But each director of the French New Wave is quite different.

Definitely this. They get lumped together but Truffaut is much more traditional than Godard, narratively and stylistically. And Les 400 coups is different from even the rest of Truffaut work, so I wouldn't judge just on that. I would still start with Breathless though.

Speaking of postwar French cinema, I just got back from my Orphée thing and was not axe-murdered! And I met a lot fellow bloggers who were super sweet. It was hilarious because all the people connected to the opera wanted to make sure they chatted with them. I felt very in-the-know!

But each director of the French New Wave is quite different.

Mainly because they were the first group to really push the auteur theory, and the auteur theory says that everyone should make personal films. So as the films aim to be an expression of the director's character, and these obviously differ from one another, it's not a unified movement as such, though the movies do share some stilistic similarities, frequently use the same actors, etc.

Of all the Nouvelle Vague directors, Godard is the most out there, especially his later stuff. But "A Bout de Souffle" is a breath of fresh air, and (as David points out) hugely influential. Definitely see it. Also "Band à part" maybe? Tarantino named his production company after it.

Wait, it's because I hated The 400 Blows. Was that French New Wave?

The movement is generally considered as having started with Chabrol's "Le Beau Serge" (1958), "Les 400 Coups" (1959) and "A Bout de Souffle" (1960).

If 400 Coups was not for you, try a slightly later Truffaut, I don't know, perhaps "Jules et Jim"? Also very important to the Movie Brats. Or "Don't Shoot the Piano Player". Or "Day for Night". Truffaut's films can be very different from one another, and he likes to play around with genre quite a bit.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions!

Hardly Nouvelle Vague, but I have another overlooked oldie from the '40s -- Blonde Fever. Mr. and Mrs. Donay (Philip Dorn and Mary Astor) have operated restaurants in all the worldwide hot spots, but they've settled in Nevada running a place that does big business among the divorce seekers. Mr. Donay is a reformed gambler and an unreformed skirt-chaser with his eye on waitress Sally (Gloria Grahame). Sally is engaged to Freddy (Marshall Thompson), and they plan to marry when he can afford it. At least, except when they fight every five minutes. All-seeing, all-knowing bartender Johnny (Felix Bressart) is always handy with a bit of advice or a drily witty line. Then Mr. Donay wins $40,000 in a lottery, and he starts to promise Sally all sorts of fine living....

It's nobody's gem, but an amusing hour-plus with Star Power. Okay, Astor was at the end of her career, and it was the first real roles for Grahame and Thompson. But they do fine, and the script is serviceable. Make it a second feature to The Maltese Falcon or The Bad and the Beautiful. Or even a few episodes of Daktari.

If 400 Coups was not for you, try a slightly later Truffaut, I don't know, perhaps "Jules et Jim"? Also very important to the Movie Brats. Or "Don't Shoot the Piano Player". Or "Day for Night". Truffaut's films can be very different from one another, and he likes to play around with genre quite a bit.

I poked around, and Shoot the Piano Player sounds like I might like it and it's on Instant, so I added it. Day for Night isn't streaming, but I added it to my queue in hopes that by the time I decide to tackle the French New Wave, it will be. Jules et Jim didn't seem like one I would dig. Not when it's all New Wave-y.

We watched this [link] the other night and will probably watch it again tonight.

We liked it a lot, but it's like Inception in that you may want to watch it a few times to get everything that's going on.

Oh yeah, DJ, I dug it.

Jules et Jim didn't seem like one I would dig.

I feel pretty secure in saying it will bore you to tears. I like a lot of Truffaut, but have never understood people's love for that one.

I love 400 Blows and am with megan in not getting Jules et Jim.

I love Day for Night, although it's a not a "big" film, just a souffle. So delicious, though. Also Small Change. And I adored and was totally broken by The Story of Adele H, although I haven't seen it since it came out.

I saw Small Change at a relatively young age (11 or 12) and it was definitely a gateway drug for subtitled movies with me. I really need to see it again, because I'm pretty sure I haven't seen it since (though some parts of it stick in my memory very clearly).

I think I might have gone to see it because I knew Truffaut from CE3K and his Hitchcock book.