Jean-Paul Belmondo and the French New Wave

Matthew Sweet explores Belmondo's central role in the revolutionary cinema of 1960s France and how he became one of the most celebrated screen actors of his generation with Ginette Vincendeau, Lucy Bolton and Phuong Le.

Ginette Vincendeau is Professor of Film Studies at King's College London.
Lucy Bolton is Reader in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London.
Phuong Le is a film critic based in Paris.

A BFI season focused on the films of Francois Truffaut runs across January and February and includes a BFI Player collection and a batch of Blu-rays being released in Spring 2022 and partner seasons at cinemas around the UK including Edinburgh Filmhouse and Ciné Lumière.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Image: Jean-Paul Belmondo in 1958
Image credit: Roger Viollet via Getty Images