Encounters with Godard: Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics

340 Pages·2016·5.66 MB·English

by  James S. Williams

ENCOUNTERS
WITH GODARD
Also in the series
William Rothman, editor, Cavell on Film
J. David Slocum, editor, Rebel Without a Cause
Joe McElhaney, The Death of Classical Cinema
Kirsten Moana Thompson, Apocalyptic Dread
Frances Gateward, editor, Seoul Searching
Michael Atkinson, editor, Exile Cinema
Paul S. Moore, Now Playing
Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann, Ecology and Popular Film
William Rothman, editor, Three Documentary Filmmakers
Sean Griffin, editor, Hetero
Jean-Michel Frodon, editor, Cinema and the Shoah
Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Constantine Verevis, editors, Second Takes
Matthew Solomon, editor, Fantastic Voyages of the Cinematic Imagination
R. Barton Palmer and David Boyd, editors, Hitchcock at the Source
William Rothman, Hitchcock: The Murderous Gaze, Second Edition
Joanna Hearne, Native Recognition
Marc Raymond, Hollywood’s New Yorker
Steven Rybin and Will Scheibel, editors, Lonely Places, Dangerous Ground
Claire Perkins and Constantine Verevis, editors, B Is for Bad Cinema
Dominic Lennard, Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors
Rosie Thomas, Bombay before Bollywood
Scott M. MacDonald, Binghamton Babylon
Sudhir Mahadevan, A Very Old Machine
David Greven, Ghost Faces
ENCOUNTERS

WITH GODARD
Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics
JAMES S. WILLIAMS
Cover image: A still from Éloge de l’amour (2001) by Jean-Luc Godard featuring Edgar
(Bruno Putzulu) and “Elle” (Berthe) (Cécile Camp). We have exercised due diligence in
attempt to secure rights for the cover image from Éloge de l'amour. If you are the rights
holder, kindly contact SUNY Press.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2016 State University of New York
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Production, Eileen Nizer
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, James S., 1963–
Encounters with Godard : ethics, aesthetics, politics / James S. Williams.
pages cm. — (SUNY series, horizons of cinema)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmography/discography.
ISBN 978-1-4384-6063-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-6064-2 (e-book)
1. Godard, Jean-Luc, 1930– —Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PN1998.3.G63W55 2016
791.4302'33092—dc23 2015021626
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Illustrations Credits vii
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Encountering Godard 1
1. The Politics of Violence and the End(s) of Art: Speaking (for) the
Other in La Chinoise (1967) 19
2. The Signs in Our Midst: European Culture and Artistic Resistance
in Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988–98) 53
3. Beyond the Cinematic Body: Digital Rhythms and In/human
Breakdown 83
4. Silence, Gesture, Revelation: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Montage
in Godard and Agamben 105
5. Music, Love, and the Cinematic Event 127
6. Crossing the Darkness: Metaphor, Difference, Dissymmetry in
Notre Musique (2004) 151
7. Entering the Desert: Giving Face in Film socialisme (2010) 189
8. Soft and Hard/Back to Back: Erotic Encounters between Voice and
Image in the Zone 207
Coda: Cinema after Language 247
vi / Contents
Notes 255
Works Cited 291
Select Filmography/Discography 305
Index 309
Illustrations Credits
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 La Chinoise (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 24
Figure 1.2 La Chinoise (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 24
Figure 1.3 La Chinoise (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 24
Figure 1.4 La Chinoise (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 25
Figure 1.5 La Chinoise (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 28
Figure 1.6 La Chinoise (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 35
Figure 1.7 Masculin Féminin (Argos Films-Arte France Développement,
2004) 39
Figure 1.8 Sympathy for the Devil (Fabulous Films Ltd, 2006) 40
Figure 1.9 Éloge de l’amour (Optimum Home Releasing, 2002) 44
Figure 1.10 Internet source: http://www.diagonalthoughts.com/?
p=1930 (Accessed 1 May, 2015) 47
Figure 1.11 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 50
Figure 1.12 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 50
Figure 1.13 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 50
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 59
Figure 2.2 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 59
Figure 2.3 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 63
Figure 2.4 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 65
vii
viii / Illustrations Credits
Figure 2.5 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 65
Figure 2.6 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 65
Figure 2.7 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 70
Figure 2.8 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 70
Figure 2.9 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 70
Figure 2.10 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 70
Figure 2.11 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 76
Figure 2.12 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 76
Figure 2.13 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 78
Figure 2.14 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 78
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 85
Figure 3.2 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 87
Figure 3.3 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 87
Figure 3.4 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 90
Figure 3.5 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 93
Figure 3.6 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 93
Figure 3.7 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 93
Figure 3.8 Hélas pour moi (Optimum Home Releasing, 2007) 96
Figure 3.9 Hélas pour moi (Optimum Home Releasing, 2007) 96
Figure 3.10 Histoire(s) du cinéma (4 DVD edition) (Gaumont Vidéo, 2007) 100
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 Keep Your Right Up! (Soigne Ta Droite!) (Facets Video, 2001) 110
Figure 4.2 Keep Your Right Up! (Soigne Ta Droite!) (Facets Video, 2001) 111
Figure 4.3 Keep Your Right Up! (Soigne Ta Droite!) (Facets Video, 2001) 114
Figure 4.4 Keep Your Right Up! (Soigne Ta Droite!) (Facets Video, 2001) 117
Illustrations Credits / ix
Figure 4.5 Keep Your Right Up! (Soigne Ta Droite!) (Facets Video, 2001) 119
Figure 4.6 Re Lear (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc, 2009) 121
Figure 4.7 Keep Your Right Up! (Soigne Ta Droite!) (Facets Video, 2001) 123
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Prénom Carmen in Jean-Luc Godard vol 2 (Warner, 2005) 129
Figure 5.2 Lettre à Freddy Buache in Jean-Luc Godard. Documents
(Éditions du Centre Pompidou, 2006) 132
Figure 5.3 Je vous salue, Marie (Gaumont Vidéo, 2010) 134
Figure 5.4 Je vous salue, Marie (Gaumont Vidéo, 2010) 134
Figure 5.5 Passion/Nouvelle Vague (2 DVD edition) (Cahiers du Cinéma,
2005) 140
Figure 5.6 Passion/Nouvelle Vague (2 DVD edition) (Cahiers du Cinéma,
2005) 140
Figure 5.7 Passion/Nouvelle Vague (2 DVD edition) (Cahiers du Cinéma,
2005) 141
Figure 5.8 Éloge de l’amour (Optimum Home Releasing, 2002) 150
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 154
Figure 6.2 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 156
Figure 6.3 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 162
Figure 6.4 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 163
Figure 6.5 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 165
Figure 6.6 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 171
Figure 6.7 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 176
Figure 6.8 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 176
Figure 6.9 Ici et Ailleurs (Olive Films, 2012) 178
Figure 6.10 Notre Musique (Optimum Home Releasing, 2005) 181