Going on release on July 8th 2011 is Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme
Godard isn’t your average director and is one of the most influential directors of the past 50 years.
This film is described as “a symphony in three movements”, which I guess isn’t that strange when you consider his pedigree!
Born in 1930, Jean-Luc Godard became acquainted, while at university, with Claude Chabrol, Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer and Jacques Rivette, forming part of a group of passionate young film critics writing in Cahiers du Cinéma, and film-makers devoted to exploring new possibilities in cinema.
A bout de souffle (Breathless) (1959) was his first feature. Made on a shoe-string budget, it was spontaneous, vibrant and ground breakingly original. From then until 1967/8 was loosely his first period when he made an astonishing number of films, sometimes 3 a year. From 68 Godard was very involved in political film-making, and then made a series of programmes for French TV in the mid and late 70’s. With Sauve qui peut (la vie) or Slow Motion, Godard could be said to start a 3rd period through the 80’s. In the 90’s he started more formal experimentation, specifically with his long series Histoire(s) du Cinéma.
His films have influenced film-makers as diverse as Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino and Wong Kar-Wai.
His latest film, Film Socialisme, received its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard) to great acclaim. Jean-Luc Godard was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2010.
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