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Why did the French New Wave directors use so many close-ups?
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The French New Wave directors used close-ups to emphasize the emotional state of the characters. The close-ups were meant to be realistic depictions of the characters' emotions. In the case of Jean-Luc Godard's films, he used the close-ups to make the characters look like they were in a state of extreme emotion. For example, in Breathless, the main character, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, is in a state of extreme emotion when he first meets the girl played by Jean Seberg.