Page "French New Wave" Paragraph 6

Apart from the role that films by Jean Rouch have played in the movement, Chabrol's Le Beau Serge ( 1958 ) is traditionally ( but debatably ) credited as the first New Wave feature.

Truffaut, with The 400 Blows ( 1959 ) and Godard, with Breathless ( 1960 ) had unexpected international successes, both critical and financial, that turned the world's attention to the activities of the New Wave and enabled the movement to flourish.

Part of their technique was to portray characters not readily labeled as protagonists in the classic sense of audience identification.