[Loy]

"History Of Cinema" by Jean Luc Godard-two things that should be clarified, 1-Godard is a genius, and 2-I fucking LOATHE 99% of his output since "Weekend"

Godard is one of those few directors who actually changed the grammar of cinema (his first film, "Breathless", gave film the jump-cut, for example). And since his first gunshot across the screen, other directors have studied/been inspired by/straight out stole from the man.

And whilst you can go through his filmography of the 60s and go "holy fucking shit, this is awesome!" ("Breathless", "Band Of Outsiders", "Contempt", "Masculin/Feminin", "Pierre Le Fou", "2 Or 3 Things I Know About Her", "My Life To Live", "Caribiniers"....oh just get them all!), it's his post-new wave period stuff that's, while intellectually engaging, just not....cinema. Aside from a few films here and there ("Tout Va Bien", "Passion", and parts of "In Praise Of Love"), his stuff consists mostly of self-refferential intellectual jags where all meaning is hermetically sealed, and if you don't get it, well, it's beacuse you're a fucking idiot!!!!!!

For the most part, I have no qualms with a film-maker calling the viewer too dumb to get what they're watching (I love "OldBoy", for christs sake), but I do have a problem with intellectuals who refuse to allow an in to anybody who doesn't go on their knees the second their name is mentioned.

One can easilly call this the greatest and most intelligent Tarantino film ever made (it's composed of completely of scenes from other films edited together, with the film-maker talking nonsense over it.....basically a Tarantino film), but considering the length (about 8 hours or so), the breadth (scenes from films from all over the world, from the entire history of film), and the attitude (scenes blleding into each in such a way that we re-evaluate not only our idea of the film, but how that film fits into different contexts of society, biology, and business....then it totally reconstructs THIS viewpoint about 30 second afterwards), it's not a film I'd suggest for the casual viewer....or even a Godard fan.

The problem is this-Godard HAD done this....and did it better. When the British Film Institute went around the world on the 100 anniversary of film, they asked who they considered the best film-maker of that country to do a history of film from their country. They were asked to keep it to around 1/2 an hour (and they all did, except for Martin Scorsese, who overshot by about 5 hours). This "History" is a needlessly extended and extrapolated version of that wonderful 1/2 BFI production. Which goes to show that whilst Godard is a genius, he's not above fucking up royally.