Editing Jean-Luc Godard (section)

== Political period (1968–1979) ==
Godard was known for his "highly political voice", and regularly featured political content in his films.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jean-Luc Godard: Giant who left audience 'Breathless' with highly political voice |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/2022/sep/14/jean-luc-godard-giant-who-left-audience-breathless-with-highly-political-voice-2497932.html |website=[[The New Indian Express]] |date=14 September 2022 |access-date=14 September 2022 |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928080146/https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/2022/sep/14/jean-luc-godard-giant-who-left-audience-breathless-with-highly-political-voice-2497932.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge |date=2011 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |page=1274 |isbn=9781429950855 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pGauDNi-QUC |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=21 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321005008/https://books.google.com/books?id=6pGauDNi-QUC |url-status=live }}</ref> One of his earliest features, ''Le petit soldat'', which dealt with the [[Algerian War of Independence]], was notable for its attempt to present the complexity of the dispute; the film was perceived as equivocating and as drawing a "moral equivalence" between the French forces and the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Front]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6782-le-petit-soldat-the-awful-truth|title=''Le petit soldat'': The Awful Truth|publisher=[[Criterion Collection]]|last=Elliott|first=Nicholas|date=21 January 2020|access-date=15 September 2022|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922132355/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6782-le-petit-soldat-the-awful-truth|url-status=live}}</ref> Along these lines, ''Les Carabiniers'' presents a fictional war that is initially romanticized in the way its characters approach their service, but becomes a stiff anti-war [[Metonymy|metonym]].<ref name="EbertCarabineers" /> In addition to the international conflicts to which Godard sought an artistic response, he was also very concerned with the social problems in France. The earliest and best example of this is Karina's potent portrayal of a prostitute in ''Vivre sa vie''.<ref name="TheFreeDictionary.com">{{Cite web |title=Godard, Jean-Luc |url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Godard%2c+Jean-Luc |access-date=13 September 2022 |website=[[TheFreeDictionary.com]] |archive-date=14 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914020913/https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Godard%2c+Jean-Luc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vivre Sa Vie |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0056663/ |access-date=13 September 2022 |website=Box Office Mojo |archive-date=14 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914004311/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0056663/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.byarcadia.org/post/vivre-sa-vie-the-prostitute-as-a-protagonist|title="Vivre sa Vie" – The Prostitute As A Protagonist|date=13 August 2021|publisher=Byarcadia|access-date=15 September 2022|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920180444/https://www.byarcadia.org/post/vivre-sa-vie-the-prostitute-as-a-protagonist|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1960s Paris, the political milieu was not overwhelmed by one specific movement. There was, however, a distinct post-war climate shaped by various international conflicts such as colonialism in North Africa and Southeast Asia. [[#Marxism|Godard's Marxist disposition]] did not become abundantly explicit until ''La Chinoise'' and ''Week End'', but is evident in several films—namely ''Pierrot'' and ''Une femme mariée''.<ref name="TheFreeDictionary.com" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemaexpress.com/english/news/2022/sep/13/pioneer-of-french-new-wave-cinema-jean-luc-godard-dies-at-91-34625.html|title=Pioneer of French New Wave cinema Jean-Luc Godard dies at 91|date=13 September 2022 |publisher=Cinema Express|access-date=15 September 2022|archive-date=16 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220916014901/https://www.cinemaexpress.com/english/news/2022/sep/13/pioneer-of-french-new-wave-cinema-jean-luc-godard-dies-at-91-34625.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Godard was accused by some of harbouring [[anti-Semitic]] views: in 2010, in the lead-up to the presentation of Godard's honorary Oscar, a prominent article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' by [[Michael Cieply]] drew attention to the idea, which had been circulating through the press in previous weeks, that Godard might be an anti-Semite, and thus undeserving of the accolade. Cieply makes reference to [[Richard Brody]]'s book ''Everything is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard'', and alluded to a previous, longer article published by the ''[[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|Jewish Journal]]'' as lying near the origin of the debate.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/movies/02godard.html |title=An Honorary Oscar Revives a Controversy |author=Michael Cieply |date=1 November 2010 |access-date=27 January 2011 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=15 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115140646/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/movies/02godard.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The article also draws upon Brody's book, for example in the following quotation, which Godard made on television in 1981: "[[Moses]] is my principal enemy...Moses, when he received the commandments, he saw images and translated them. Then he brought the texts, he didn't show what he had seen. That's why the [[Jewish people]] are accursed."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/jean-luc_godard_to_get_honorary_oscar_questions_of_anti-semitism_remain_201 |title=Is Jean-Luc Godard an anti-Semite? |first=Tom |last=Tugend |date=6 October 2010 |access-date=9 May 2012 |work=The Jewish Journal |archive-date=26 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026041037/http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/jean-luc_godard_to_get_honorary_oscar_questions_of_anti-semitism_remain_201 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Immediately after Cieply's article was published, Brody made a clear point of criticising the "extremely selective and narrow use" of passages in his book, and noted that Godard's work approached the Holocaust with "the greatest moral seriousness".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2010/11/the-oscar-question.html |title=Jean-Luc Godard: The Oscar Question |date=2 November 2010 |access-date=27 January 2011 |author=Richard Brody |work=The Front Row |archive-date=6 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206094815/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2010/11/the-oscar-question.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Indeed, his documentaries feature images from the [[Holocaust]] in a context suggesting he considers [[Nazism]] and the Holocaust as the nadir of human history. Godard's views become more complex regarding the [[State of Israel]]. In 1970, Godard travelled to the Middle East to make a pro-Palestinian film he did not complete and whose footage eventually became part of the 1976 film ''[[Here and Elsewhere|Ici et ailleurs]]''. In this film, Godard seems to view the [[Palestinians]]' cause as one of many worldwide Leftist revolutionary movements. Elsewhere, Godard explicitly identified himself as an [[anti-Zionist]] but denied the accusations of anti-Semitism.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.vulture.com/2010/11/jean-luc_godard_says_honorary.html |title=Jean-Luc Godard Says Honorary Oscar Meant 'Nothing' to Him |author=Kyle Buchanan |date=15 November 2010 |access-date=9 May 2012 |work=Vulture |archive-date=7 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907191135/http://www.vulture.com/2010/11/jean-luc_godard_says_honorary.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Vietnam War ===
Godard produced several pieces that directly address the [[Vietnam War]]. Furthermore, there are two scenes in ''[[Pierrot le fou]]'' that tackle the issue. The first is a scene that takes place in the initial car ride between Ferdinand (Belmondo) and Marianne (Karina). Over the car radio, the two hear the message "garrison massacred by the [[Viet Cong]] who lost 115 men". Marianne responds with an extended musing on the way the radio dehumanises the Northern Vietnamese combatants.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=Pierrot Le Fou |year=1965 |last=Godard |first=Jean-Luc |type=Motion picture |language=fr}}</ref> The war is present throughout the film in mentions, allusions, and depictions in [[newsreel]] footage, and the film's style was affected by Godard's political anger at the war, upsetting his ability to draw from earlier cinematic styles.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/525-pierrot-le-fou-self-portrait-in-a-shattered-lens |title= ''Pierrot le fou'': Self-Portrait in a Shattered Lens |last= Brody |first= Richard |date= 22 September 2009 |access-date= 15 September 2022 |publisher= [[Criterion Collection]] |archive-date= 7 October 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221007055238/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/525-pierrot-le-fou-self-portrait-in-a-shattered-lens |url-status= live }}</ref>

