Godard, Jean-Luc

(1930- )

   film director

   Born in Paris, Jean-Luc Godard is considered the most innovative and influential figure of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement in French cinema. of bourgeois background, Godard attended the university of Paris and spent much of his time studying cinema. He also wrote for the influential periodical Les Cahiers du cinéma. His first feature-length film, À bout de souffle (1959), established him as the leading Nouvelle vague director. in it, he employed such techniques as jump cuts, unusual camera angles, improvised dialogue, and interspersed philosophical discussions. Godard's prolific film output of the 1960s includes Une femme est une femme (1961); Les Carabiniers (1963); Pierrot le Fou (1965); Alphaville (1965); Une femme mariée (1964); Masculin-Féminin (1966); Made in USA (1966); La Chinoise (1967); and Week-End (1968). Between 1968 and 1973, Godard produced a series of films through the Dziga-Vector Group—a film cooperative dedicated, in Godard's words, to making "revolutionary films for revolutionary audiences." His later films include Sauve qui peut la vie (1980); Prénom Carmen (1983); Je vous salue Marie (1984); King Lear (1986); Nouvelle Vague (1990); Hélas pour moi (1993); and JLG by JLG (1994). Godard's films are considered avant-garde works that critique the absurdity of contemporary life.