Jean-Luc Godard

[user_5340]

I wasn't actually comparing the works. I was comparing classic areas of their careers.

[Dan Warburton]

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[Damon_Smith]

I watched "Breathless" and "Alphaville" recently and enjoyed them. I do think it is mistake to discount Cage's actual music. I think for the most part it is as strong or stronger than those he influenced, obviously that is another thread!

[sarahelockhart]

I watched "Breathless" and "Alphaville" recently and enjoyed them.

Sympathy for the Devil is another good one - not as epic as Weekend, though with some of the same themes and devices - black power, waifish female literary figure in the forest - though the title song will be stuck in your head for days ... well, it was stuck in mine, anyways.

[surfer]

I'm reading Joshua Clover's new book of poetry The Totality For Kids, and I just got to a poem composed entirely of the chapter titles to Vivre Sa Vie:


French Narratives

A cafe. Nana wants to leave Paul. The pin table.
The record shop. Two thousand francs. Nana lives her life.
The concierge. Paul. The Passion of Joan of Arc. A journalist.
The police. Nana is questioned.
The boulevards. The first man. The room.
Meeting Yvette. A cafe in the suburbs. Raoul. Gunshots in the streets.
The letter. Raoul again. The Champs-Elysees.
Afternoon. Money. Washbasins. Pleasure. Hotels.
A young man. Luigi. Nana wonders whether she's happy.
The streets. A bloke. Happiness is no fun.
Place du Chatelet. A stranger. Nana the unwitting philosopher.
The young man again. The oval portrait. Raoul trades Nana.

[Dan Warburton]

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[surfer]

Hmm. OK. The film's better though. Compare this poem with Creeley's on Bresson in the Bresson thread. I think you'll see the difference.

I wasnt really commenting on the relative merits of the poem. I was just commenting on the coincidence of coming upon it at the same time as we were discussing it. The Totality For Kids is a pretty great volume, Clover one of the great young poets of his generation, but that "found poem" isnt one of the best in the book, even though I love the movie. And I'm not sure why you'd want to compare it to the movie, complete different scope, and different media. Though I agree Creeley's poem says more about Bresson, than Clover's about Godard. Though I'm not sure that's Clover's point.

[sarahelockhart]

Sympathy for the Devil is another good one - the title song will be stuck in your head for days ... well, it was stuck in mine, anyways.

Well, it was a rather well-known little ditty by a rather well-known band.. Not such a big fan of the movie though - and certainly not a patch on Week End, imo.

It also is repeated over and over ... for those unfamiliar with the film, it alternates between footage of the Rolling Stones in a recording studio recording said song and scenes that are similar to those in Weekend, which I agree is a superior film. I think Sympathy for the Devil is interesting in how it deconstructs the "image" of the Rolling Stones, and the various issues and ideas that are related. It's a similar concept to I'm Not There and Velvet Goldmine both by Todd Haynes, but it takes the concept further.

[Damon_Smith]

I watched "Breathless" and "Alphaville" recently and enjoyed them. I do think it is mistake to discount Cage's actual music. I think for the most part it is as strong or stronger than those he influenced, obviously that is another thread

Umm.. what's this doing here, Damon? I don't recall any Cage in either of those two movies. What you drinkin' there, bro?

I am a little late, I was responding to this in the first post:

there's a short thread in the archives, but I wanted to start fresh...

'm certainly not questioning his historical importance, I think he may be a bit like Cage, in that the current world couldn't exist without him but his own work isn't as strong as his influence on others is.

I did recently watch those Godard films though. The last two films I saw were by Theo Angelopoulos, very nice but I think I'll watch a bond film tonight.
Edit: I did put Weekend in the Netflix Queue. Julien Donkey Boy is on the way in the meantime.

[markt]

Yes, one that's all too easily overlooked in favour of more colourful (literally) star-studded attractions like Le Mépris.
If you liked this one, check out Masculin Feminin.