Notably, he also participated in ''[[Loin du Vietnam]]'' (1967). An anti-war project, it consists of seven sketches directed by Godard (who used [[stock footage]] from ''La Chinoise''), [[Claude Lelouch]], [[Joris Ivens]], [[William Klein (photographer)|William Klein]], [[Chris Marker]], [[Alain Resnais]], and [[Agnès Varda]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Far from Vietnam |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0061913/ |access-date=13 September 2022 |website=Box Office Mojo |archive-date=14 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914004327/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0061913/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unifrance.org/film/4152/loin-du-vietnam|title=Loin du Vietnam|access-date=16 September 2022|publisher=Unifrance.org|archive-date=20 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163459/https://www.unifrance.org/film/4152/loin-du-vietnam|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Bertolt Brecht ===
Godard's engagement with German poet and playwright [[Bertolt Brecht]] stems primarily from his attempt to transpose Brecht's theory of [[epic theatre]] and its prospect of alienating the viewer (''[[Verfremdungseffekt]]'') through a radical separation of the elements of the medium (theatre in Brecht's case, but in Godard's, film). Brecht's influence is keenly felt through much of Godard's work, particularly before 1980, when Godard used cinematic expression for specific political ends.<ref name="TheFreeDictionary.com" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7KAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49 |title=Joel and Ethan Coen |isbn=9780252054143 |access-date=15 September 2022 |last1=Barton Palmer |first1=R. |date=15 August 2022 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |archive-date=11 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611040522/https://books.google.com/books?id=v7KAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49 |url-status=live }}</ref>

