one for the arthouse crowd

Some say his work is profound, beautiful, capturing deep ripples of meaning and understanding in the very fabric of the celluloid. Others say it's incoherent rambling trash. Nouvelle Vague director Jean-Luc Godard is not everyone's cup of soufflé. He has been doing what he does for 50 years now, though, and that's an achievement in itself: either he's been brilliant for half a century, or he's gotten away with it for just as long.

In recognition of all this, the European Film Academy have announced he's to be awarded their Lifetime Achievement Award. Quite what he's achieved, I'd rather not be asked; when I saw "A Bout De Souffle" ("Breathless", and the source of the dreadful pun above) it left me yawning, and the dreadful cod-polemics of "In Praise of Love" (in which The United States of America is lambasted for a good twelve minutes for not having a proper name as a country, America being a continent you see), I was put off for life.

But your view may differ...

Comments

[Darren]

We had to study Godard at Uni but they showed us all the crappy ones. I managed to track down the good ones years later: Bande A Part is excellent (Tarantino named his production company after it), Le Mepris is great too as is about three quarters of Weekend. But he does disapper up his own arse frequently. I think it's a well deserved award though.

[Danuta]

I think the worst film I have ever seen is Sympathy For The Devil, the film he made with the Rolling Stones. It was so bad, it was, er, bad. We sat through it hoping against hope for soem slither of meaning, but it was so deep it had no bottom.
That said, I love Breathless.
Of the Nouvelle Vague directors I prefer Truffaut. Jules et Jim is a perfect film.