MF is another one of my favourites Dan... Of Godard's films up to Weekend there're only a few I haven't seen (Made in U.S.A is really hard to find for less than $100 in Region 1... and two others I've been too lazy to search out), and I've thought they were all remarkable... It's hard for me to pitch in on this thread because I'm just really enamoured by everything I've seen of the man's work.

I would like to see some of his post-1970 output (and yes... I'm prepared for it to be a lot worse than his early stuff ). I'll probably be looking to check out: Prenom Carmen, Notre Musique, Passion, King Lear...

Anything else of particular note?

[sevenarts]

I would like to see some of his post-1970 output (and yes... I'm prepared for it to be a lot worse than his early stuff ). I'll probably be looking to check out: Prenom Carmen, Notre Musique, Passion, King Lear...

Anything else of particular note?

The ones you pick are probably his best later films, you can't go wrong there. I'd also recommend Tout va bien, the last of his Dziga-Vertov Gruppe films. Nouvelle Vague is utterly mystifying and confounding, but also pretty mesmerizing, and Hail Mary is an excellent companion piece to my favorite Godard film Prenom: Carmen. But really, I'm such an admirer of his later films that I'd probably recommend them all.

[O'Grady]

I would like to see some of his post-1970 output (and yes... I'm prepared for it to be a lot worse than his early stuff ). I'll probably be looking to check out: Prenom Carmen, Notre Musique, Passion, King Lear...

Anything else of particular note?

I've seen quite a few post 70's films and I'd recommend starting with Sauve qui peut (la vie) or Hail Mary. I prefer his later work, especially the 80's work, just gem after gem.

[Shivering Manatee]

Chris Petit on Godard:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/au ... nlucgodard

[markt]

I'd also recommend Tout va bien, the last of his Dziga-Vertov Gruppe films.

I found the criterion edition of this for 50% off recently and thought it was great...

...well, Jane Fonda was (characteristically) pretty annoying, and the first couple monologues were a bit tedious (though Yves Montand's was fantastic), but still, a really nice piece of work.
I started watching Godard's short Letter to Jane (1972), which is also included on the disc, but had to turn it off early on after hearing the narrator (JLG, I think) refer to Fonda as an intellectual

[O'Grady]

Lettre à Freddy Buache (1982)

In this film Godard gives his reasons for refusing to make a film for Lausanne's 500th birthday. It's 12 minutes long and is quite sincere in delivery, Godard speaks throughout. I kind of knew I'd enjoy this having read about it before and I actually found it online somewhere. It wasn't the best quality (v. small screen) but If I find it again (didn't bookmark) I'll post up the link.

[surfer]

Contempt (1963) - I thought i'd seen this movie before, I hadnt. I would have definitely remembered Bardot's gorgeous ass. And what an ass it is. It's really quite glorious. I must say. But seriously, I only really have one other thing to say, one thing that struck me as fairly bizarre: when Bardot puts on the wig that is exactly the same color and style as Anna Karina in Vivre Sa Vie, whom Godard was in the process of divorcing at the time. It's almost perverse, it reminds me of Jimmy Stewart's character in Vertigo when he makes Kim Novak dress up like Madeleine. Kinky shit Jean-Luc.

Edit: I also think Parlance was miscast, he's not quite right for that role. And the soundtrack is syrupy Romanticism and too heavy and suffocating.

[O'Grady]

Someone in For Ever Godard felt that the soundtrack was meant to parody other films overuse of music at the time. Palance was funny, he seemed fine to me.

[Dan Warburton]

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[surfer]

Someone in For Ever Godard felt that the soundtrack was meant to parody other films overuse of music at the time.

It did seem like a parody. The problem is that none of the rest of the movie is. So what's the point?

[surfer]

Palance gets the best line of the movie: "Whenever I hear the word `culture,' I reach for my checkbook."

heh, that's a great line.