Adieu Jean-Luc Godard
As one of the best-known figures of the Nouvelle Vague, the French-Swiss director is one of the most important filmmakers in the world. A tribute by the Cinémathèque suisse.
14.09.2022
"Jean-Luc Godard passed away on Tuesday, September 13, at the age of 91. A personality of international stature and one of the most iconic directors in the history of cinema, he leaves behind a diverse body of work that has left a lasting mark on the film world and the history of our institution.
The Franco-Swiss director was born in Paris in 1930 and, as one of the best-known figures of the Nouvelle Vague, is one of the most important filmmakers in the world. Throughout his career, he experimented with new narrative styles and created films that have influenced many young filmmakers. His creativity is deeply rooted in his extensive knowledge of film history and in his years as a film critic for Cahiers du Cinéma. He is one of the intellectual heirs of the Cinémathèque française and Henri Langlois, whom he supported in the difficult moments that followed May 1968.
Jean-Luc Godard has always been very interested in film technology: from lightweight cameras to the development of small 35mm cameras with Jean-Pierre Beauviala (Aaton) to the most modern digital apparatus. He also explored in the use of video technology, the 3D digital camera (in ADIEU AU LANGAGE) and the 7.1 sound system (in LE LIVRE D'IMAGE). In the early 1970s, with Carole Roussopoulos, he was one of the first directors to explore the possibilities of Sony's portable video system.
After Paris, then Grenoble, he decided to move to his country of origin, Switzerland, in the mid-1970s. In 1980, with SAUVE QUI PEUT (LA VIE), in a production that brought together many young Swiss technicians, he returned to feature-length fiction and imposed an extraordinarily modern look, in which the effects of video (notably freeze-frame and slow motion) brought an extraordinary lyricism.
When he settled down near Lausanne, he renewed contact with the Cinémathèque suisse and its director Freddy Buache. Some of his films were made partly on the premises and/or with the support of the Cinémathèque suisse, starting in the 1980s. He always supported it when it needed it and realized the famous short film LETTRE À FREDDY BUACHE when he was asked to make a film about the city of Lausanne. He was one of the guests of honor at the 1979 FIAF Congress in Lausanne, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the famous International Congress of Independent Cinema in La Sarraz (1929).
Throughout his work, he had always expressed his sensitivity and interest in the work and tasks of film archives. For this reason, FIAF (International Federation of Film Archives) had decided to award the FIAF Prize to Jean-Luc Godard on the occasion of its 75th Congress in 2019. His visit to the Cinémathèque suisse to receive the award was one of his last public appearances. (...)"
Frédéric Maire, Director of the Cinémathèque suisse, September 13, 2022
Picture: On the set of UNE FEMME MARIEE Cinémathèque suisse