Synopsis : ‘Goodbye to Language’ is a 2014 French-Swiss 3D experimental narrative essay film. It is Godard's 42nd feature and 121st film or video project. In the French-speaking parts of Switzerland, the word ‘adieu’ can mean both goodbye and hello. The film depicts a couple having an affair. The woman's husband discovers this and the lover is killed. Two pairs of actors portray the couple and their actions repeat and mirror one another. Godard’s own dog Roxy Miéville has a prominent role in the film.
Awards : 2014 Cannes Film Festival, 2014 Munich Film Festival, 2015 International Cinephile Society Awards 2015 National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
Director :
Jean Luc Godard
Producer :
Alain Sarde, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval
DOP :
Fabrice Aragno
Editor :
Jean-Luc Godard, Fabrice Aragno
Cast :
Héloïse Godet, Kamel Abdeli, Richard Chevallier, Zoé Bruneau
Jean-Luc Godard (3 December 1930 – 13 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic who rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Éric Rohmer, and Jacques Demy. He was arguably the most influential French filmmaker of the post-war era and his acclaimed films include ‘Breathless’ (1960), ‘Vivre sa vie’ (1962), ‘Contempt’ (1963), ‘Band of Outsiders’ (1964), ‘Alphaville’ (1965), ‘Pierrot le Fou’ (1965), ‘Masculin Féminin’ (1966), ‘Weekend’ (1967), and ‘Goodbye to Language’ (2014).
During his early career as a film critic for the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, Godard criticised mainstream French cinema's ‘Tradition of Quality’, which de-emphasised innovation and experimentation. In response, he and like-minded critics began to make their own films, challenging the conventions of traditional Hollywood in addition to French cinema. His work makes use of frequent homages and references to film history, and often expresses his political views. In 2010, Godard was awarded an Academy Honorary Award.