I wish Criterion would acknowledge the fact that Godard is still alive and working, and has been releasing interesting, imaginative and creative films for the last 40 years. Like most people, it seems they’re only really interested in the iconic 60s stuff, which to me is nowhere near the level of his work from 1980-2010.
They could make a start by releasing Film Socialism.
of the two 80s godard films I have seen – detective and Passion – both were fucking dreadful.
Une Femme is my very favorite Godard film, I absolutely love it!
Godard already has worldwide distribution, give it to unknown or non-R1 films that need distribution. Georges Franju’s Judex and Nuit Rouges, namely.
Godard is written off except for Breathless and has very little money or funding for his projects
he is hardly cannonized or even overhyped
Yeah, I’m with Brady! Every single Godard in the collection could go OOP if they would finally release A Brighter Summer Day on DVD as far as I’m concerned.
But if they’re going to release more Godard they should definitely make a concerted effort to get some of his 80’s/90’s/00’s work (that doesn’t already have an R1 release) on DVD. It’s pretty ridiculous that no one has seen JLG/JLG – autoportrait de décembre, and releasing Film Socialisme would be wonderful… I also need to see Histoire(s) du cinema, Nouvelle vague, and Germany Year 90 Nine Zero which would be much easier if they all had R1 releases (though, I did just get an all-region DVD player).
I love Detective. Of course the joke is that it’s supposedly a “mainstream Godard” – a would-be commercial vehicle he made just to secure the funding for Hail Mary – and yet it’s even more gnomic and idiosyncratic than his personal projects.
I love all the stuff with the three detectives (Greek chorus, or representation of the viewing audience trying to make sense of this nonsense played back from their hotel room surveillance camera?), with the delightfully manic Jean-Pierre Léaud, the deadpan Laurent Terzieff and the quite lovely Aurelle Doazan.
However, even with all the game playing, genre deconstructions and liberal references to The Tempest, there’s a very believable and human relationship at the centre of it; the love triangle between Nathalie Baye, Claude Brasseur and Johnny Hallyday (each giving staggeringly detailed performances).
Also, as with all Godard, the film is just incredibly beautiful to look at and listen to; the most extraordinary framing of images and the richest sound design imaginable. Too bad you didn’t enjoy it.
Where’s WEEKEND?
As far as I’m concerned they can give every single film of his from the 60s the treatment. An Eclipse series of some of his obscure video work would be nice too.
I heard a while back that they are planning to put out Weekend, but who knows when that will be. I just watched Histories du Cinema not too long ago and I’m hoping for a nice release from them. A Married Woman and Le Petit Soldat are great films as well. Out of the new wavers, I’d like to see more Rohmer though. Maybe those seasonal films that he did.
Or maybe some films by some of the other French new wavers that aren’t included in the collection yet. Maybe some Chabrol or Rivette.
Le Petit Soldat would be nice to see. Maybe a collection of early short films. Everything after “Week End” is either garbage or barely tolerable. I’d rather see Criterion do Blu Ray upgrades of “Armaggedon” and “Chasing Amy” than release anything of Godard’s after 1968. I agree with Tommy: let’s see some Chabrol.
Yeah, Weekend would be my bet on the next Godard Criterion puts out. And I hope they put it out soon
@scubadonc – there are a few works post Weekend that are fairly decent. I think Oh Woe is Me! and Forever Mozart are pretty good films. Hail Mary too. Check them out if you haven’t seen them already.
Yeah I was wondering why there was no Weekend or La Chinoise in the collection? I’m sure that the criterion people are getting to it, I mean we got Vivre sa vie this year. Maybe we’ll get one godard a year? But I’m very interested to see some of godard’s later stuff, I mean with everyone saying they’re crap and all.
“La Chinoise” was already released on a good dvd version a few years ago. “Weekend” would be needed more.