For example, ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|Breathless]]''{{'s}} elliptical editing, which denies the viewer a fluid narrative typical of mainstream cinema, forces the viewers to take on more critical roles, connecting the pieces themselves and coming away with more investment in the work's content.<ref>Brody, pp 53–80</ref> In many of his most political pieces, specifically ''[[Weekend (1967 film)|Week-end]]'', ''[[Pierrot le Fou]]'', and ''[[La Chinoise]]'', characters address the audience with thoughts, feelings, and instructions.<ref name="TheFreeDictionary.com" />

=== Marxism ===
{{See also|Karl Marx in film}}
A [[Marxist theory|Marxist]] reading is possible with most if not all of Godard's early work. Godard's direct interaction with Marxism does not become explicitly apparent, however, until ''Week End'', where the name [[Karl Marx]] is cited in conjunction with figures such as [[Jesus Christ]]. A constant refrain throughout Godard's cinematic period is that of the bourgeoisie's [[consumerism]], the commodification of daily life and activity, and [[Social alienation|man's alienation]]—all central features of Marx's [[critique of capitalism]].{{sfn|Grant|2007|loc=Vol. 3, p. 126}}

In an essay on Godard, philosopher and aesthetics scholar [[Jacques Rancière]] states, "When in ''Pierrot le fou'', 1965, a film without a clear political message, Belmondo played on the word 'scandal' and the 'freedom' that the Scandal girdle supposedly offered women, the context of a Marxist critique of [[commodification]], of [[pop art]] derision at consumerism, and of a [[feminist]] denunciation of women's false 'liberation', was enough to foster a [[dialectics#Marxist dialectics|dialectical]] reading of the joke and the whole story." The way Godard treated politics in his cinematic period was in the context of a joke, a piece of art, or a relationship, presented to be used as tools of reference, romanticising the Marxist rhetoric, rather than being solely tools of education.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://simpleappareil.free.fr/lobservatoire/index.php?2007/11/25/43-ranciere-cinemaction "Jean-Luc Godard, La religion de l'art. Entretien avec Jacques Rancière" paru dans ''CinémAction'', « Où en est le God-Art ? »] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914004313/http://simpleappareil.free.fr/lobservatoire/index.php?2007%2F11%2F25%2F43-ranciere-cinemaction |date=14 September 2022 }}, n° 109, 2003, pp.&nbsp;106–112, reproduit sur le site d'analyse L'oBservatoire (simple appareil).</ref>

''[[A Married Woman|Une femme mariée]]'' is also structured around Marx's concept of [[commodity fetishism]]. Godard once said that it is "a film in which individuals are considered as things, in which chases in a taxi alternate with ethological interviews, in which the spectacle of life is intermingled with its analysis". He was very conscious of the way he wished to portray the human being. His efforts are overtly characteristic of Marx, who in his ''[[Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844]]'' gives one of his most nuanced elaborations, analysing how the worker is alienated from his product, the object of his productive activity. [[Georges Sadoul]], in his short rumination on the film, describes it as a "sociological study of the alienation of the modern woman".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sadoul |first=Georges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8di8zgEACAAJ |title=Dictionary of Films |date=1972 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-02152-5 |page=393 |language=en |access-date=14 September 2022 |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319014208/https://books.google.com/books?id=8di8zgEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Revolutionary period (1968–1979) ===
The period which spans from May 1968 into the 1970s has been given various labels{{--}}from his "militant" period, to his "radical" period, along with terms as specific as "[[Maoist]]" and as vague as "political". In any case, the period saw Godard employ consistent revolutionary rhetoric in his films and in his public statements.{{sfn|Brody|2008}}<ref name="TheFreeDictionary.com" />

