The iconic director of the New Wave has died at the age of 91.
Franco-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard died on Tuesday September 13 at the age of 91, announce Release and The world. The legend of the New Wave, born on December 3, 1930 in Paris, leaves behind a filmography as admired as it is misunderstood and decried of a hundred films distilled throughout a career of nearly sixty years.
Read alsoDeath of Jean-Luc Godard, master of the New Wave and legend of the seventh art, at 91
The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, paid tribute to the filmmaker: “It was like an appearance in French cinema. Then he became a master. Jean-Luc Godard, the most iconoclastic filmmaker of the New Wave, had invented a resolutely modern, intensely free art. We are losing a national treasure, a look of genius”.
Brigitte Bardot, the last great living actress to have been directed by Godard on the stages of Contemptpaid him a very respectful tribute to his gesture.
The National Library of France also very quickly wanted to salute the memory of the Franco-Swiss filmmaker. She immediately recalls her mission: the conservation of the many resources of the work of the man who, with Truffaut and Chabrol, symbolized the New Wave.
Alain Delon sent AFP this beautiful tribute: “A page in the history of cinema is turning… Thank you, Jean-Luc, for the beautiful memories you left us. Know that I will always be proud to have New wave (1990) in my filmography“.
Director Philippe Labro told the Figaro what Jean-Luc Godard represented in his eyes: “He loved talking with journalists. He was interested in my view of the Kennedy case. We didn’t become friends, because it was very difficult to be friends with him. One day he asked me to play my own role in Made in USA. He gave me no directions. We met in my kitchen. He had his little notebook. He gave me three improvised sentences. He was courteous, phlegmatic, very organized, contrary to popular belief. He was a real Swiss”.
Rima Abdul Malak, the Minister of Culture, wrote these few words on Twitter: “Jean-Luc Godard burned through all the codes of cinema, sweeping the world with a wave of audacity, freedom and irreverence. He leaves us a picture book with an unforgettable imprint“.
The former president of the Cannes Film Festival (2001-2014), Gilles Jacob, did not hesitate to compare Godard to Picasso in his first tribute on his Twitter account. Improvisation, visionary spirit… united them through the arts.
“Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard died on September 13, 2022, announce his wife Anne-Marie Miéville and his producers. No official ceremony will take place. Jean-Luc Godard died peacefully at his home surrounded by his loved ones. He will be cremated“, According to a brief press release sent to AFP, by the legal and tax advice of the family, Patrick Jeanneret.
Asked by AFP, he explained that the announcement should have been made in “two daysand that the press release must have been hastily written following Mr. Godard’s death being leaked to the press.
He is dead “peacefully at home, surrounded by his wife“, he said. Cremation will take placein two days, maybe tomorrow again“, he added, specifying that “the ashes will remain with his wife“. The incinerationmust really take place in the intimacy“, he insisted.
The regional councilor of Île de France, Clémentine Autain, member of La France insoumise, insisted in her tribute on the innovative designs of Jean-Luc Godard: “… A certain idea of cinema.»
The Mayor of VIIe arrondissement of Paris, Rachida Dati, also paid tribute to the talents of director of Jean-Luc Godard by citing his first works: Breathless, Le Mépris and Pierrot le fou, immortalized by Belmondo, Bardot and Piccoli.
Read alsoBreathless, Contempt, Pierrot le Fou… the filmography of Jean-Luc Godard in four works
SEE ALSO – Breathless, Contempt… Jean-Luc Godard in five films