It seems obvious that “Breathless” takes the top spot as his best. My personal favorite is a tie between “Vivre sa Vie” and “Band of Outsiders.”
I’ve only seen masculin feminin, 2 Or 3 Things I Know About Her, Breathless, Vivre sa vie and some of his short films. Still from those it has to go to Vivre sa vie.
I have seen Breathless, Band of Outsiders, Vivre Sa Vie, In Praise of Love, Contempt, Pierrot Le Fou, Made in USA, Two or Three Things I Know About Her, Weekend, and A Woman is a Woman.
Of the above listed films, it’s a toss up between Contempt and Vivre Sa Vie
Weekend is my favourite. It’s a joy to watch and filled to the brim with rich comment. I also love Pierrot le fou, Contempt and La chinoise.
Film Socialisme
Band of Outsiders is my favorite but it’s really hard to choose, I haven’t been disappointed yet by any of the films I’ve seen from him. I thought Weekend was really amazing as well, he really wanted to see how far he could push things and I loved it.
I would say that out of all of them so far, Vivre sa Vie is the one I always pull out for those who have never seen a Godard film before.
My top three, in this order:
1— Masculin-Feminin
2— Band of Outsiders
3— 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
I don’t know which one is the best of Godard’s film. But my favorite is Breathless.
Out of his earlier work, I would have to go with these:
1. My Life to Live
2. Pierrot le fou
3. Breathless
4. Le Petit Soldat
5. Masculin Feminine
And out of his later works:
1. Histories du Cinema
2. Forever Mozart
3. Helas Pour Moi
4. Hail Mary
can we please have some critical or historical analysis instead of aspergers syndrome style lists devoid of a meaningful context.[and for the record each godard film is an extension of the last ,past of a evolving process , a deconstruction and questioning of the form itself!]
You first.
i can’t, he hasn’t finished yet! but seriously i am not an historian so the various revolutions of cultural form in french society are beyond my knowledge base .[still its a fact that godard used american cinema to reform french cinema and then opposition to the american military/industrial complex to reform himself and attempt to reform america itself.]
Histoire(s) Du Cinema
Pierrot le Fou
Contempt
In Praise of Love
Prenom: Carmen
Histoires du Cinema
Vivre sa Vie
Band of Outsiders
Weekend
Pierrot Le Fou
Histoire(s) Du Cinema
Masculin Feminin
Weekend.
Although I have seen Contempt more than any of his films.
Alphaville- it’s a tremendously witty film and visually just stunning
À bout de souffle
Everyone of the color films by Godard that I have seen has been visually stunning, especially Contempt, which is certainly my favorite films of his. Granted, I have not seen every single film he has directed, and there isn’t much I can say about Contempt that has not already been mentioned. One thing I will touch upon, however, is my conviction that the film is misread by many, including even those who were involved in the production of the film. It is pretty clear that Camille loved Paul but was distancing herself to maintain her own pride after she sensed that he was pimping her. Very subtle clues throughout the film reveal that she still loves, and she even says halfway through the film during what appears to be a recorded interview that she was acting the way she was out of vengeance. Ironically, when put in context, it would appear that the voice over was recorded after the events of the film had taken place. Camille dies at the end, however, but then again, Godard’s agenda is to remind his audience that they are watching a film. He does not want the spectator to become to heavily engaged with the story of the film itself. Thus, Godard could have been implying that the car accident was an act was a charade in the same sense that he seeks to remind his audience that the art of cinema in general is one giant charade, albeit one that he was on love with.
Breathless (4/5)
That’s the only one I really like. The rest i’ve seen Alphaville, Vivre sa Vie and Band of Outsiders did little or nothing for me.
Vivre sa vie
Vivre sa Vie
Contempt
Breathless
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
Notre Musique
off the top of my head
his best work?
Vivre sa Vie or Breathless take your pick.
You’re really splitting hairs though, not just that bout holding breathless up against his later films which are mostly essay films feels odd … like not to be compared?
Pierrot Le Fou
@Avery. You’re quite right that Camille still loves Paul, but that love has been grievously damgaed because he pimped her out to Prokosch.
The accident that kills her is Godard’s restaging of the accident that killed his mother.
Contempt pretty muchdominated my post-Breathless Godard viewing, but Vivre Sa Vie enchanted me too. Then Bande a Part opened my eyes to what the cinema could be. The best was yet to come with Pittot le Fou and Made in USA.
Weekend brought the curtian down on that end of things, then came the years in the leftis wilderness with the “Dziiga Vertov Group”
He rights himself again shortly afterwards and ascends to the new level he currently occupies with Film Socialisme.
Weekend is the first Godard I saw (at the Orson Welles in Cambridge)…and it’s still my favorite, though when I saw Contempt, I thought…wow! A masterpiece…then Breathless, Pierrot le Fou, Band Apart…and on and on…
Contempt
weekend
I’’n Praise of Love’’ and ‘’Notre Musique’’ are my favorite Godards, they get better after each viewing. I have to admit that from the period between ‘’Tout va bien’’ and ‘’in Praise of Love’’ I have seen only ’’Passion’’, ’’Detective’’, ‘’Germany Year Zero’‘, and ’’Helas Pour Moi’’, and those 4 films are probably only 10-15% of his work from that period…
Pierrot Le Fou
Godard showing his mastery of Hollywood techniques infused with French 60’s cool.
tony1990
This week it’s Godard. What do you consider his best? Which one as your favorite?