1) He Challenged Conventional French Cinema
Godard’s experimental directorial style emerged with his first feature “Breathless” in 1960. Most consider Godard the pioneer of the new wave, or “nouvelle vague”, film style that utilizes shorter, scrappier shots, a lower budget, and amoral characters. He showed future directors the importance of breaking the rules in order to create meaningful works.
2) He Believed: “A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end….but not necessarily in that order.”
Godard often made films that didn’t follow a linear plot structure, and this has had influences on some of the most creative filmmakers of all time, such as Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan. Read about these 10 films directly influenced by Godard.
3) He Promoted His Political Ideologies
Godard promoted many ideologies within his films, going further than just telling a story and expanding his work past the silver screen. Godard often promoted unpopular philosophies, as he was invested in Marxism and existentialism.
4) He Believed: “Cinema is truth at 24 frames a second”
Godard coined this phrase following the nearly 3 year ban of his 1961 film “Le Petit Soldat”. This film commented on the use of torture during the Algerian War on both sides of the conflict. Godard did not shy away from displaying the truth, however controversial, in his films. Read some of Godard’s most memorable quotes here.
5) He Never Stopped Creating
He is credited on over 100 works of film spanning from 1955 to 2018. He not only directed, but also wrote, edited, and produced. Even as he aged, he continued to innovate and create new art. His final film,
released in 2018, is an avant-garde Swiss film titled “The Image Book”, and by no means does it lose the originality found in his previous films.
6) He Reshaped and Redesigned Films to be More Meaningful.
He is quoted as saying “We in France must find something that means something—find the French attitude as they have found the American attitude.” He found inspiration in beloved hollywood classics, and drew on many of them as influence while creating “Breathless”, but made it in a way that presented more meaning.
Ellen is an English and Film student at Samford University who is currently working for Raindance Film Festival this fall. She hopes to one day teach film at a university level.
