Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, who is known as the Father of the New Wave Cinema, died at the age of 91 in Rolle, Switzerland.
Godard, who was among the world’s most acclaimed directors, has given the world works such as Breathless, Contempt, and Pierrot Le Fou. He has also been an inspiration for various directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and many more.
Godard’s movies had set a new standard in the French film industry in the 1960s, which was characterized by handheld cameras, jump cuts and dialogues revolving around existentialism.
Born in December 1930 in the affluent 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, Godard spent most of his childhood around Lake Geneva, Switzerland, where his father worked as a physician.
Originally aspiring to be an anthropologist, Godard’s interest in films began as a critic when he joined the Ciné-Club du Quartier Latin, where he met Francois Truffaut and Claude Chabrol, who were other individuals who were influential in the New Wave genre.
He made his first short film in 1954, where he shot workers at the construction of the Grand Dixcene Dam, and named it Operation Beton (meaning Operation Concrete). The film was bought by the construction company working on the dam for publicity purposes.
He was greatly inspired by the German playwright Berlot Brecht and wanted to bring his concept of “epic theatre” into the realm of filmmaking. In 1960, he made his first feature film, Breathless, produced by Francois Truffaut, and starring Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
He went on to create more films like Contempt, and Pierrot Le Fou in 1963 and 1965 respectively in the New Wave cinema genre. His last film in this genre was Week-End, which ended on the note The End of Cinema, instead of the normal, The End.
He was also very outspoken about his political views as well. He had made many films such as Le petit Soldat, about the Algerian war of Independence, and some films with Maoist Ideals, such as Tout Va Bien, which starred Jane Fonda and Yves Montand. He also openly criticised the Vietnam War and supported the May 1968 protest that took place across universities and cities across France and Europe.
“It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to”- Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)
