Socialism Film

Godard’s latest film, a “symphony in three movements,” is perhaps his most difficult and troubling in many years. Deliberately thwarting clarity, narrative and exposition, Film Socialisme functions as a kind of visual scream – in the spirit of Edvard Munch’s famous painting. In the face of civilization’s madness, Godard questions where meaning can be found. Splinters of the remnants of the past, quotations from writers and philosophers and visual fragments from other director’s films form a collage of associative meaning and rumination, ordered by this most metaphysical of filmmakers. The film begins on a cruise ship (a metaphor for the rootless, wandering nature of contemporary society?), where passengers indulge in gambling or disco-dancing in the ship’s nightclub. Brilliant high-definition cinematography is mixed with degraded cellphone-style shots to create a stunning kaleidoscope of imagery and sound. The middle section, entitled “Notre Europe” (“Our Europe”), moves us from the sea to a provincial gas station to examine the domestic politics of the family that runs it. The final section revisits the cruise ship’s journey around the Mediterranean, intercut with historic footage from the region and a dizzying montage of clips from key films in Godard’s encyclopedic catalogue of the cinema. Godard fearlessly continues to mine his chosen territory with the fierce determination of a wise sage. Film Socialisme has the immediacy of automatic writing, its scraps and pieces of insight, aphorisms, word plays and quotations forming a dense canvas of potential meanings. A film of its times. Piers Handling
France Switzerland
'
2010

Director
Jean-Luc Godard

Script
Jean-Luc Godard

Cinematography
Fabrice Aragno
Paul Grivas

Editing
Jean-Luc Godard

Production
Vega Film

Cast
Alain Badiou
Catherine Tanvier
Jean-Marc Stehlé
Patti Smith
Robert Maloubier

Festivals
16th Festival on Wheels
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