Tributes To Jean-Luc Godard Pour In From The World Of Cinema And Beyond
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Tributes to Jean-Luc Godard, a pioneering and iconic leader of French cinema, began to flood in immediately after it was reported that the director died today, aged 91, with figures from the world of cinema, politics and beyond remembering the filmmaker for his powerful, singular work.
French President Emmanuel Macron was among the first to pay tribute to Godard with a short message on social media, saying France has lost a “national treasure” and calling the director the most “iconoclastic of New Wave filmmakers.”
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Best known for his radical and politically driven work, Godard was among the most acclaimed directors of his generation with classic films such as Breathless (A bout de souffle), which catapulted him onto the world scene in 1960.
Speaking on France Info radio shortly after the news broke, Jack Lang, former Culture Minister of France, said Godard was “Unique, absolutely unique… He wasn’t just cinema, he was philosophy, poetry…”
Gilles Jacob, former president of the Cannes Film Festival, described Godard as the “Picasso of cinema” in a social media tribute Tuesday.
In a statement, President of France’s National Cinema Center, Dominique Boutonnat, called Godard a “totemic figure of world cinema, an immense artist and a provocative genius.”
The Berlin Film Festival said it is mourning the loss of Godard. Noted Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, “Godard shaped cinema in the sixties, and has since then consistently renewed cinema and expanded the visual experience. To this day, Jean-Luc Godard inspires filmmakers worldwide.”
Godard found most acclaim with his seminal works of the 1960s, including Le Petit Soldat, which was banned until 1963, and starred the director’s future wife, Anna Karina. Remarking on Godard’s radical and passionate approach to cinema, British director Edgar Wright said today, “It was ironic that he himself revered the Hollywood studio filmmaking system, as perhaps no other director inspired as many people to just pick up a camera and start shooting…”
The British Film Institute called Godard a “giant of cinema who ripped up the rule book.”
“From Breathless onwards, he tested the limits of the medium,” the BFI said.
Read more tributes down below. We will share reactions as they come in…
⬛️The world has lost Jean-Luc Godard, today September 13, 2022. Jean-Luc Godard did not make cinema. He was cinema. ⬛️ pic.twitter.com/26EYC4hYx6
— Unifrance (@Unifrance) September 13, 2022
Adieu, Jean-Luc Godard. I watched Breathless for the umpteenth time again just two weeks ago. It still leaps off the screen like few movies. That scene between them in the hotel: how many other directors could have managed that in so small a space and made it so captivating?
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) September 13, 2022
We are saddened to hear that highly acclaimed and influential film director, screenwriter and film critic, Jean-Luc Godard, has died at the age of 91. https://t.co/BkOyJo2lvK
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) September 13, 2022
Un grand homme du cinéma s'en est allé, toutes nos pensées accompagnent ses proches.
Jean-Luc Godard laisse derrière lui 100 films dont presque tout autant de chefs d'oeuvre en 60 ans de carrière. Mais selon ses dires il ne "faisait pas de films, il faisait du cinéma". pic.twitter.com/fY3vH7NXas
— Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. (@Les_Cesar) September 13, 2022
Depuis sa 1ère apparition au Festival dans Cleo de 5 à 7 en 1962, 21 films de Jean-Luc Godard ont été projetés à Cannes. Agitateur de la manifestation de mai 1968, Prix du Jury en 2014 avec Adieu au langage, il reçoit une Palme d'or spéciale pour l'ensemble de son œuvre en 2018. pic.twitter.com/BfAdIPeSNt
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) September 13, 2022
Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022).
Adieu to a giant of cinema who ripped up the rule book. From Breathless onwards, he tested the limits of the medium. pic.twitter.com/B5rytLxTt8
— BFI (@BFI) September 13, 2022
"Le cinéma n'est pas à l'abri du temps. Il est l'abri du temps."
Jean-Luc Godard, 1930-2022 pic.twitter.com/qHEpF1gqbQ— La Cinémathèque (@cinemathequefr) September 13, 2022
The King is Dead.
Jean-Luc Godard, giant of the French new wave, dies at 91 https://t.co/fKfXT14bFG
— asifkapadia (@asifkapadia) September 13, 2022
Ce fut comme une apparition dans le cinéma français. Puis il en devint un maître. Jean-Luc Godard, le plus iconoclaste des cinéastes de la Nouvelle Vague, avait inventé un art résolument moderne, intensément libre. Nous perdons un trésor national, un regard de génie. pic.twitter.com/bQneeqp8on
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 13, 2022
Jean-Luc Godard, c’est le Picasso du cinéma. Avec ses intuitions et ses fulgurances.En avance sur son temps, Il a joué avec les mots les images les sons les couleurs. Il improvisait des films-jalons, obscurs et séduisants. Le cinéma mondial est orphelin.
— gilles jacob (@jajacobbi) September 13, 2022
RIP Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most influential, iconoclastic film-makers of them all. It was ironic that he himself revered the Hollywood studio film-making system, as perhaps no other director inspired as many people to just pick up a camera and start shooting… pic.twitter.com/KFOnnQ1H6n
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) September 13, 2022
GODARD EST MORT … En l’instant, pas d’autres mots, pensées, on ne peut y croire, il nous semblait éternel … pic.twitter.com/tl3VikiMvo
— CarlottaFilms (@CarlottaFilms) September 13, 2022
Pas grand chose a dire. Merci pour tout
— VINCENT MARAVAL 🇲🇨 (@MARAVALV) September 13, 2022
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