Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

450 • GODARD, JEAN-LUC
1979 Ciao les Mecs! (also co-screenwriter, coadapter,
co-dialogist, producer)
1980 International Prostitution / Brigade criminelle
(as Elie Blorovich; also co-screenwriter, coadapter,
co-dialogist as Elie Blorovich; France
/ Hong Kong)
1984 L’Arbalète / UK video: The Asphalt Warriors (also
co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-producer)
1986 La Nuit du Risque (also screenwriter)
1994 L’Affaire (also co-screenwriter; France / Italy)
1998 Rewind (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, coproducer;
France / Italy)
GODARD, JEAN-LUC (December 3, 1930, Paris,
France–)
Born into a Protestant upper-middle-class family (his
father was a doctor and his mother a banker’s daughter),
he grew up in Switzerland and began his secondary
studies in Nyons. He completed them in Paris. Having
graduated with a diploma in ethnology, he spent a
lot of his time at the French Cinematheque, where he
befriended Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer, and François
Truffaut. He co-founded a monthly fi lm review, La Gazette
du Cinéma, which died in November 1950 after
fi ve issues. In January 1952, he became a fi lm critic at
Les Cahiers du Cinéma. He worked as a press attaché
for Fox and an editor of documentaries for Salle Pleyel.
He was producer (1956 La Sonate à Kreutzer / UK and
USA: The Kreutzer Sonata, short, Eric Rohmer) and
directed his fi rst short. He played small parts in many
shorts and feature fi lms (1950 Quadrille, medium-length,
also producer, Jacques Rivette; 1952 Le Divertissement,
short, also producer, Jacques Rivette; 1956 Le Coup du
Berger / USA: Fool’s Mate, short, Jacques Rivette; 1960
Présentation ou Charlotte et son Steak / USA: Presentation,
Or Charlotte and Her Steak, short, Eric Rohmer, shot in
1951; Petit Jour, short, Jackie Pierre; Paris nous appartient
/ UK: Paris Is Ours / USA: Paris Belongs to Us, Jacques
Rivette; 1962 Le Signe du Lion / UK and USA: The Sign
of Leo, Eric Rohmer; Cléo de 5 à 7 / Cleo dalle 5 alle 7
/ USA: Cleo from 5 to 7, Agnès Varda, France / Italy, appearing
in a short, Les Fiancés du Pont Mac Donald (ou
Méfi ez-vous des Lunettes noires), included in the movie;
Le Soleil dans l’œil, Jacques Bourdon; 1963 Shéhérazade
/ La schiava di Bagdad / Scherezade / USA: Scheherazade,
Pierre Gaspard-Huit, France / Italy / Spain; Bardot et
Godard / Le Parti des Choses: Bardot et Godard / Le Parti
des Choses, documentary, short, as himself, Jacques Rozier;
Paparazzi, documentary, short, as himself, Jacques
Rozier; Begegnung mit Fritz Lang, documentary, short,
as himself, Peter Fleischmann, West Germany; 1965
Tentazioni proibite, documentary, Osvaldo Civirani, Italy;
1966 L’Espion / USA: The Defector, Raoul J. Lévy, France
/ West Germany; 1968 Two American Audiences: Godard
on Godard, Mark Woodcock; 1969 Ciné-Girl, Francis Leroi;
1975 Né, Jacques Richard; 1978 Der kleine Godard
an das kuratorium junger deutscher Film, documentary,
as himself, Helmuth Costard, West Germany; 1981 Reporters,
documentary, as himself, Raymond Depardon;
1982 Chambre 666, documentary, short, Wim Wenders;
1984 Cinématon, documentary, short, as himself, Gérard
Courant; 1997 Nous sommes tous encore ici, Anne-Marie
Miéville; 2000 Après la Réconciliation, Anne-Marie
Miéville; 2001 Léaud l’Unique, documentary, as himself,
Serge Le Péron). He appeared as himself in several
TV documentaries, including 1964 Cinéastes de notre
Temps (episode “La Nouvelle Vague par elle-même,”
André S. Labarthe, Robert Valey); 1965 Cinéastes de
notre Temps (episode “Jean-Luc Godard ou Le Cinéma
au Défi ”); 1967 Le Dinosaure et le Bébé: Dialogue en
Huit Parties entre Fritz Lang et Jean-Luc Godard (André S.
Labarthe). Other credits (as delegate producer): 1994
Lou n’a pas dit non (Anne-Marie Miéville); (as production
supervisor): 1997 Twilight of the ice Nymphs (Guy
Maddin, USA). Book: 1986 Godard par Godard (Cahiers
du Cinéma).
Filmography
1954 Opération Béton (documentary; short; also
screenwriter, author of commentary, narrator,
editor; Switzerland)
1955 Une Femme coquette (short; as Hans Lucas,
also screenwriter, cinematographer, actor, editor)
1959 Charlotte et Véronique ou Tous les Garçons
s’appellent Patrick / UK and USA: All the Boys
Are Called Patrick (short; also screenwriter)
1960 A Bout de Souffl e / UK: By a Tether / UK and
USA: Breathless (also screenwriter, dialogist,
actor)
Charlotte et son Jules / UK: Charlotte and Her
Boyfriend / USA: Charlotte and Her Jules (short;
also screenwriter, editor, actor)
1961 Une Histoire d’Eau / UK and USA: A Story of
Water (short; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter,
actor, editor)
Une Femme est une Femme / La donna è donna /
USA: A Woman Is a Woman (also screenwriter,
dialogist, lyricist; France / Italy)