I have seen barely anything, but right now my favourite is Origin of the 21st Century (it’s a short).
My current Godard rankings. I still have more to see.
2 ou 3 choses que je sais d’elle
Le Mépris
Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis
Week End
Une femme mariée: Suite de fragments d’un film tourné en 1964
‘Je vous salue, Marie’
The Old Place
Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux
Histoire(s) du cinéma
La Chinoise
Lettre à Freddy Buache
Éloge de l’amour
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Nouvelle vague
Pravda
Passion
Ici et ailleurs
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution
Le Gai savoir
Le Petit soldat
Sympathy for the Devil
Les Carabiniers
L’Origine du XXIème siècle
Bande à part
JLG/JLG – autoportrait de décembre
Une femme est une femme
Amore e rabbia: L’amore
Tout va bien
Notre musique
Pierrot le fou
For Ever Mozart
Prénom Carmen
À bout de souffle
King Lear
Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick
Détective
Soigne ta droite
The most well-known film by Godard must be Breathless,
but my favorite is Vivre sa vie, which is so beautiful.
Éloge de l’amour also won my heart.
Godard came to Cannes to speak about this film 8 years ago.
He gave comments on philosophy and politics in general.
I guess most of the press didn’t understand what he was talking about.
But he’s great and still making films!
I’ve come to so many different Godard films from his various periods at different points in my life it is nearly impossible to rank them. Right now I’m a bit high on his “late” stuff, which really means mid-career onward: Forever Mozart, Origin of the 21st Century (props Eli!), Notre musique, Hail Mary.
But having just seen new 35mm prints of Contempt and Pierrot le fou it’s hard not to love his 1960s period. My favorite over his entire career is probably 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her and Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux. I just wish his video, television, and film work of the 1970s was available! France/tour/détour/deux/enfants, Mouvement 1: Obscur/Chimie is amazing, for example. View it for free here: http://www.ubu.com/film/godard.html.
From what I’ve seen I haven’t been a huge fan of his but I certainly liked Alphaville the most. But really I should see more Godard before I judge.
He’s a grower, that’s for sure. Give it time, I feel like everyone who loves cinema will come around to some Godard or another eventually!
Daniel, how are you italizing words?
On topic: Masculin, Feminin is far and above of my favorite, but the later films are growing on…
Jake, our website uses Textile: http://www.textism.com/tools/textile/.
Masculin, Feminin, then.
It took me a year to come around to Cassavetes. I saw Opening Night a long time ago and about two years later I saw Chinese Bookie and I thought, “Why the hell don’t I like this guy?” So I started watching everything and I’m now a Cassavetes nut.
Je vous salue, Sarajevo is a truly epic elegy for the living (an early ’90’s short, it’s a true masterwork). La Chinoise captures the necessity and the impossibility of radical action. I’m excited to see Contempt in the next few days (for the 1st time!). 2 or 3 Things is also great but perhaps a bit academic. I’m interested in – but have yet to see – Weekend, Tous Va Bien, his cine-tracts from the Dziga Vertov Group.
vivir su vida me encanta, anna karina es tan fragil. sus exresiones osn actos poeticos. y la composicion y descomposcicion de godard en este film me acelera el corazon.
im excited to watch “Bande a Part”. you guys ever see bertolucci’s The Dreamers? Where they try to break the record of running through the Louvre? I love it.
I don’t think I could pick just one film of Godard’s as a favourite. I loved his use of colour in Une femme est une femme, the grocery store scene in Tout va bien was amazing, À bout de souffle is wonderful in general. There are so many more, too.
Moi:
- Le Mepris:
This film I saw at a perfect timing of my life. I got it instantly.
- Alphaville
Being a fan of futuristic tales, this is the most poetic of them all.
- A bout de souffle
bla bla bla bla bla bla bla… it’s a classic.
Le Mepris and Pierrot le fou are just simply perfection.
I have only seen Breathless, Band of Outsiders, and Alphaville, but out of those three I think I would pick either Breathless or Band of Outsiders, I’m not sure. I really want to see Pierrot le Fou and Contempt as well.
So far, my facvourite would have to be Weekend. A de-constructed, self-reflexive, meta-critique… amazing!
New York audiences are getting a little present in May: Godard’s 60s.
I gotta say I dig Contempt now most of all.
Contempt has the most gorgeous film score ever written.
and one of the most beautiful color schemes! Contempt has jumped to near the top of my list, preceded only by Je vous salue Sarajevo. Looking forward to catching up with some of his radical ’60’s work at the Film Forum retro… especially his politically radical later ’60’s work.
I think the only one i have ever seen is Breathless. Je suis embarrassé.
“Contempt has the most gorgeous film score ever written.”
Word up. It may be my favorite. I’m looking forward to seeing it big at the Castro in May. That said, I dig a lot of those vivacious 60s films, including but not limited to Pierrot le fou and Masculin-Feminin and Week End and Bande à part. Vivre sa vie is great but it’s too “pure” to love (which makes no sense, I know). Or so I thought last time I saw it, three years ago. Oh heck: he’s a favorite for a reason: I dig ’em all, in some fashion or another.
Completely agree with Contempt’s score being the best. It’s so beautiful and is such a key part of the film. On another note, they showed “Contempt” on TCM last night and the print they showed was full frame, horribly damaged, and dubbed. I was in complete shock when i turned it on and saw that.
I heard about that – there must’ve been some sort of mistake. On the TCM website they said the print they were supposed to show was “letter-boxed”. Someone should email them to find out what happened.
Contempt (1963) even if he doesn’t like it, My Life to Live (1962)
having just seen it for the first time, I think the the radical montage / revolutionary theory / temporality of Le Gai Savoir is flat-out brilliant.
Masculin Féminin: 15 faits précis
‘Je vous salue, Marie’
2 ou 3 choses que je sais d’elle
Week End
Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux
JLG/JLG – autoportrait de décembre
Une femme est une femme
Pierrot le fou
À bout de souffle
Éloge de l’amour
Notre musique
La Chinoise
Passion
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution
Le Petit soldat
Les Carabiniers
Bande à part
Tout va bien
Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick
Détective
Histoire(s) du cinéma
Le Mépris
Sympathy for the Devil
Those I want to see > everything else!…including:
The Old Place
For Ever Mozart
Lettre à Freddy Buache
Une femme mariée: Suite de fragments d’un film tourné en 1964
Pravda
Ici et ailleurs
Amore e rabbia: L’amore
L’Origine du XXIème siècle
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Nouvelle vague
Prénom Carmen
Soigne ta droite
King Lear
Le Gai savoir
(JLG’s recent book with Yousef Ishaghpour from 2005 was as illuminating as ever about cinema, “a form that thinks”:
CINEMA: the archaeology of film and the memory of a century)
Timothy Henderson
I’ve been spending time as of late trying to see more and more of Godard’s works. I was wondering what you guys considered some of your personal favorites of his and why…