I've only seen one of his movies so far ("Little Soldier"), didn't do much for me, maybe I should see his other stuff I guess. What's everyones thoughts on this guy?
Depends on your tastes I suppose, but 'À bout de souffle' [aka "Breathless"] is a cinematic classic.
I finally got a netflix account, I'm getting Breathless now, apparently Breathless is a very influencial film so I'll give Godard another shot.
Wonder what Werner Herzog meant when he said "Someone like Jean-Luc Godard is for me intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung fu film."
Surprise surprise I'm in a class specifically about good ol' Jean-Luc. Not specifically exactly, but most definitely and surely I am watching nearly all of his movies for the class. We have watched Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier), Breathless, Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live) and Le Mepris (Contempt) thus far. Godard is a little strange because he believed, if only for a brief moment, that film could change the world. And that mentality can be seen as he starts to make films that are seen as both political messages and as works of art like you'd find on a wall.
Of the four I mentioned above, my favorite so far is Contempt. It is by far his most accessible because of the subject matter and cast. It is a very good relationship drama while at the same time has some of the most colorful and beautiful photography I have ever seen. It stars Michael Piccolini, French sex symbol Bridgette Bardot, German director Fritz Lang, and Jack Pallance as a lunatic movie producer. The very first shot of the movie blew me out of the water. Watch it and tell me what you think.
scott
I'll get that one on Netflix next. I saw his movies in a class too, a"political film/ third world cinema" class where we watch films with the intent of changing the world through political messages.
I find it kinda weird Godard wanted to make movies that could change the world. If he wanted to really get the message out, he shoulda made more accessible movies so it can connect with more people who then would have a bigger influence on the world. Don't know how many political revolutions his movies were responsible for but seems like all they've achieved is to become discussion pieces for film historians and movie critics.
Definitely a great filmmaker of the French New Wave. See Week End, which is hilariously odd. And A Bande aparte (Band of Outsiders), which is cool beyond all belief.
Breathless really did nothing for me, but it seems to have opened the cinematic minds of a whole generation of film makers. Maybe it had something to do with the time period.
I enjoyed Alphaville though. Faith No More used a line from this movie for one of their song lyrics.