Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)

[MichaelB]

JLG.

[Aunt Peg]

JLG.

What a horror last week it has been. QE2, Alain Tanner & many others and now JLG.

Rest in peace JLG.

[bearcuborg]

JLG.

What a horror last week it has been. QE2, Alain Tanner & many others and now JLG.

Rest in peace JLG.

Marsha Hunt a few days ago.

I was in Paris this summer and found the street where the final scene of À bout de souffle was filmed. For the first time in my adult life it is a real deal to visit Europe…

I’ve always enjoyed JLG’s early work, though his last few had some incredible moments of visual beauty.

[MichaelB]

So now that Godard's gone, is there anyone left alive who first made an indelible mark on cinema in the 1950s?

Roman Polanski just about qualifies, if you count Two Men and a Wardrobe's international success in 1958, and of course Clint Eastwood was professionally active, even if there's nothing in his filmography back then that even so much as vaguely hinted at future glories. But who else?

[Mr. Deltoid]

So now that Godard's gone, is there anyone left alive who first made an indelible mark on cinema in the 1950s?

Roman Polanski just about qualifies, if you count Two Men and a Wardrobe's international success in 1958, and of course Clint Eastwood was professionally active, even if there's nothing in his filmography back then that even so much as vaguely hinted at future glories. But who else?

Hmm . . Not a lot left is there? At the other end of the scale, probably Roger Corman. Maybe the ultra-cheap fodder he produced-directed in the '50's isn't as well-thought of critically (pre-Poe adaptations), but he was certainly prolific during that decade and did a couple of pulpy gems (Bucket of Blood, Not of this Earth, etc.) and his influence certainly nurtured the incoming American New-Wave.

I digress . . . JLG RIP

[vsski]

So now that Godard's gone, is there anyone left alive who first made an indelible mark on cinema in the 1950s?

Roman Polanski just about qualifies, if you count Two Men and a Wardrobe's international success in 1958, and of course Clint Eastwood was professionally active, even if there's nothing in his filmography back then that even so much as vaguely hinted at future glories. But who else?

On the director’s front I can’t think of anyone still around. When it comes to actors who made a huge impact on cinema in the 1950s, the one that comes to mind and is still with us is Sophia Loren.

When I heard the news about JLG today I was immediately remembered of a scene in Breathless that could well be applied to him and that was spoken by Melville: “Become immortal and then die”.

RIP!

[Close The Door, Raymond]

So now that Godard's gone, is there anyone left alive who first made an indelible mark on cinema in the 1950s?

Roman Polanski just about qualifies, if you count Two Men and a Wardrobe's international success in 1958, and of course Clint Eastwood was professionally active, even if there's nothing in his filmography back then that even so much as vaguely hinted at future glories. But who else?

Kenneth Anger is 95. And some of his films actually go back to the 1940s ("Fireworks"). Among his best known works during the 1950s include "Eaux d'Artifice" and "Rabbit's Moon".

[MichaelB]

I'd certainly accept Anger and Corman - in fact, Corman's right up there with Godard in terms of overall breadth of influence.

(Would Quentin Tarantino even have had a viable career without those two to set an example?)

[colinr0380]

Another big blow that was inevitable but still dreadfully sad when it occurs. I think Contempt may be in the running for the film that most epitomises the international art film of the 1960s for me (though it is a credit to that prolific decade that no one film could ever encompass everything that went on in that period) and is such a beautiful, dark yet touching tale about the impossibilities of the pursuit of a perfect adaptation (from one medium to another, or the circumstances in ones life) that I find it endlessly rewatchable.

Out of the more recent works I think Notre Musique still impresses me the most. One of the few films to tackle the Yugoslavian ethnic conflict (and the Israel-Palestine situation for that matter) with an idiosyncratic eye towards the futility/selfishness of terrorism and side-taking that people take from the media around them and almost internalise and force themselves into for convenience sake.

(EDIT: Hopefully Godard's version of riverbank Heaven is not quite as disappointingly, ironically superficial as the one depicted in that film!)

[Aunt Peg]

Bert I. Gordon & Michel Deville both made their feature debuts in the 1950s.

Carlos Saura, Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras, Krzysztof Zanussi, István Szabó all debuted with short film(s) in late 1950s. Norman Jewison directed in TV in the 1950s but none of them directed a feature film until the 1960s.

No doubt there are others.

[MichaelB]

Libération is claiming that it was an assisted suicide - which, since Godard was a Swiss citizen who was physically based there, was perfectly legal.

(The headline translates as "He wasn't ill, he was just exhausted.")

[therewillbeblus]

Devastating. I know he was up there, but the man seemed like he would live forever, if only because his brain functioned like an unstoppable force of superhuman intellect, never slowing down, always spinning, urgently soaking up knowledge, new ways of approaching ideas, and finding emotion in the crevices of existence the rest of us ignore. I suppose that would be exhausting too, in addition to all the pains of getting old, and I’m glad he was able to go out on his own terms. Staying on-brand til the last breath. No other artist has inspired me as much as Godard has, and I will be forever grateful for his impact on my life. He’d probably scoff at a personalized eulogy and demand those crying for him go look up what’s going on in the world today, so I guess I’ll go do that

[dadaistnun]

Another big blow that was inevitable but still dreadfully sad when it occurs. I think Contempt may be in the running for the film that most epitomises the international art film of the 1960s for me (though it is a credit to that prolific decade that no one film could ever encompass everything that went on in that period) and is such a beautiful, dark yet touching tale about the impossibilities of the pursuit of a perfect adaptation (from one medium to another, or the circumstances in ones life) that I find it endlessly rewatchable.

