How did the French New Wave use editing differently from classic Hollywood films?

The French New Wave, including directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, fundamentally challenged the conventions of classic Hollywood cinema by rejecting its reliance on "invisible" or continuity editing.1

While Hollywood traditionally utilized seamless transitions to maintain a smooth narrative flow, New Wave filmmakers employed elliptical editing and techniques like the jump cut to create a deliberately jerky, disconnected, and reflexive effect. In films such as Godard’s Breathless, these rapid, jarring sequences served to deconstruct the established narrative language of cinema, forcing the audience to remain aware of the medium itself rather than becoming fully immersed in a seamless illusion.21

By breaking these rules, New Wave directors transformed film into a more personal, "essayistic" form of expression, prioritizing artistic vision over the polished, standardized production methods of the Hollywood studio system.21