Category: Non-EnglishHow relevant is Jean Luc Godard in this day and age? The legendary French director broke boundaries and was a little above Truffaut at places. Truffaut and Godard being the biggest names to come out from Cahiers Du Cinema and the French New Wave.
Notre Musique made in 2004 is his latest offering, the film which has a Divine Comedy of Dante style of narrative is divided into 3 sections - Realm 1: Hell which is a montage of images of war (fiction and non-fiction). Realm 2: Purgatory forms the bulk of the film and even has Godard deciding to take a front row seat to viciously attack and deconstruct. Realm 3: Heaven is a brief epilogue featuring the lead actress.
Godard continues where he left off with all his previous films - understanding Cinema itself, asking questions such as, "Can the little shiny cameras save cinema?" among other things. Framing, images, the aesthetic everything comes under questioning. The film itself is set in Sarajevo in which a French Jewish woman of Russian descent is attending a symposium on War which features other prominent thinkers and intellectuals such as Mahmoud Darwish.
There's also Godard's questions posed on language and the structure of Grammar - film and language. Interlaces it with still pictures and lets you figure out what he's doing exactly. He de constructs the city of Sarajevo, he does everything. The heart of this film is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Yes, he's still relevant today - in a day when even film makers of this day and age aren't. Watchout for his next release in 2010.
Recommendation level: 5/5. No director can deconstruct and analyze and pose questions the way Godard does, his political style of films has lasted and made him relevant even in this day and age. Color only brings everything to a different level. Speaking of which - watch out for his play with lighting. It is one of his first films I am featuring but I have been a regular Godard film watcher for a long time so I know what am talking about.
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