Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard has died aged 91

We learn today of the death of one of the greatest French directors Jean-Luc Godard.

French cinema is in mourning!

The director Franco-Swiss Jean-Luc Godard died on Tuesday September 13 at the age of 91, announced our colleagues from Liberation without however specifying the causes of death.

Photo credit : Wikimedia Commons

Worthy representative of the “New Wave” and author of films hits such as 'A bout de souffle' (1960), 'Le Mépris' (1963) or 'Pierrot le Fou' (1965), this complete filmmaker, director as well as screenwriter or dialogist, will have left his mark on the history of the seventh art in France.

Jean-Luc Godard bowed out at the age of 91

Born in Paris in 1930, Jean-Luc Godard was first a critic, notably for 'Les Cahiers du Cinéma', before embracing a career as an accomplished filmmaker, which began in 1958 when he co-directed the film 'Une histoire d'eau alongside legend François Truffaut.

It was during the 1960s in the midst of the 'New Wave' that he would reveal himself and become one of the greatest French directors. With his first real film 'A bout de souffle', released in 1960, he indeed rose to fame. Considered a classic of French cinema, this feature film worn by actor Jean-Paul Belmondo thus allows Jean-Luc Godard to be propelled to the front of the stage, obtaining the recognition of an entire community.

Thus began a virtuous circle marked by a prolific production of films, some of which featured the one who would become his muse and then his wife (1961-1965), Anna Karina. The Franco-Danish actress will shoot for Godard in 'Le Petit Soldat' (1960), 'A woman is a woman' (1961), 'Vivre sa vie' (1962), 'Bande à part' (1964), ' Pierrot le Fou' (1965), 'Alphaville' (1965) or even 'Made in USA' (1966).

Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina. Photo credit: Flickr

Until the mid-1970s, Jean-Luc Godard enjoyed significant success with the greatest, including the Yves Montand-Jane Fonda duo, which he directed in the classic 'All is well', a film devoted to the events of May 68, released in 1972.

In 1976, then at the height of his glory, Jean-Luc Godard surprised his world by taking a break from his career to devote himself to projects in collaboration with the National Audiovisual Institute.

He returned behind the camera with 'Sauve qui peut' (1979) before directing one of his most famous films, 'Passion' in 1982. In the latter, he directed the actress Myriem Roussel with whom he would work again and in particular in 'I salute you, Mary', released in 1985

At the same time, he devoted himself for 12 years to one of the great projects of his life, entitled 'History (s) of cinema', a series of films shot between 1988 and 1998.

The next two decades will be much less prolific, but that will not prevent him from being rewarded twice at the Cannes Film Festival. He won the Jury Prize in 2014 for 'Farewell to Language' then a special Palme d'Or in 2018 with 'Le Livre d'image'.

With his death, a page in the history of cinema is turned!

Photo credit: Flickr