watched for the 5th time a week ago. And still can't get over. There are behind the scenes stories, histories of their life before film, and after fame. Much about relationships and a lot of insight into the movies they were a part of or inspired just be being who they were.

This book is exactly what I was looking for. Film discussions, history, background and so much more. I learned so much from this book, I regret that I can never take a class with this professor. Knudson has a wonderful writing style able to share so much about the lives of these women, the art they were a part of, and their thinking, without dragging or sounding like a lecture. The book also is pretty lavish with the illustrations, and offers breakdowns of various films, explaining why this happened, or this happened, usually money, or just the spur of the moment. I book I hated finishing.

Film historians with definitely enjoy this, and even the most experienced cinephile will find something to enjoy, and learn something new. A very good resource for those starting out, or for those who still have old VHS copies taped off of Z Channel. A book I enjoyed, not just for the photos and writing, but for the love the author had for the subject. I look forward to more books by Ericka Knudson.

I really liked this. There was so much to learn in it and I think it was a really good read. The way information is given helps us to easily understand and follow along but there is so much information that you are constantly learning ,