Washington [US]: French-Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard, the godfather of France's New Wave cinema, passed away at the age of 91, on Tuesday. News of his death was confirmed by French media on Tuesday morning.
According to Fox News, Godard is regarded as a pivotal figure in the French New Wave movement. The movement, which differed from previous film styles, emphasised realism in storytelling while incorporating experimentation with editing techniques.
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Godard's debut film, 'A bout de souffle (Breathless)' established him as one of the world's most vital and provocative directors, both in Europe and beyond. Jean-Paul Belmondo rose to fame thanks to his films. When Pope John Paul II condemned Godard's controversial modern nativity play "Hail Mary" in 1985, it made headlines.
In 1963, Godard collaborated with iconic French actress Brigitte Bardot on the film Le Mepris (Contempt).
According to Variety, Godard's most ambitious project was his multipart video project "Histoire(s) du Cinema" (1988-1998), an iconoclastic and highly personal examination of the concept of cinema and its relationship to the twentieth century. His most recent films, "In Praise of Love" (2001) and "Notre musique" (2004), were critically acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival.
When his "Film Socialisme" screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2010, it elicited a more amused reaction; the highly experimental work ended with a title card reading "No Comment," a statement reflected in Godard's conspicuous absence from the festival.
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Godard, however, experienced a significant career resurgence at Cannes in 2014 with "Goodbye to Language," in which he experimented with the 3D format while providing "a characteristically vigorous, playful, mordant commentary on everything from the state of movies to the state of the world," as described by Variety's Scott Foundas. It won the festival's jury prize (shared with Xavier Dolan's "Mommy") and later won the award for best film of the Godard and his partner, Swiss director Anne-Marie Mieville, collaborated closely for at least the last 30 years of his life.
Godard married Anna Karina, an actor who appeared in several of his films, in 1961. He married Anne Wiazemensky in 1965, following the divorce of the couple. Numerous filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, and Quentin Tarantino, were influenced by the legendary director. (ANI)
