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Jean-Luc Godard, Super-Genius

In this early part of the second century of motion pictures’ existence,* there is a growing re-awareness of the pivotal, even crucial role that Jean-Luc Godard has played in creating their modern state, and the importance his continuing work has in the world of the seventh art. A rash of media were published two or three years ago, ranging from collections of interviews (the one with Pauline Kael is a big hoot) to critical studies to soundtracks (both literal and common-definition ones).

What is there really to say about Jean-Luc Godard? In many ways, he’s been discussed to the end limits of discussion, more around some films than others. Then again, you could say the same things about someone like William Shakespeare. Not that I am comparing JLG to WS (though there are some real parallels, especially in the exploration of the epistemology, if I am using the concept accurately, of language; on the other hand, JLG doesn’t create his works with as broad a target audience as WS), because it’s far too early yet, but WS is the paradigm of the artist as critical object who stands up to all criticism. One of the greatest achievements of JLG, on a crude level, is the giving of permission to all of us cinephiles to strive, to not know exactly what we are talking about but to aim for eventually knowing what we are saying, to create discourse about film with our main credentials being a love of the medium and a perception of its potential. What follows is a small collection of connections to those who have their act together better than I as regards information about the greatest filmmaker.

*Jean-Luc himself has pointed out [in 2x50 Ans de cinéma français;] that the big hoo-hah around the centennial of cinema was really a big hoo-hah around the centenary of the commercial exhibition of cinema.

2002 :: This list is in dire need of repair and updating. Access at your own risk.

Filmography

Comprehensive

IMDB

Specific Films

see column at right

Web Resources

Godard-focussed

“Official” Pages

Japanese page for Èloge de l’amour
BFI pages

Personal Pages

Julien d’Abrigeon
Robert Lort
Glen Norton’s Cinema=Jean-Luc Godard=Cinema
To, For, and Against Jean-Luc Godard

Bibliographic

UC Berkeley Library Bibliography
Selected Links at Another Scene

Godard in the News

Film Unlimited article
Libération search

Godard-related

Situationist international
Contempt Productions
Dziga Vertov (The man, not the collective, and talk about lo-fi!)
Anne-Marie Mieville’s Nous sommes tous encore ici
Maoism
Mozart
Artists against the Debré law (was: link to petition signed by JLG against a strict anti-immigrant law in France)

Films Specifically Referencing Godard

Emporte-moi (1999)

Mailing List

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Commercialism

ebay
posters
videos
dvds
books