François Truffaut’s 1954 article “A Certain Tendency in French Cinema” served as a breaking point for the future of the new wave. In this 15 page article published in le Cahier, he voiced his frustration about directors like Claude Autant-Lara that adapted novels into movies in an un-tasteful manner. He claimed that they all had similar plot lines, characters and did not feel unique stylistically.

 

He writes “Under the guise of literature, and of course of quality, we give the public its dose of usual darkness, non-conformism and easy audacity.”

 

What bothered him the most was that the directors made odd changes to literature just so that it would fit into the film format, but ultimately it all felt blend.