Inspired by the [[May 68]] upheaval, Godard, alongside [[François Truffaut]], led protests that shut down the [[1968 Cannes Film Festival]] in solidarity with the students and workers. Godard stated there was not a single film showing at the festival that represented their causes. "Not one, whether by [[Miloš Forman|Milos]], myself, [[Roman Polanski|Roman]] or François. There are none. We're behind the times."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wise |first=Damon |date=18 May 2018 |title=Cannes 1968: The Year Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut Led Protests That Shut Down The Festival |language=en-US |work=Deadline |url=https://deadline.com/2018/05/cannes-film-festival-1968-protests-anniversary-commentary-news-1202380606/ |access-date=13 November 2020 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201180233/https://deadline.com/2018/05/cannes-film-festival-1968-protests-anniversary-commentary-news-1202380606/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Films ===
Amid the upheavals of the late 1960s, Godard became passionate about "making political films politically." Though many of his films from 1968 to 1972 are feature-length films, they are low-budget and challenge the notion of what a film can be. In addition to abandoning mainstream filmmaking, Godard also tried to escape the [[cult of personality]] that had formed around him. He worked anonymously in collaboration with other filmmakers, most notably [[Jean-Pierre Gorin]], with whom he formed the [[Dziga Vertov Group|Dziga-Vertov]] cinema collective. During this period Godard made films in England, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Palestine, and the U.S., as well as France. He and Gorin toured with their work, attempting to create discussion, mainly on college campuses. This period came to a climax with the big-budget production ''[[Tout Va Bien]]'', which starred [[Yves Montand]] and [[Jane Fonda]]. Owing to a motorcycle accident that severely incapacitated Godard, Gorin ended up directing this most celebrated of their work together almost single-handedly. As a companion piece to ''Tout va bien'', the pair made ''[[Letter to Jane]]'', a 50-minute "examination of a still" showing Jane Fonda visiting with the [[Viet Cong]] during the [[Vietnam War]]. The film is a deconstruction of Western imperialist ideology. This was the last film that Godard and Gorin made together.{{sfn|Brody|2008}}

In 1978 Godard was commissioned by the [[People's Republic of Mozambique|Mozambican]] government to make a short film. During this time his experience with [[Kodak]] film led him to criticise the film stock as "inherently racist" since it did not reflect the variety, nuance or complexity in dark brown or dark [[Human skin color|skin]]. This was because Kodak [[Shirley cards]] were only made for Caucasian subjects, a problem that was not rectified until 1995.<ref>{{cite news |title=Light And Dark: The Racial Biases That Remain In Photography |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/04/16/303721251/light-and-dark-the-racial-biases-that-remain-in-photography |publisher=NPR |date=16 April 2014 |language=en |access-date=13 September 2022 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913095752/https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/04/16/303721251/light-and-dark-the-racial-biases-that-remain-in-photography |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Sonimage ===
In 1972, Godard and his life partner, Swiss filmmaker, Anne-Marie Miéville started the alternative video production and distribution company Sonimage, based in [[Grenoble]]. Under Sonimage, Godard produced ''Comment ca va'', ''[[Number Two (film)|Numéro Deux]]'' (1975) and ''[[Every Man for Himself (1980 film)|Sauve qui peut (la vie)]]'' (1980).<ref name="Electronic Arts Intermix">{{cite web |title=Jean-Luc Godard |url=http://www.eai.org/artistBio.htm?id=345 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707011909/http://www.eai.org/artistBio.htm?id=345 |archive-date=7 July 2012 |access-date=11 April 2012 |publisher=[[Electronic Arts Intermix]]}}</ref> In 1976, Godard and Miéville, his future wife, collaborated on a series of innovative video works for European broadcast television, titled ''Six fois deux/Sur et sous la communication'' (1976) and ''France/tour/détour/deux/enfants'' (1978).<ref>{{cite web |title=Six Fois Deux / Sur et Sous La Communication [TV Documentary Series] |url=http://www.fandango.com/sixfoisdeuxsuretsouslacommunication%5Btvdocumentaryseries%5D_v44940/plotsummary |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908184438/http://www.fandango.com/sixfoisdeuxsuretsouslacommunication%5Btvdocumentaryseries%5D_v44940/plotsummary |archive-date=8 September 2013 |access-date=11 April 2012 |publisher=Fandango}}</ref> From the time that Godard returned to mainstream filmmaking in 1980, Anne-Marie Miéville remained an important collaborator.<ref name="Electronic Arts Intermix" />

