Jean-Luc Godard: the inimitable force that inarguably altered cinema in the 1960’s, who reclassified film as an art form rather than pure entertainment, the director who gave the world over 140 films while he himself remained respectively enigmatic. To know of Godard is to know of his films, of his risks, and of his influence; but to know of Jean-Luc the man is entirely personal, sincerity human, and vastly inspiring. Cyril Leuthy‘s biographical documentary “Godard seul le cinéma” works to blend the outsider’s view of the great auteur, with the deeply personal testimonies of the man behind the lens from the perspective of those closest to him.
Showing at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival for Non-Fiction Classics, Leuthy’s “Godard seul le cinéma” invites viewers to witness the chronicling of the great director’s life through a sequence dependant on the timeline of his life’s work. Understanding that much of Godard’s life pre-filmography is publicly unknown is the premise of Leuthy’s biographical telling; it is only by examining the public persona of the director that one can even begin to comprehend the man.
Through interviews with filmmakers and film critics the choices made by Godard become clear through historical contextualization. He was a director obsessed with pushing boundaries, seeking to form his creation through the deconstructing of the status quo. The king of contrast, Godard looked at the type of film being made and professed that he would do the opposite, and in doing so would find a sense of normalcy that people would relate to. It is said in the film that “if you wanted to know the first half of the 60’s you have to go through Godard”, that is to say that his early work was a testament to the people living in that time; he strove to create works that felt real, that resonated with society, that spoke of current events and that changed as quickly as the world outside of them. Active for nearly 7 decades, the works of Godard as stand alone pieces say so much about the director, about how he saw that world, and how his works would interact with people even in his absence. Through Godard’s work he became an inspiration and a blueprint for filmmakers and artists to come; by exploring, expanding and challenging his chosen art form, his successes permitted allowance that previously didn’t exist.
The narrator of “Godard seul le cinéma” states “With more than 140 films, to this day he has pursued an absolute quest for cinema, an uncompromising quest made up of shifts, ruptures, utopia and loneliness. He has taken every possible path. He has been everything and its opposite. Whether you worship him or hate him, Godard is a legend and we almost forgot the man. And yes, behind the legend, there can only be a man.” Finding the man within the legend proves difficult when they are so vibrantly fused by their creations.
Leuthy’s approach in bringing the man to light was by interviewing those who had worked with Jean-Luc. He spoke with them about their time set, and also about their experiences with him while cameras were not rolling. Leuthy also emphasized the human side of Godard by resurrecting statements made by family members, friends and previous partners— both through archival footage and through reenactments.
What we learn through “Godard seul le cinéma” is that while Jean-Luc Godard will forever be immortalized through his films and their effects, he was first a man with ideas, and with those ideas came a lifetime of passion. With that passion brought many people into the life of Godard, who became witnesses to the true convolution of the term living legend, and how it minimizing the person within its grandeur.
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