Jean-Luc Godard: 5 best movies

Legendary French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard has died, according to several French media reports. He spear headed the genre-defining French new Wave cinema. He was 91. 

Prior to his entry into filmmaking, Godard worked as a film critic for the magazine, Cahiers du Cinéma, where he would often condemn mainstream French cinema’s dedication towards established methods of filmmaking. Instead, the critic chose to break convention along with other likeminded critics, opting for innovation and experimentation in their films.

The Frenchman first burst on to the scene in 1960 with the release of the film Breathless (À bout de souffle), leading the charge in what would become the beginning of the French New Wave film movement. 

Since his entry into the world of filmmaking, Godard produced a vast body of work, working throughout his career before his death. Some of his best work includes My Life To Live, Breathless, Band Of Outsiders, The Little Soldier.

Here are five of the pioneering filmmaker’s best films.

Breathless / À Bout De Souffle (1959)

Jean-Luc Godard’s first film ever and the one that started it all. A continuous on-the-rails story, it follows the story of Michel, who styles himself after the American actor Humphrey Bogart. Michel steals a car, kills a policeman before fleeing to take refuge with his American love interest. 

The story is lightening-quick in its pacing and packed with stylish editing that changed the way cinema was viewed. Godard’s first film redefined cinema to the point that if he had not, film today would look very different.

Pierrot The Fool / Pierrot Le Fou (1965)

The story follows Pierrot, an unhappily married man who runs away from his life, running away with his girlfriend Marianne Renoir. What follows is a series of events that include murder, police chases and dynamite. Screen Rant has called the movie one of the most visually striking movies of all time. The entire film is chock full of twists, turns and surprises that is sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seat. 

Godard made this film with his first wife Anna Karina starring as the love interest Marianne. It was also the last movie he made with her before their divorce that year. 

My Life To Live / Vivre Sa Vie (1962)

My Life to Live follows the story of Nana, a young Parisian woman, played by Karina, as she attempts to make a name for herself. However, after abandoning her husband and her infant child, Nana’s life becomes harder as her job as a record saleswoman is not enough to support her. Karina’s performance as Nana is astounding in its empathetic behaviour as her character slowly lets go of her dream of becoming an actress. 

The film is a dissection of a woman’s life but also refrains from judging Nana’s decisions. It has also been touted as Godard’s most accessible work. 

Band Of Outsiders / Bande À Part (1964)

Perhaps one of the best films made during the French New Wave cinema movement, Band of Outsiders follows a woman and two men while they attempt to steal money from the house where the woman stays. All the while, she butts heads with the two male characters over who she loves. But everything than can go wrong in this pseudo-heist movie, does. 

The film is a blast from start to finish as the characters run through the Louvre to an iconic dance scene in a Parisian cafe, the whole film is a blast. Such has been the influence of Band of Outsiders that contemporary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has expressed his love for the film openly. 

Alphaville (1965)

A combination of dystopian science fiction and film-noir, Alphaville is perhaps one of the less accessible films made by Godard. It tells the story of a trench-coat wearing US spy Lemmy Caution as he works to overthrow the technocratic dictatorship of the city of Alphaville.

A visually-striking film, the story told is often very compelling, strange and in some ways, very funny.