Out of the more recent works I think Notre Musique still impresses me the most. One of the few films to tackle the Yugoslavian ethnic conflict (and the Israel-Palestine situation for that matter) with an idiosyncratic eye towards the futility/selfishness of terrorism and side-taking that people take from the media around them and almost internalise and force themselves into for convenience sake.

Co-sign both of these. I revisited Contempt when Piccoli died and was struck anew by how sad that film is (and maybe it was the timing of that viewing, but Piccoli's already great performance became one of my favorites of all time).

And though I've only seen around half of his filmography, Notre Musique has two striking moments that have always haunted me: the right-to-left pan across the flowers in Godard's garden near the end, and the final Chandler-paraphrasing shot.

[Big Ben]

I don't even really know what to say. This feels like an entire chapter of cinema has finally closed. There was cinema before Breathless and cinema after Breathless.

[diamonds]

Spoiler

[beamish14]

Bert I. Gordon & Michel Deville both made their feature debuts in the 1950s.

Carlos Saura, Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras, Krzysztof Zanussi, István Szabó all debuted with short film(s) in late 1950s. Norman Jewison directed in TV in the 1950s but none of them directed a feature film until the 1960s.

No doubt there are others.

Kenneth Anger comes to mind

[bottlesofsmoke]

Terrible. JLG is one of the rare filmmakers whose work I fall in love with more each viewing, and I think that it is because, in addition to the brilliance of the work, he made movies that make me love movies more, that renew my passion. Each time I’d watch a Godard film, I’d gain a new appreciation not just for his films, but for the cinema as a whole, what the greatest art form is possible of doing, of making me think and feel. I agree with therewillbeblus that Godard seemed like he’d live forever, he reminds me of David Bowie in that way. Both were incredibly influential but never rested on their laurels and were constantly innovating, always one step ahead. The history of the cinema is unimaginable without so much of his work, he helped to define and redefine so much of it.

[knives]

So now that Godard's gone, is there anyone left alive who first made an indelible mark on cinema in the 1950s?

Roman Polanski just about qualifies, if you count Two Men and a Wardrobe's international success in 1958, and of course Clint Eastwood was professionally active, even if there's nothing in his filmography back then that even so much as vaguely hinted at future glories. But who else?

Hmm . . Not a lot left is there? At the other end of the scale, probably Roger Corman. Maybe the ultra-cheap fodder he produced-directed in the '50's isn't as well-thought of critically (pre-Poe adaptations), but he was certainly prolific during that decade and did a couple of pulpy gems (Bucket of Blood, Not of this Earth, etc.) and his influence certainly nurtured the incoming American New-Wave.

I digress . . . JLG RIP

cough

[criterionsnob]

Wasn’t he working on a new film or two? I wonder if he finished anything else before he passed. RIP JLG.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Bert I. Gordon & Michel Deville both made their feature debuts in the 1950s.

Carlos Saura, Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras, Krzysztof Zanussi, István Szabó all debuted with short film(s) in late 1950s. Norman Jewison directed in TV in the 1950s but none of them directed a feature film until the 1960s.

No doubt there are others.

Michael Snow made his first film in 1956, though I don't think it drew any real notice at the time. Ken Jacobs made a few films in the '50s (most of them in collaboration with Jack Smith) that got some attention in the New York underground scene. And Lester's The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film came out in 1959.

[swo17]

Wasn’t he working on a new film or two? I wonder if he finished anything else before he passed. RIP JLG.

Same question

[Rayon Vert]

Now this one is hard.

[MichaelB]

Bert I. Gordon & Michel Deville both made their feature debuts in the 1950s.

Carlos Saura, Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras, Krzysztof Zanussi, István Szabó all debuted with short film(s) in late 1950s. Norman Jewison directed in TV in the 1950s but none of them directed a feature film until the 1960s.

No doubt there are others.

Michael Snow made his first film in 1956, though I don't think it drew any real notice at the time. Ken Jacobs made a few films in the '50s (most of them in collaboration with Jack Smith) that got some attention in the New York underground scene. And Lester's The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film came out in 1959.

To clarify, although it's bit late now, I was thinking more of filmmakers who are still active either to this day or until very very recently.

[MichaelB]

Libération is claiming that it was an assisted suicide - which, since Godard was a Swiss citizen who was physically based there, was perfectly legal.

(The headline translates as "He wasn't ill, he was just exhausted.")

Godard's lawyer has confirmed the above, although adds that, contrary to the Libération headline, he was in fact suffering from multiple incapacitating illnesses.

[Toland's Mitchell]

I know this is a stretch, but Clint Eastwood started acting in the 50s, long before he started directing. Can't think of any other '50s directors than those aforementioned.

Anyway, he chose to end his life on his terms rather than let illnesses gradually take him. Respect. RIP to the legend.