Godard

Started by Duck Sauce, February 01, 2003, 08:29:30 PM

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Duck Sauce

Playing off of my embarrassment of never seeing any Godard movies, I have decided that I have waited long enough. Recommend me the best Godards.

Gold Trumpet

I'm not a Godard expert at all. But my recommendation is to start with the first Godard and most straight forward of them all, Breathless. Then look through his classics of the 60s and watch movies like My Life to Live and Weekend. But, start with Breathless for sure.

~rougerum

Cecil

Quote from: The Gold TrumpetI'm not a Godard expert at all. But my recommendation is to start with the first Godard and most straight forward of them all, Breathless. Then look through his classics of the 60s and watch movies like My Life to Live and Weekend. But, start with Breathless for sure.

~rougerum

im a godard nut and i agree with that 100%.

Gold Trumpet

If Cecil gives permission on something Godard, then it must be right.

~rougerum

Rudie Obias

i love BREATHLESS but the first godard film i saw was BAND OF OUTSIDERS.  that's also my favorite, i don't know anyone who hasn't seen and didn't have a crush on odile (anna karina).  also ALPHAVILLE and CONTEMPT are good.  if you like watching godard films you should also check out  françois truffaut's THE 400 BLOWS, JULES AND JIM and FAHRENHEIT 451.

enjoy!

*rudie*
\"a pair of eyes staring at you, projected on a large screen is what cinema is truly about.\" -volker schlöndorff

Duck Sauce

Quote from: rudieobif you like watching godard films you should also check out  françois truffaut's THE 400 BLOWS, JULES AND JIM and FAHRENHEIT 451.

I have, with great delite.

Ghostboy

I haven't seen too many Godard movies. Breathless and Alphaville...which are both terrific. Oh, and his latest, In Praise Of Love, which is so vague that it's hard to form an opinion on it. Did anyone else see it when it sped through theaters last fall?

Cecil

Quote from: GhostboyI haven't seen too many Godard movies. Breathless and Alphaville...which are both terrific. Oh, and his latest, In Praise Of Love, which is so vague that it's hard to form an opinion on it. Did anyone else see it when it sped through theaters last fall?

i saw it. pretty good.

soixante

I have been watching nothing but Godard films the past month, so I'd like to offer some recommendations.  I would concentrate on his 1960 to 1967 output (15 movies).  Breathless, My Life to Live, Band of Outsiders, Pierrot Le Fou, Alphaville, Weekend and Every Man For Himself are the best ones, in my opinion.
I haven't seen A Married Woman, Two or Three Things I Know About Her, or La Chinoise in many years, but I remember liking them, and I hope someone puts them out on DVD soon.
11 of his films are available on DVD:  Breathless, Le Petit Soldat, Une Femme Est Une Femme, Vivre Sa Vie, Les Carabiniers, Le Mepris, Band A Part, Alphaville, Pierrot Le Fou, Prenom Carmen, Soigne Ta Droit.
Music is your best entertainment value.

Ernie

I saw Breathless first, fell in love with it, bought it, bought the poster...took a break...blind bought Band of Outsiders, watched it and loved it.

That's as far as my Godard timeline goes so far man. See Breathless and Band of Outsiders. I'm sure they are not his only cool films but they're the only ones I can really recommend.

Gold Trumpet

I finally got the criterion dvd of Band Of Outsiders. I must say, of all the Godard films i've seen, I enjoyed this one the most and was most enthralled by it. The film had a very rare narrative and visual poetry that seemed so seemless and authentic but yet speaking in a film language of artificiality that didn't intrude for the most part. I do have quibbles about the film, and that was my general annoyance with the voice over. Yes, I understand it plays in part to the concept of adapting the pulp novel to screen and trying to show it in the film, but it intrudes way too much of the natural feeling of the movie and just the pure story. When I was excited to see so much explained through facial gestures and actions, I was dissapointed for a lot of questions to be answered with a few sentences. It didn't really flow with the film. I don't mind trickery and felt the minute of silence sequence was absolutely perfect in showing the lack of patience these men have and also letting the audience know that the film had a freedom to it. I just wished the trickery would be spread far and wide so the audience would be gripped by the story and come to be astounded when the film showed them something new. But, a bigger focus on trying to be helpful to the flow of the story. That's all though, but really, a magnificent Godard movie.

~rougerum

SoNowThen

I've been hitting Godard hard for the last two months -- reading every book on/by him, watching whatever is available for rent. I must say, though I don't recommend it be the first of his to watch, My Life To Live is by far and away the most amazing Godard film. Other movies that are great right off the bat are: Band Of Outsiders, Pierrot Le Fou, Le Petit Soldat (probably his most underrated), and A Woman Is A Woman. Ones that take a few viewings, but definitely deliver: Contempt (a must-buy on Criterion), Alphaville, Masculin Feminin, Breathless (for some reason I had to watch this twice to love it...??). And check out La Carabiniers too, if you like anti-war films, it's about as anti-war as they come.

Can someone seriously try and tell me that Weekend is actually as good as the above mentioned films? I know it's important, but do you actually get the same joy out of watching it as the earlier Godard? Personally, I liked First Name:Carmen better than Weekend.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

cine

Both really good films but I'd personally vote "Weekend" over "First Name: Carmen" for the traffic jam scene alone.

cowboykurtis

ALPHAVILLE -- I LOVE YOU
...your excuses are your own...

Ernie

Quote from: cowboykurtisALPHAVILLE -- I LOVE YOU

Saw that on Sundance awhile ago -- LOVED IT! Can't wait to buy it.

Contempt is on my netflix list...doesn't  the Casino soundtrack have an excerpt from it's score??? If it does, I'm renting it next...anything Scorsese likes is cool.