Godard's Passion (1982) Passion (original title)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard
(more)

Release Date:

26 May 1982 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

On a movie set, in a factory, and at a hotel, Godard explores the nature of work, love and film making...

Plot Keywords:

Film Making | Child Nudity | One Word Title | Art | Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Isabelle
Hanna Schygulla	...	Hanna
Michel Piccoli	...	Michel Boulard
Jerzy Radziwilowicz	...	Jerzy
László Szabó	...	László
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Le machino
Patrick Bonnel	...	Bonnel
Sophie Lucachevski	...	Script-girl
Barbara Tissier
Magali Campos	...	Magali
Myriem Roussel	...	Myriem
Serge Desarnanos
Ágnes Bánfalvy		(as Ági Bánfalvi)
Ezio Ambrosetti
Manuelle Baltazar
Sarah Beauchesne
Bertrand Theubet
Sarah Cohen-Sali	...	Sarah
Catherine Van Cauwenberghe
Sophie Maire
Cornella Mandry
Cathy Marchand
Marie-Annick Abgrall
René Mennotier
Frantisek Mandik
Attila Bokor

Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean-Claude Carrière		uncredited
Jean-Luc Godard

Produced by
Armand Barbault	....	producer
Catherine Lapoujade	....	producer
Martine Marignac	....	producer
Alain Sarde	....	producer (uncredited: Poster credit only)

Cinematography by
Raoul Coutard

Film Editing by
Jean-Luc Godard

Production Design by
Jean Bauer
Serge Marzolff

Costume Design by
Christian Gasc
Rosalie Varda

Makeup Department
Patrick Archambault	....	hair stylist
Bernard Minne	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Armand Barbault	....	production manager
Daniel Chevalier	....	unit manager
Catherine Lapoujade	....	production manager
Martine Marignac	....	production manager
Ruth Waldburger	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lee Collver	....	assistant director
Gérard Ruey	....	second assistant director
Alain Tasma	....	first assistant director
Bertrand Theubet	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Yvon Aubinel	....	painter

Sound Department
Bernard Le Roux	....	sound mixer
François Musy	....	sound

Stunts
Alain Couty	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Claude Basselet	....	electrician
André Clément	....	camera operator
Jean Garcenot	....	assistant camera
Anne-Marie Miéville	....	still photographer
René Pequignot	....	key grip (as René Albert Pequignot)
Gaston Verdonck	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rose-Marie Melka	....	wardrober

Other crew
Michelle Cretel	....	administrator (as Michele Cretel)
Lydie Mahias	....	script supervisor
Jean-Bernard Menoud	....	video
Danielle Tholomé	....	production secretary
Mickey Cottrell	....	publicist (uncredited)
Daniel R. Suhart	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Sara Films
• Sonimage
• Films A2
• Film et Video Productions
• Société Suisse de Radiodiffusion et Télévision (SSR)

Distributors

• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Parafrance Films (France)
• Radio Monte Carlo
• United Artists Classics (1983) (USA) (subtitled)
• Universal Pictures (2009) (Italy) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Erato Records  music source
• Manu Décors  design studio

Also Known As:

"Passion" - France (original title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France | Switzerland

Language:

French | German | Polish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade)

Company:

Sara Films

Trivia:

The first choice for cinematographer, through a recommendation from Francis Ford Coppola and Zoetrope films, was Vittorio Storaro. Godard replaced him right before shooting began with Raoul Coutard, whom he hadn't worked with since the mid 1960s.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une vague nouvelle (1998) (V)

Soundtrack:

Frères humains, L'amour n'a pas d'âge

"...there are no rules in film."

Godard's 'Passion' will inevitably draw violent reactions from didactic viewers with a classical Hollywood outlook, even though it expressly addresses the contradictions and pains in discerning just what makes a film "a film". To condemn it as boring or shapeless is to blindly miss the point.

For those of us more inclined to tackle this fascinating question, there is much to luxuriate in here. From even a purely aesthetic viewpoint, the wonderfully incongruent images (like the ship in the forest) and the beautifully lit reconstructions of classical paintings (with their attendant outpourings of classical music) are enough to hold sway.

With these tools, Godard contrasts the passion and belief in labour; the practical against the artistic. Isabelle Huppert's stuttering, incoherent virgin loves her factory job and fights for her "right" to work, while the jaded director Jerzy, surrounded by a bevy of naked beauties during the making of his elusive film, sullenly stages his reconstructions. His work, however, contains no such solace and he becomes morose to the point of inertia by his task of creating a formally perfect but outwardly fragmented piece. Jerzy's constant frustration with having to explain to others what his film is "about" is a poignant running comedic highlight. But that is only part of the battle - practical concerns impinge also. This is painfully clear (and bitterly funny) when Jerzy's ever suffering assistant points out to the frustrated producer the individual cost of each item on the set in an attempt to explain where all the money is going.

The characters aggressive tussling, either through physical pulling and pushing or through their cars (reminiscent of Godard's masterpiece 'Week End'), also signify the difficulty and pain inherent in any kind of birth. The quiet moments call out to be examined and celebrated as much as the grand statement while others jostle for their money, their moment, or even a simple explanation as to what it all means.

Like most of Godard's late work, this mosaic approach will not appeal to all who cross its path (what film ever does?) but, even if it does ultimately fall short of answering any of the questions it asks, adherents will find much to ruminate on.