The Legacies of Jean-Luc Godard ed. by Douglas Morrey, Christina Stojanova, and Nicole Côté

Abstract

Morrey, Douglas, Christina Stojanova, and Nicole Côté, eds. The Legacies of Jean-Luc Godard. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2014. ISBN 978-1-55458920 -3. Pp. xxv + 244. $49 Can. Godard’s influence is widely acknowledged, and it extends into various disciplines, including art, culture, society, and philosophy. This collection of essays explores Godard’s interdisciplinary contributions. Legacies finds its naissance in a 2010 University of Regina conference in honor of Godard’s eightieth birthday. The four sections of this collection include his influence on other forms of art, politics and historical documentation, philosophy, and the intertextual relevance of his work when considering those who came before and after him. In “Dans le noir du temps (2002)—The ‘Filming’of a Musical Form,”Jürg Stenzl compares Godard to a composer and analyses his short film as a musical composition with melody and counterpoint. Stenzl asserts that this comparison is possible due to Godard’s use of images instead of actors, which allowed for the manipulation of images on screen.In the same section,John Carnahan’s “Contemporary Dance: The Judson Dance Theatre Runs across Breathless” insists on a similar rhythmic progression from one scene to the next. Carnahan comments on Godard’s ability to use continuous movement to disguise the discontinuity found between moments in the film. The next section of essays focuses on Godard’s representation of memory and history. Of particular interest is Godard’s use of color to represent certain events (“The Obligations of Memory: Godard’s Underworld Journeys” by Russell Kilbourn) and his use of specific images to represent history (“Histoire(s) du cinéma Brings the Dead Back to the Screen”by Céline Scemama). Scemama asserts that despite Godard’s apparent efforts to present the spectator with an unbiased version, the act of recounting history is inherently biased by the storyteller. The third section focuses on Godard’s influence in the realm of philosophy. In “The ‘Hidden Fire’of Inwardness: Cavell, Godard, and Modernism,”Glen Norton examines Godard’s criticism of consumer culture and the ensuing abandonment of responsibility that results chez l’artiste. While Godard’s films criticize the current cultural climate of consumption, he offers no positive alternatives. In “The Romance of the Intellectual in Godard: A Love-Hate Relationship,”Tyson Stewart offers an evaluation of Godard’s mélange of diegetic and non-diegetic realities. To offer an aspect of realism, Godard frequently places images of politicians, or politicians themselves, into his films. This adds an additional layer of criticism to the consumer climate discussed in Norton’s essay. The last section places an emphasis on Godard’s contemporary influence, such as the discussion of his exhibit at the Centre Pompidou, as analyzed in “Godard’s Utopia(s) or the Performance of Failure” by André Habib. Overall, the collection is well-organized, with each essay expanding upon the ideas of the last, leaving the reader with a sense of accomplishment and understanding. University of West Georgia Ann Marie Moore 272 FRENCH REVIEW 90.1 ...