About

Histoire(s) du Cinéma 1988–98 is a powerful and visually stunning critique of cinema and its relationship to the other arts, as well as a reflexive study of Jean-Luc Godard's life and work. Originally commissioned for European television, the production spans ten years and includes eight episodes (of a proposed ten) in four chapters. The project began in 1988 and emerged from a series of lectures Godard delivered at the University of Montreal in 1978. In these lectures, Godard presented an analysis of his own films alongside others, juxtaposing imagery with additional references to painting, newsreels and television. The project also bears the marks of Godard's early film criticism published in Cahiers du Cinéma. Central to the project is Godard's ongoing concern with the politics and materiality of filmmaking — for example, the process of editing, which Godard conceives as analogous to the act of lying. Godard reacts against the simple conventions of editing, continually juxtaposing and superimposing images in montages that search for truth and meaning in cinematic imagery. Godard famously asserted, 'If directing is a gaze, editing is a heartbeat'.

R18+