Late Godard and the Possibilities of Cinema by Daniel Morgan

Abstract

evolved towards a predominance of “guy things”—male directors, male stars, malecentric stories featuring action and violence. Third, distribution of foreign films here (with their mind-expanding views of life as others live it) is quite random. Rarely does the American market offer more than a handful of the numerous intelligent, insightful films about real-life experience that are being produced in other countries—in France, for instance. LaSalle argues that the compelling stories regularly showcased in the small-sized films so typical of French cinema originate largely from the presence within its industry of a strong cadre of talented, influential women both in front of and behind the camera. This contrasts sharply with the American situation in which there is a paucity of both female directors and talented actresses. LaSalle’s succinct introduction will likely be provocative to anyone who has not considered these issues. In chatty prose and utilizing personal observations from interviews conducted for this book, the critic reviews the careers and exceptional performances of a substantial number of the contemporary French actresses he credits with creating a (cinematic) view of life that appreciates “emotional truth, personal freedom and dignity above all and that favors complexity over simplicity, the human over the machine, maturity over callowness, true mysteries over false explanations and an awareness of mortality over a life lived in denial” (9). Some of the sixteen chapters center on an individual figure, some feature a group under a theme such as teen rebellion, marriage/adultery, or aging. Natalie Baye, Sandrine Bonnaire, Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain,Valeria BruniTedeschi in particular receive repeated attention, and two British women are even included—Charlotte Rampling and Kristin Scott Thomas.Not analytical in an academic manner, LaSalle’s remarks are insightful and instructive, although in his enthusiasm he occasionally conflates on-screen image with real-life personality—rather thin critical ice. Two appendices offer advice: a proposal on how to sell French films in the United States (branding them as “women’s cinema”) and suggestions on how to see French films in our country, including a helpful list of selected titles featuring women in central roles. The Beauty of the Real offers an informative assessment useful to anyone interested in French cinema (and, indeed, foreign films in the United States), and readers may even be inspired to ferret out the Gallic cinematic gems LaSalle mentions that never made it through the cultural-value gauntlet of American distributors. University of Idaho, emerita Joan M. West Morgan, Daniel. Late Godard and the Possibilities of Cinema. Berkeley: UP of California, 2013. ISBN 978-0-520-27333-7. Pp. 326. $29.95. In the late 1980s a shift was seen in the works of Godard; a shift that is frequently criticized as being an abandonment of politics in favor of high art. However, not all critics see this change as an abandonment.Morgan takes a stance against these criticisms by redefining the latter works of Godard. He focuses on five aspects seen in Godard’s 206 FRENCH REVIEW 87.1 Reviews 207 late films (in particular Soigne ta droite, Nouvelle vague, Allemagne 90 neuf zéro, and Histoire(s) du cinéma): (1) Godard’s treatment of film and history; (2) his manipulation of images within the film; (3) the importance of projection; (4) authorial presence; (5) an emphasis on nature and natural beauty. Morgan begins his analysis with Godard’s “investigations into the way the contemporary world has arrived at its current situation ” (38). In Soigne ta droite, a film composed of multiple vignettes about the quest for identity, Godard uses the juxtaposition of blurry and crisp images of a barbed wire to subtly allude to the Holocaust. Godard is placed in opposition to authors like Claude Lanzmann, who deal explicitly with the Holocaust and its impact, as he instead plays with image perception in such a way that the audience does not automatically understand what they are watching. The blurry images are not understood to be barbed wire until the image becomes clear. This juxtaposition reflects Godard’s treatment of public reaction to historically tragic events, which comes after the image or the tragedy has become well defined, too late to effect change...