75 Years Young

For nearly 50 years, French director Jean-Luc Godard has changed the way we look at cinema. From his early beginnings as a film critic for Cahiers du Cinéma, it was only a matter of time before Godard and fellow critics such as François Truffaut ("The 400 Blows"), Eric Rohmer ("My Night at Maud's"), Jacques Rivette ("Paris is Ours") and Claude Chabrol ("Le Beau Serge") all entered the world of filmmaking, ultimately trumpeting the arrival of the French New Wave. And after so many years, with some directors losing their touch and others passing away, Godard is still alive and kicking behind the camera, challenging the film medium.\nThis weekend, Dec. 3, Godard turns 75 and IU is celebrating his birthday in style. Beginning Thursday, the film festival titled "Back to Zero" sponsored by IU's departments of Communication and Culture, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, French and Italian, is a four-day celebration of Godard's contributions to cinema. \nAmong so many filmmakers Godard's creativity left an immeasurable mark on the face of cinema. He has been an inspiration for John Cassavetes to Martin Scorsese to Wong Kar-Wai and countless other filmmakers. \n"He changes the language of the medium and breaches the boundary from fiction to non-fiction," says James Naremore, professor emeritus of CMCL and a featured speaker at the festival. "His style changes over time and that's not something every director is capable of after so many years."\nStyle, along with creativity and originality, is something Godard has had in spades since the beginning with much of his 1960's output being considered some of his best. With "A Woman is a Woman" Godard explored the musical with an incredibly playful glee. "Contempt" allowed him to attack both cinema and marriage while utilizing legendary German director Fritz Lang and foxy French bombshell Brigitte Bardot for actors. "Band of Outsiders" gave us one of the most memorable scenes from any film of the French New Wave as three young misfits race through the Louvre. He even began making his "film essays" in the 1960's with flicks such as "Masculin, féminin" and "2 or 3 Things I Know about Her," the latter which Naremore considers to be his favorite Godard film: "It was the midway point of the New Wave cinephile phase with Godard politically charged on his meditation of Paris in the 20th century," he said. \nBut none of these films are being shown at this weekend's film festival. \nWhile one could imagine that such a festival would be a "best of" collection from Godard's filmography, the event is more of a cinematic cornucopia showcasing his work from the past 45 years -- work which in some cases isn't even available in the US. "We want to give people an opportunity to see some of Jean-Luc Godard's more unique pieces," says Joan Hawkins, festival organizer and associate professor of CMCL. "A lot of what we're showing is some of his harder-to-find work." \nToday's festivities begin with a chapter from 1998's "Histoires du cinéma," a film essay featuring Godard's reflections on cinema. "À bout de soufflé" ("Breathless"), Godard's debut feature film from 1960 which pays homage to Hollywood, especially the classic Humphrey Bogart film noirs such as "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Big Sleep," shortly follows before the night ends with "JLG/JLG," an autobiographical documentary from 1995. \nFriday you can spend five hours taking in Godard's 1977 television series "Tour/Detour/France/Enfants" before catching the City Lights Film Series closing night double feature of Godard's 60s output "My Life to Live" and "Pierrot le fou" -- two films noted for Godard's early beginnings in political and cultural criticisms via cinema. \nSaturday begins with Godard's seminal sci-fi romp "Alphaville" followed by a symposium featuring Hawkins, Naremore and film critic for The Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum, who has been praised by Godard himself: "We don't have writers like him in France. He's like André Bazin." Following the symposium you can also catch the Underground Film Series closing night double-feature which includes the apocalyptic "Week End" and politically charged "Vladimir et Rosa." \nAnyone looking for their final dose of Godard should make sure to attend Sunday's screenings as they are two of his more recent films. 1987's "King Lear" is pseudo-inspired by the classic William Shakespeare play with a cast that ranges from quirky auteur Woody Allen to Brat-Packer Molly Ringwald. "Notre Musique," released last year, is Godard's most recent output which, described in the simplest fashion, is a film essay paralleling Dante's "Divine Comedy" with our world's political points of interest. Godard who once said of his film essays, "I write essays in the form of novels, or novels in the form of essays. I'm still as much of a critic as I ever was during the time of Cahiers du Cinema. The only difference is that instead of writing criticism, I now film it." \nNot only does the event allow attendees a chance at seeing a large amount of Godard's work, the festival itself offers students the opportunity to have an internship on an actual film festival. "As a fan of Godard's work, it felt like an ideal project to be a part of," says junior Eric Condon. \nSenior Andrew Walker, who also had the opportunity to intern with the festival, said, "(Godard's) films contain a boundless energy that really pushes the envelope and made me interested in the festival."\nFrançois Truffaut once said: "There is a moment when every true creator makes such a leap forward that his audience is left behind." While Godard himself will not be in attendance this weekend, his work and spirit will be. The only way the audience is left behind is if they pass up the chance to attend the festival.