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At the Northwest Film Forum this week, there's a Jean-Luc Godard mini-series. As usual, the price is right: $8 for general admission, $5 for members. Their Capitol Hill theater is on 12th Avenue, between Pike and Pine.
For Godard, French is just another word for nothing left to lose: Band of Outsiders, Weekend, In Praise of Love, and Every Man for Himself are all variations on the theme of a small in-group on the outs with society at large, caught up in their internal dynamics (hilariously so in Weekend, in which a weekend getaway devolves into guerrilla warfare and cannibalism).
Band of Outsiders has its last showing tonight at 7pm, Weekend at 9pm. Tuesday night is In Praise of Love; Wednesday, Every Man for Himself.
The history of film offers us a number of polarizing directors whose work gets over-praised (and over-criticized), and Godard is one. It's not his fault some fans have transcendent experiences and some don't, but the following sample quote sets the bar way too high:
When it comes to Jean-Luc Godard, there's only one question to ponder: Is this enigmatic, narrative-discarding hermit the greatest living cinematic artist? The wisest, most transformative, most original agent provocateur at work in the fields of cinema? (Michael Atkinson, VILLAGE VOICE)
That's two questions, actually, and the answer is No. He's too hermetic a storyteller. But if you don't go expecting to see the greatest cinematic art, he can be very good at surprising you with what film can do, what filmmakers can do. For something completely different but still in French, from April 7 - 12 there's The Other Louis Malle.
A collection of Louis Malle documentaries, it's a chance to see the rarely screened 7-part Phantom India (being shown as Part One and Part Two on separate evenings). The Seattle Times' terrific John Hartl called it the "Best Film of the Year" when it was released here in 1974. Also on the bill are World of Silence (a Cousteau documentary), and Human, Too Human (about a Citroen factory's workings).
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Careful about sweeping statements about "the most over-praised director in the history of film" - which is basically saying that everybody else is wrong except for me. Which is, funnily enough, what everyone who doesn't care for Godard says. Except that, as astonishing as his films are, Godard's cinema can be demanding viewing, and most critics aren't interested in expending the energy. It's not like there's a huge mass of people proclaiming Godard to be the greatest filmmaker of all time (which, to expose my own bias, I would agree with and argue for - whatever such distinctions are worth), just that the critics who are interested enough in cinema to make the effort to not only track down Godard's work but to watch it and engage themselves with it are usually the type who would appreciate his films. That is, the critics at the Village Voice or Film Comment would be more inclined to like Godard than those at, say, Entertainment Weekly, who probably haven't actually watched a post-60s Godard film.
The Godard boosters are generally in the minority, but they speak with more authority (although with less popular influence).
You find Band of Outsiders "hermetic"? Seriously? To me it's one of the most liberating movies ever made, and your problem with the title is a little baffling.
Well, you're a Godard fan, so you enjoy being baffled when someone gives you too little information, n'est-ce pas?
Maybe it's a reaction to not having one's favorite director receive his due, but by over-praised, I meant the tenor of the praise Godard gets, in particular, the praise I quoted. That is a sweeping statement, mon cher ami.
Also, if you pay close attention, I wrote a post encouraging people to see Godard films instead of ignoring him entirely, even the EW crowd, if you'll have them.
Whoa. Getting a little catty there, aren't we?
Too little information for what? His films are packed with it. There is a glut of information in the films of Jean-Luc Godard. If you don't like that kind of filmmaking, that's fine - it's a perfectly valid personal preference to want standard mainstream storytelling from a movie. That's one model, and there are others - and Godard *has* done more than any other filmmaker to explore the different ways of making, and of looking at, film.
As for sweeping statements, that particular quote can be found in a lengthy article on Godard from several years ago (http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0235,atkinson2,37820,1.html). Lengthy because that's the opening sentence and the rest of the article is spent explaining it. You could find similar quotes describing about fifty other filmmakers. If you've got a favorite filmmaker, there's a good chance he's on that list. So why so sour about Godard being on a few?
I *like* Godard. I think his films are funny and poetic and filled with very real, totally unique stories and characters. Many of my fondest movie watching experiences are from Godard films. And I'm not alone. Other than Orson Welles, no other filmmaker has inspired more people to pick up film cameras and start making films. And the crowd at Band of Outsiders when I went was enjoying the whole film, laughing at all the jokes and breaking into applause as soon as the credits came up. Because, really, what's not to like?
Hi Arnie,
Yeah, it's a kidding catty, though. I was hoping there'd be some Godard apologist out there who'd rise to the occasion to tell people why Godard is special, so I'm glad you took the time to respond. Now this post has a little meat on it, so thanks!
In my anecdotal experience, both Godard and Welles make a bigger impact on film students (or anyone else who might be tempted to pick up a camera) than on the regular film-goer. I think this is in part due to Godard's innovation and experiment. In poetry, there's what's known as the poet's poet: someone who gets respect for pushing past boundaries but who is unlikely to find a wider audience because they are more interested in experiment than developing a wider audience. I'm not saying this is Godard's case, but it might be analogous.
I do take your point that plenty of other directors have their own hyperbolic fans. I'll amend my own hyperbolic response. Thanks again for the commenting.
Jean-Luc Godard... Was he the bald guy on Star Trek? Maybe I'm thinking of someone else...
A lot of people make that mistake, Jack. And then they go see In Praise of Love and, well, it's very frustrating for them.