“A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end… but not necessarily in that order.” — Jean-Luc Godard
The American Cinematheque kicks off its upcoming Aero series For the Love of Godard with a members’ screening of LE REDOUTABLE / GODARD MON AMOUR. Written and directed Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist, 2011), the new film is based on the autobiographical novel Un an après (“a year later”) by Anne Wiazemsky. The book covers the period Wiazemsky starred in LA CHINOISE (1967), Godard’s investigation of a group of Parisian Maoists.
Wiazemsky and Godard were wed while shooting LA CHINOISE—a paradigm of the director’s creative approach to editing—but the marriage was strained from the start by a director distracted by public indifference to his recent work. At the same time, Godard became entrenched in the burgeoning revolution that had begun in the mid-Sixties at the university at Nanterre, and which culminated in the general strikes and Latin Quarter street battles of 1968—events for which LA CHINOISE had provided an agitprop blueprint.
GODARD MON AMOUR—starring Louis Garrel and Stacy Martin—gained Waizemsky’s blessing after Hazanavicius promised her the movie would be a comedy. She joined him at the film’s Cannes premiere last year, one of her last public appearances before her death in October 2017.
Subsequent screenings in the series include LA CHINOISE, À BOUT DE SOUFFLE (Breathless), BANDE À PART (Band of Outsiders), WEEKEND, and VIVRE SA VIE, as well as a 3-D presentation of ADIEU AU LANGAGE (Goodbye to Language).
GODARD MON AMOUR
With a post-screening conversation with Michel Hazanavicius.
Monday, April 16, at 7:30 pm.
Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica.
LA CHINOISE
Wednesday, April 18, at 7:30 pm.
BREATHLESS and BAND OF OUTSIDERS
Saturday, April 21, at 7:30 pm.
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
Thursday, April 26, at 7:30 pm.
WEEKEND and VIVRE SA VIE
Friday, April 27, at 7:30 pm.
Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica.
From top: Louis Garrel (foreground left) as Godard, Stacy Martin as Wiazemsky, and Micha Lescot as Jean-Pierre Bamberger (“Bambam”) in Le redoutable/Godard Mon Amour, image courtesy Cohen Media Group; Anne Wiazemsky and Jean-Luc Godard filming La Chinoise, image courtesy Pennebaker Films/Photofest; Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in Breathless; Anna Karina with Claude Brasseur and Sami Frey at the Louvre in Band of Outsiders.
