Godard on Godard
Posted: May 9th, 2009, 2:38 pm
After 30 years of reading about what Godard wrote and why it matters, I finally read some of what Godard actually wrote. Godard on Godard: Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard (1968; Eng. translation 1972) collects some of his writing and interviews from 1956 to 1967. Alternating between crisp clear bluntness and the indecipherable, but always challenging and provocative, he did impact discourse on film whether one agrees with him (the adoring references to Murnau, Chaplin, Renoir, Welles, Ophuls, Ray, Fuller) or disagrees (vicious denunciations of Duvivier and Carne). In general, I found his critical essays to be more illuminating than his writing and interviews relating to his own films. (It's so tempting to say that maybe he didn't understand them either.)
For those who enjoy lists (I'm a sucker for them), included are his annual Top 10 Films of the Year (1956-65), Top 10 American Sound Films (through 1963), and Top 10 French Films since the Liberation.
For those who enjoy lists (I'm a sucker for them), included are his annual Top 10 Films of the Year (1956-65), Top 10 American Sound Films (through 1963), and Top 10 French Films since the Liberation.