Hell on Earth – ‘Notre Musique’

And with part 11/11, we wrap things up. Jean-Luc Godard was awarded an honorary Oscar this year – he declined to show up, which is just as well given that the telecast didn’t include the honorary awards. I found, and still find, that to be outrageous, so hopefully some of these essays did/do inspire you to at least check out a little bit of the guy’s stuff on YouTube. I’m not sure I could ever “recommend” any full Godard movie to a casual film fan since I don’t know if I’d call any of them “enjoyable” from a modern perspective (well, I really enjoy Weekend, but that’s the one I’d recommend the least – that and Persona), but they sure gave me a lot to write about…

If you’re coming at this in reverse chronological order, I’ll repost my little intro:

I’ve been posting 11 essays I wrote for my ‘Godard & European Film’ course in college – so bear in mind that this is me at 21 thinking about classics for the very first time. I’m not sure I’d be so pithy now, understanding these films’ place in history a little better – but this is how I felt about them upon seeing them for the first time, back in 2007.

In Praise of Nostalgia

In 10/11, it’s a movie I don’t remember (Godard’s) and one of my favorite movies ever (Tarkovsky’s)

Behind the Scenes – ‘Passion’ & ‘Beware of a Holy Whore’

On to part 9 and two movies I don’t even really remember watching…

All is Well? – ‘Tout Va Bien’ & ‘Letter to Jane’

Up to part 8 now, and two movies that don’t get me as fired up as some of the earlier ones…

Directorial Detachment in ‘Weekend’ and ‘Persona’

In 7/11, I spend most of the length talking about a shot that’s pretty much responsible for Wes Anderson’s whole career…

Satirizing the Children of Marx and Coca Cola – ‘Masculin, Feminin’

Part 6/11 focuses on only one movie (one that was partially the basis for, and is word-for-word quoted at one point in, the Heath Ledger segments of ‘I’m Not There’)

Fighting So That Failure is Possible – ‘Alphaville’ & ‘La Jetee’

Part 5/11 discusses two movies I really really like…

ASA Filmmaking in ‘Contempt’ and ‘L’avventura’

Part 4/11, and we’re getting into some pretty theoretical theory here – even I’m not sure what I was talking about during parts of this one.

Unsettling the Audience in ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ and ‘Vivre Sa Vie’

Part 3/11…

Bogart was Here First – Realism in ‘The 400 Blows’ and ‘Breathless’

In part 2/11, we take a look at two more movies that I should probably have demonstrated more context-awareness for…but apparently I was more interested in passing judgment on two of the most influential movies ever.