The filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard died, at 91 years old, Tuesday, September 13. A look back at his life and work.
The French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard has given the final clap of his existence thanks to assisted suicide. “Mr. Godard had recourse to the legal assistance in Switzerland of a voluntary departure following “multiple invalidating pathologies” according to the terms of the medical report” explained Patrick Jeanneret, confirming an information published by the newspaper Libération.
The director had to his credit more than 70 films including the famous “Breathless”, released in 1960, with actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. In the early 1960s, Jean-Luc Godard invented a new way of making movies, handheld camera, in natural settings. This is the New Wave. Nathalie Baye, who was directed by Godard in the film “Detective”, remembers a singular director: “If you cheat a little, he sees it right away and he did not want that. One should not make a way with Godard”.
François Truffaut, another director of the New Wave, thought that: “Godard is the greatest filmmaker in the world. He is not the only one who films as he breathes, but he is the one who breathes best.”
The protean and experimental filmmaker, poet and rebel, was without doubt the most inventive of his time. He knew how to use the power of the image and put it for a time at the service of social struggles. In May 1968, the director made an outcry in solidarity with the students and workers. He then moves away from the cinema system and shoots more confidential films. He then worked for television and returned to the cinema in the 80s, finding a place of prominence.
Jean-Luc Godard has received numerous awards in recognition of his work including several Golden and Silver Bears at the Berlin Film Festivals as well as several Golden Lions at the Venice Film Festival. At the Cannes Film Festival, his film “Farewell to Language” received the Jury Prize in 2014, and the filmmaker was awarded a special Golden Palm for his entire career and the film “The Picture Book” in 2018.
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Featured photo : © Serge Hambourg
