French Celebrities Bio | Jean-Luc Godard

The influence of Franco-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, a key member of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) of French cinéastes who threw the world of cinema upside down in the 1960s with their revolutionary, ideologically challenging approach, cannot be over-estimated.

The likes of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach and many more great directors have cited his work a major influence on their own careers. Indeed, a 2002 poll in Sight and Sound magazine ranked him third in the top ten directors of all time.

Born on December 3rd 1930, Godard’s spent his school days in Nyon (Switzerland) and Paris and it was here in the early 1950s that he met the group who would eventually become his cinematic contemporaries under the New Wave banner. To achieve ‘realism as essence of cinema’, the stated goal of their work, Godard along with the likes of Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Rivette and François Truffaut used long shots without unnecessary editing in their films. “Every edit is a lie”, he once said.

At first he worked as a writer at innovative movie magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, with his first foray into filmmaking a short in 1954 about a dam construction site where he had worked. But it was Breathless (A Bout de Souffle), made in 1960, which cemented his growing reputation. This was pure Nouvelle Vague – lots of cultural and cinematic references, nods to Americana, stylish jump cuts and the coolest of lead actors in Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

He worked prolifically during the early Sixties, casting wife Anna Karina in banned Algerian war drama Le Petit Soldat, A Woman is a Woman and Vivre Sa Vie.
Commercial success came with 1963’s le Mépris starring Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli, while his most political movie was La Chinoise about student activism. This was a portentous film given the 1968 student uprising that followed.

Godard fell out with early collaborator and friend Truffaut, an episode told to superb effect in the recently released documentary about the Nouvelle Vague era Two in the Wave. Truffaut felt Godard was too cynical and self-serving.

From the Eighties to present day, Godard has made more conventional films such as Sauve Qui Peut La Vie and Prénom Carmen as well as expansive documentaries such as the epic Histoire(s) du Cinéma.

His output during a long career – he is still making films – is prolific, if inconsistent. But one fact remains. Godard is a behemoth among directors, and anyone keen to gain some perspective on the history of the art form needs to investigate his catalogue of work.

Monday, March, 14th at 12.50 by Katharine Barrau