When legendary, unconventional, and challenging filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard passed away in 2022, it left quite a shock to everyone, not just myself. Being the immensely inventive figure he was, you would think he’d live forever. Cyril Leuthy’s 2022 Godard Cinema, a mostly engaging portrait of the enigmatic groundbreaker, shows us why he will.
Buy Godard Cinema Blu-rayUnfolding in a competent assemblance of film clips, of interviews of people (Anna Karina, Marina Vlady, Macha Meril, and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, among others) who knew, loved, and collaborated with him, and of words from the man himself, you get a lot of information on his career, the subjects, and the themes he would always obsess with.
Films such Breathless (his revolutionary 1960 classic), Vivre Sa Vie, Le Petit Soldat, Two or Three Things I Know About Her, Contempt, and Every Man for Himself, are analyzed. As much as I love those films, there could have been more emphasis on his later works, like Hail Mary, Film Socialisme, Goodbye to Language, and The Image Book.
His very untimely death could have also been explored, considering that he was so revered (and equally reviled). In these terms, this doc feels relatively light. However, Leuthy doesn’t limit it to just his career; his politics (including his supposed Maoism) get some exposure, so I’ll it give it that.
So, I think Godard Cinema has good (and not-so-good) aspects about it. Despite its setbacks, I did find it interesting and involving. If Godard is your cup of tea, then you will probably get a lot out of it as well.
Also included is Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: “Phony Wars” (2023), which stands as his final work – an ambitious 20-minute collage of paintings, photographs, paper, glue, sound, and silence. It was meant to be an adaptation of Belgian author Charles Pilsner’s 1937 novel Faux Passports. It’s very sad that this short didn’t come to be fully realized, but with Godard’s trademark cinematic rebellion, it is a solid, minimal work that encapsulates what he was genuinely about: ideas.
Special features include trailer for Godard Cinema; teaser trailer for “Phony Wars“, and Lila: interview with Godard’s frequent assistant editor Lila Lakshmanon.
