Jean-Luc Godard, the renowned filmmaker and a central figure of the Nouvelle Vague, passed away this Tuesday at the age of 91. He played a pivotal role in shaping French cinema and influencing world cinema with a singular, almost artisanal devotion to the moving image.
As a pioneer in theory and criticism, Godard wrote, directed, and produced most of his 131 works, including documentaries and short pieces. His presence extended beyond directing, as he also appeared in numerous cameos across his filmography.
Born in Paris in 1930 to a French-Swiss family, he spent his childhood between two countries. At 19, he began studying anthropology at the Sorbonne, yet his passion for cinema soon took over. He immersed himself in film clubs and small publications in the Latin Quarter and began writing for Cahiers du Cinéma, a journal that would become indispensable to his generation.
There, he joined fellow aspiring filmmakers who were also critics and theorists. Figures such as François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, and Éric Rohmer collaborated with him and would later become celebrated names in cinema.
Breakthrough with À bout de souffle
Godard’s feature debut arrived with a radical impact. À bout de souffle, released in 1960, remains a milestone in cinema history for its distinctive editing and its rhythm, which broke conventional narrative and editing rules.
Following this, he contributed to a Parisian love story in Four Hundred Blows style through Les Quatre Cents Coups, a contrast of a small-time criminal and a young American woman that culminates in tragedy. This movement helped propel the Nouvelle Vague from France to the global stage, shaped by Truffaut as a pioneer of the new cinema wave.
The film earned numerous national and international accolades, catapulting Godard to broader recognition.
Later projects, such as Une femme est une femme, received notable awards though not all critics or audiences embraced them equally at the time.
The director’s creative energy found renewed force in 1965 with Alphaville, a dystopian science fiction set against a futuristic Paris, and Pierrot le fou, a stylish collaboration with Jean-Paul Belmondo that fused romance and danger.
Turning toward political cinema
Frustrated by ongoing censorship in France and deeply influenced by May 1968, Godard moved toward an explicitly political cinema, often eschewing mainstream appeal. Films like La Chinoise, released in 1967, followed a group of young Maoists and sparked intense debate.
During the May 1968 student protests in Paris, he participated in creating short films that documented and interpreted the movement, contributing to a broader cinematic response to social change. He then collaborated with his friend Jean-Pierre Gorin on politically charged works under the banner of the Dziga Vertov Group, named after the Soviet avant-garde theorist and filmmaker.
After concluding this phase in 1973, Godard relocated to Grenoble and began exploring video, later transferring works to celluloid and producing telefilms for the public broadcaster FR3.
Godard’s return to broad cinema came in 1980 with Sauve qui peut (la vie) and, notably, with Prénom, Carmen in 1983, a modern retelling of the Mérimée tale that earned the Golden Lion at Venice.
He continued with projects like Je vous salue, Marie in 1985, which drew protests from ultra Catholic groups for reinterpreting the Virgin Mary, and followed with works such as Nouvelle vague and Hélas pour moi with Gérard Depardieu. In later years, he focused on short films and documentaries, including The Image Book, released in 2018, an experimental exploration of the Arab world.
At Cannes that year, Godard received a special Palme d’Or for the work and for his career as a whole.
In interviews, he discussed how the language of images can convey meaning with or without spoken words, noting that cinema can express much through visuals and sound alike. This insight left a lasting mark on his approach to filmmaking.
Godard’s personal life intersected with his art. He was married to actresses Anna Karina and Anne Wiazemsky and partnered with Swiss director, screenwriter, and actress Anne-Marie Miéville, collaborating on several of her projects. He also acted in two of Miéville’s films.
Although his experimental and political turns could be challenging to follow, his work remained a favorite for critics and festivals, leaving a lasting imprint on the industry. His career earned him a Golden Bear and two Silver Bears at the Berlin International Film Festival, a special Palme d’Or and a Jury Prize at Cannes, two Golden Lions for lifetime achievement at Venice, a special jury prize at Venice, two César d’honneur, and an honorary Oscar.