The extant “La Chinoise” is a good transfer, Bobby, but woefully inadequate in terms of supplements. An amazing array of revolutionary 1968-in-France footage exists that would complement a Criterion version of the film.
Agreed. I was so happy to see such a great transfer of that film when it came out. It was almost a totally unknown Godard to me before then and I didn’t know anyone who had seen it either.
-Yeah I was wondering why there was no Weekend or La Chinoise in the collection?-
Because they don’t have the rights to those films.
Socialism
Notre musique
Nouvelle vague
King Lear
Passion/ Scenerio du film “Passion”
Numéro deux
Ici et ailleurs
I second Weekend and an Eclipse set of his more obscure work. Film Socialism would also be nice. Criterion should just release everything by Godard that Fox Lorber put out. They did a great job with Vivre sa Vie. La Chinoise and A Married Woman would be welcome additions to the collection. Also I would shed blood for a blu-ray Les Carabiniers.
Blu ray “Les carabiniers”? You could do much better. That film is too down and dirty for blu-ray. It would ruin the feel!
-It would ruin the feel!-
You think so? I don’t know. If done properly, HD can accentuate the rough edges rather than mask them.
The Masters of Cinema Blu Ray of “Une Femme Mariee” is incredible. Absolutely on par with any Criterion release (and region free to boot). Buy it from amazon uk of from a MoC sale. So good!
“Godard is written off except for Breathless and has very little money or funding for his projects
he is hardly cannonized or even overhyped"
no no no. this is backwards as Godard is probably one of the most overrated directors of all time. Hardly cannonized? He is almost always listed in the top directors of all time polls, often in the top 10. Ever heard of the insanely popular French New Wave? Amongst cinephiles anyway, Godard is one of the most popular directors, and I’m of the opinion that despite maybe 1 or 2 films, there is very little substance to be had. Just mindless experimentation with form, which is interesting the first time, but then gets tiring. He has nothing to say at all or no point of view to express. One of the most pretentious directors imho, but certainly not underrated or uncannonized.
I think the only good films he ever made was Contempt and maybe Pierrot. Maybe some stuff from the 80s, Everyman for Himself & Passion weren’t bad.
Weekend appears to be a done deal but from what they’ve hinted on their Facebook page, not likely until late 2011 or sometime in 2012.
I’m really only familiar with his ‘60s titles, but would love to see Criterion take on subsequent stuff, be it main line or Eclipse. But more than that, I’d love for them to get the license back for Alphaville and upgrade it.
Elston,
I agree partially. Many of his films can be irritating to watch, such as Made in USA, La Chinoise, In Praise of Love. Weekend was not too watchable either. Breathless and Band of Outsiders were nothing special either in my opinion. However, I would Vivre Sa vie to the list of his great films, since it, along with Contempt and Pierrot Le Fou, are among my favorite films of all time. I did not mind Two or Three Things I know about her either.He did make some good films. Breathless, Contempt, Vivre sa vie, Pierrot, Masculine Feminin, 2 or 3 Things, the stuff in the 80s is worth a look. But he never came close to making a masterpiece, and I think even his greatest films like Contempt and Pierrot are merely really good films. He has an uneven catalog, and unlike Woody Allen he never made a film as good as Annie Hall (or even Crimes and Misdemeanors). He was actually a director I liked a lot at first. I thought there incredible energy in his films, but as I watched them a second, third time very few held up as good movies. Some were not worth watching once. I like Truffaut a lot better because his films are actually about something.
Elston,
Not to seem condescending, but the first step to appreciating Godard is to forgot about the masertpiece/non-masterpiece dichotomy.
^ok
Erik Villasenor
With woman is a woman (a release I really want), pierrot le fou (which I was lucky to pickup before it went oop, but they’re still fairly easy to find), and Alphaville, criterion is loosing quite abit of godard. I’ve grown very fond of this man the past month and was wondering if you think criterion will be picking up any of his films in the near future? What other godards could you see in the collection?