Goodbye to language – Godard in 3D
Jean-Luc Godard has made close to 50 films. The first one, Breathless, was in 1960 and started off the French New Wave by breaking the rules. In his latest film, Goodbye to Language, he is still breaking the rules. Except now he is doing it in 3D.
The film didn’t really seem to have much of a plot. A man and a woman, usually naked were having trouble communicating. It was disjointed. It would jump from one thing to another and in between people would get shot or blood would be flowing down a drain but it was never clear who was being shot or why. It was full of quotes and I’m sure a lot of symbolism that went over my head. All one of my companions had to say was — WTF????
There were two things I loved about this film. The 3D was the best I have ever seen. Things really did jump out at you and were suspended in front of you and were amusing. Several times it was a little disturbing because he put 3D images on top of each other so your brain didn’t know what to look at or what it was you were looking at but you could tell there were several dimensions. It was insane.
The dog stole the show. It was Godard’s real dog. He was there poking his snout at you throughout the movie. He was the only one in the film who could truly communicate.
Much of the film was near water and we kept seeing large cruise boats coming in to dock, or waves on Lake Geneva, or the dog on the dock. The waves were very cool to watch in 3D.
The sound also seemed like it was in 3D. It would be LOUD, and the soft. It would come from the left, the right, loud, from behind. No sound. At first we weren’t sure if there was something wrong with the soundtrack.
The film won the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. I wouldn’t say it was the best film I have ever seen but it was interesting and artsy and I’m glad I went. You might have trouble finding it at a theater near you but if you can find it, I would recommend going.
Kathleen Gamble was born and raised overseas and has traveled extensively. She has a BA in Spanish and has worked in publishing, printing, desktop publishing, translating, and purchasing. She also designs and creates her own needlepoint. She started journaling at a young age and her memoir, Expat Alien, came out of those early journals. Over the years she has edited and produced an American Women’s Organization cookbook in Moscow, Russia, and several newsletters. Her first book, Expat Alien, was published in 2012 and she recently published a cookbook, 52 Food Fridays, both available on Amazon.com. You can also follow her blog at ExpatAlien.com.