These directors were said to favor style over substance, spectacle over narrative.[3] It referred to films that had a slick, gorgeous visual style[3] and a focus on young, alienated characters[4] who were said to represent the marginalized youth ofFrançois Mitterrand's France.[5] Themes that run through many of their films include doomed love affairs, young people more affiliated to peer groups than families, a cynical view of the police, and the use of scenes in theParis Métro to symbolise an alternative, underground society. The mixture of 'high' culture, such as the opera music ofDiva andLes Amants du Pont-Neuf, and pop culture, for example the references toBatman inSubway, was another key feature.[3]
^Translated into English: "The French Neo-baroques Directors: Beineix, Besson, Carax from Diva to le Grand Bleu" (pp. 11–23), inThe Films of Luc Besson: Master of Spectacle (Under the direction of Susan Hayward and Phil Powrie) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007.ISBN0-7190-7028-7