=== Jean-Pierre Gorin ===
After the events of [[May 1968 events in France|May 1968]], when the city of Paris saw a total upheaval in response to the "authoritarian [[Charles de Gaulle|de Gaulle]]", and Godard's professional objective was reconsidered, he began to collaborate with like-minded individuals in the filmmaking arena. His most notable collaborator was [[Jean-Pierre Gorin]], a Maoist student of [[Louis Althusser]], [[Michel Foucault]], and [[Jacques Lacan]], who later became a professor of Film Studies at the [[University of California at San Diego]], with a passion for cinema that attracted Godard's attention.{{sfn|Brody|2008}}

Between 1968 and 1973, Godard and Gorin collaborated to make a total of five films with strong Maoist messages. The most prominent film from the collaboration was ''[[Tout Va Bien]]'' (1972). The film starred [[Jane Fonda]], who was, at the time, the wife of French filmmaker [[Roger Vadim]]. Fonda was at the height of her acting career, having won an [[Academy Award]] for her performance in ''[[Klute]]'' (1971), and had gained notoriety as a left-wing anti-war activist. The male lead was the legendary French singer and actor [[Yves Montand]], who had appeared in prestigious films by [[Henri-Georges Clouzot|Georges Clouzot]], Alain Résnais, [[Sacha Guitry]], [[Vincente Minelli]], [[George Cukor]], and [[Costa-Gavras]].{{sfn|Brody|2008}}

=== Dziga Vertov Group ===
{{Main|Dziga Vertov Group}}
The small group of Maoists that Godard had brought together, which included Gorin, adopted the name Dziga Vertov Group. Godard had a specific interest in [[Dziga Vertov]], a Soviet filmmaker{{--}}who was known for a series of radical documentaries titled "[[Kino Pravda]]" (literally, "film truth") and the late [[silent film|silent-era]] feature film ''[[Man with a Movie Camera]]'' (1929). Vertov was also a contemporary of both Soviet [[Film editing|montage]] theorists, notably [[Sergei Eisenstein]], and Russian [[constructivism (art)|constructivist]] and [[Russian avant garde|avant-garde]] artists such as [[Alexander Rodchenko]] and [[Vladimir Tatlin]]. Part of Godard's political shift after May 1968 was toward a proactive participation in the [[class struggle]] and he drew inspiration from filmmakers associated with the [[Russian Revolution]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-T_ogXMzlgC&q=dziga+vertov+name&pg=PR18 |title=Kino-eye: the writings of Dziga Vertov |isbn=9780520056305 |access-date=6 March 2010 |last1=Vertov |first1=Dziga |year=1984 |publisher=University of California Press |archive-date=25 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225190233/https://books.google.com/books?id=N-T_ogXMzlgC&q=dziga+vertov+name&pg=PR18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Towards the end of this period of his life, '''Godard began to feel disappointed with his Maoist ideals''' and was abandoned by his wife at the time, Anne Wiazemsky. In this context, according to biographer Antoine de Baecque, Godard attempted suicide on two occasions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fresko |first1=David |title=Revolutionary Cinematic Suicide, Godard+Gorin: Five Films, 1968–1971 |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2018/06/film/Revolutionary-Cinematic-Suicide |website=The Brooklyn Rail |date=5 June 2018 |access-date=29 November 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026164837/https://brooklynrail.org/2018/06/film/Revolutionary-Cinematic-Suicide |url-status=live }}</ref>