Film Review
The film that marked Jean-Luc Godard's definitive break with mainstream cinema in the
1960s and defined his future direction for the next decade and beyond was this daring
experimental work.
Le Gai savoir was originally commissioned by the French
television company ORTF as an adaptation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel
Emile.
Once they saw the initial footage which Godard had shot, the ORTF pulled out of the project,
but allowed the director to finish the work with his own resources.
Just as Rousseau's novel led to a wholesale reform of the education system in France,
Godard was probably hoping that his film would have a radical impact on the future of
cinema. Whilst few have followed Godard's cause, the film is significant because
it rationalises the director's philosophy of filmmaking in a way that few, if any, of
his other films manages to. The interaction of sound and image, and how these play
upon our imagination and establish links between the world of fantasy and the world of
everyday experience, are some of the themes which the film explores. In this pot-pourri
of artistic overload abound the familiar Godard-esque references to imperialist consumerism
and extreme left-wing politics, no doubt influenced by the events of May 1968.
© James Travers 2002
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Jean-Luc Godard film:
Tout va bien (1972)
Film Synopsis
In a deserted television studio two artistic militants come together to exchange
their ideas about television, cinema and politics. Patricia is a child
of the Cultural Revolution, Émile the great-great-grandson of the
Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Both object to today's
use of the spoken word as a weapon employed by those in power to control
and mislead the masses. For communication to be effective and overcome
the tyranny of language it must rely on more abstract forms of expression.
Film is an essential part of this, Patricia and Émile agree.
Cinema has so much potential as a medium in which to express the revolutionary
spirit of the age, but it must be deployed in a completely new way, it must
return to the drawing board and reinvent itself, if it is to have any value.
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.