The director who died this Tuesday at the age of 91 left a different job
Franco-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard, who died this Tuesday, 13, at the age of 91 (according to the French newspaper Liberation, was the assisted death), left behind a vast and diverse work, classified today as one of the most important in world cinema. For those who know little (or nothing) about the traits signed by Godard, we have selected 11 titles considered essential.
molested, 1960s
The first feature film, based on a short story by François Truffaut. Jean-Paul Belmondo / Michel Poiccard drags Jean Seberg / Patricia on an adventure with no return. He accidentally kills a police officer, is chased and killed. He leaves his partner with a question: what is dégalasse? ‘ An urban western dedicated to Monogram, which only shot B-movies in Hollywood. A compendium of tributes and references, but usable by those who ignore the cinema. You don’t have to be a card-carrying cinephile. Relax and enjoy.
Living life, 1962
Anna Karina, who was the director’s wife, is as sublime as Naná, who prostitutes herself and, unaware of her own human and social misery, weeps in the darkness of cinema viewing Martyrdom of Joan of Arc, by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Godard divides the film into frames. The photography (by Raoul Coutards) and the path (by Michel Legrand) are among the most beautiful.
Contempt, 1963
The most classic Godard of all. A free adaptation of the novel by Alberto Moravia, with Brigitte Bardot as the wife of a screenwriter, Michel Piccoli, who writes a version of the Odyssey – with statues -, directed by a great, Fritz Lang himself. Godard takes off. soon Brigitte’s clothes, but her character goes against the myth. Modern Penelope becomes a tragic character. She is not your man because she is not Ulysses. Anthological scene: Jack Palance as the American producer: “When they talk to me about culture, I pack my pen (to write the checks)”.
The eleven o’clock demon, 1965
The famous image – Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina exchange that kiss, each heading in the direction of a Cadillac in opposite directions. As in Acossado, another couple on the road, on a tour de France that Jean Tulard defines as picaresque and violent. And, as in O Desprezo, the presence of the sea.
The Chinese, 1967
Godard anticipates May ’68 by locking a group of students who chant revolutionary slogans in an apartment. He was in his Maoist stage. The big scene – Anne Wiazemsky, in the Chinese conical hat, pretends to have been bombed by Uncle Sam and shouts “Help, M. Kossygin ‘, invoking the Soviet politician.
French weekend, 1967
Godard and the automobile civilization, as a symbol of capitalist consumerism. A couple goes on a weekend trip but gets stuck on the road. Accidents, provocations, ambulances back and forth and a lot – a lot – violence. With Mireille Darc, who was then a star, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jean Yanne and Anne Wiazemsky, who will later write that critical book about her union with the great director – a nightmare filmed by Michel Hazanavicius (The Formidable, 2017).
The east wind, 1970
One of the stage films in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Gorin. Godard in his years of militancy in the Dziga Vertov collective. An ideological western with the participation of Glauber Rocha. Surprising scene: the crossroads. More than the characters, which path will cinema follow?
All is well, 1972
When she was in São Paulo to publish Luis Puezo’s Gringo Velho, around 1990, Jane Fonda poured poison on Godard. She didn’t have a very good memory of that movie she had made with him and the leftist icon Yves Montand. Everything is fine? Everything! Strike in a sausage factory. An American journalist and her husband a French director. In the sequel, Godard made Letter To Jane, also in collaboration with Gorin.
Je Vous Salue, Marie, 1985
The film became a case in Brazil when the then mayor of São Paulo, Jânio Quadros, did everything possible to ban it, which happened at the behest of President José Sarney. Je vous salue, Godard. Myriem Roussel as the student who works as a gas station attendant. She has a taxi driver boyfriend. You are virgin. A certain Uncle Gabriel appears, whom she claims to be pregnant. The Annunciation, according to Godard. Sex scenes turned the Church upside down.
In Praise of Love, 2001
Edgar (Godard himself?) Has a love project. Film, opera, book. He intends to reunite three couples. He goes in search of a libertarian woman, but she resists being filmed. A film of crisis, fragmented and even contradictory, but, in a certain sense, accessible. It is no coincidence that he was selected by Switzerland as a pre-candidate for the Oscars.
Image and Word, 2018
Image and Word. Godard and the Arab world. Through collages, film scenes, interviews, photos, Godard reflects on war and information warfare. How does the West view the Arab world? The shadow of September 11 crosses this film which bears the mark of the great author. Eventually, Godard’s death ends a phase.
Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
