JLG/JLG - autoportrait de décembre (1994)

Director Jean-Luc Godard reflects in this movie about his place in film history, the interaction of film industry and film as art, as well as the act of creating art.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard

Stars:

Jean-Luc Godard, Geneviève Pasquier, Denis Jadót

Cast

Cast overview:
Jean-Luc Godard	...	Himself
Geneviève Pasquier
Denis Jadót
Brigitte Bastien
Elisabeth Kaza
André S. Labarthe
Louis Seguin	...	(as Louis Séguin)
Bernard Eisenschitz
Nathalie Aguillar

Storyline

Director Jean-Luc Godard reflects in this movie about his place in film history, the interaction of film industry and film as art, as well as the act of creating art.

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Plot Keywords:

self reflection | self portrait | film essay | experimental film | essay | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German English Italian Russian

Release Date:

8 March 1995 (France)

Also Known As:

JLG by JLG

Filming Locations:

Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Histoire(s) du cinéma: Les signes parmi nous (1999)

User Reviews

Man commits himself to living without ulterior motive

Will you take seriously what is before you in the present moment or will you see it merely as fitting into the scheme of things?

The colors you see are just in your mind. You feel like you are looking through glass at the exterior world, but all the colors are just a result of a message from you optic nerve. Goddard is a dualist; he believes that there is an outward reality that corresponds to the inner representations. He vows to love that reality, to take it seriously. You do not invade Iraq when you take your present situation seriously. When you invade Iraq you are relating to your scheme of things; you would like to make some alterations in the scheme. That children will be frightened by your bombs seems insignificant in comparison to the grander scheme of thing, if it even crosses your mind.

The end of the movie corresponds to the reference to Being and Time near the beginning. We need to move beyond thinking about how we are judged by others (either as being up there or down there). The Dick Cheneys of the world would be trapped in this concern for THEM as they rearrange the scheme of things. This could be seen quite clearly in the first President Bush.

Our minds present us with 24 or so different still pictures every second. Our lives (apart from satori or nirvana) are like a flip book.

If I am all there in the present moment won't I end up on welfare? Don't I have to look out for number one? Godard will take his chances. This is not because there is something great about being natural, and it is not because there is something awful about being artificial. It is because he loves. And then when we care about something we build up a predisposition to care about the same sort of thing. At Republic 485d Plato illustrates this phenomenon by talking of channels in our souls. The more water goes down one channel and makes it deeper, the less water will flow down the other channels. Sainthood would come at the end of this process, but the key moments are at the beginning and in the subsequent reaffirmations. If you try to be pure in the present often enough (and with real passion, Kierkegaard would add) you'll end up with an inclination to be that way in the future. It will be easier once you've got the inclination. Then what other people think of you will not be such a deep channel. The real struggle is now.