Film Socialisme (Jean-Luc Godard, 2010)

[Oedipax]

So, about that cruise ship...

[ellipsis7]

Yes, incredibly it is the very same Costa Concordia that Godard used in FILM SOCIALISME...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ja ... luc-godard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Oedipax]

Yes, incredibly it is the very same Costa Concordia that Godard used in FILM SOCIALISME...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ja ... luc-godard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I saw that this morning - such an annoying tone struck by the writer vis-a-vis Godard's film and the writer's estimations of what Godard was 'saying.'

[aox]

This is streamable on Netflix and I watched it this morning.

Though I don't know his post-60s material all that well, this seemed to be very much in the form of his films from 1966-1968 period. Minus the stock historical footage which is according to sources not very new to 90s and 00s Godard.

It is weird seeing a Godard film presented with 16x9 AR.

So, what is there to say about this film? It is obviously deconstruction of language and communication. It highlights the alienation that global communication and democratization of information has brought us. Does it do it well? Sure. I enjoyed it. But, I doubt it is a film I would ever rush to revisit like the political Le Chinoise, the examination of the self in Contempt, the fun of Woman is a Woman, or even something as bizarre as Week End.

Still, for a filmmaker who has been working for six decades and is opening his seventh, this is a fantastic film. I am thrilled that I finally was able to see it.

I loved the first sequence and the last but the middle sequence, despite being familiar 60s territory (if nothing other than color scheme and gas stations) left me somewhat cold. Does anyone have a concrete interpretation of what the overall thesis of the film is?

[colinr0380]

An excellent discussion of Film Socialisme by Kristin Thompson which tackles the Costa Concordia section of the film, the Navajo subtitles and the problems of taking cruise tours which do not give enough time to really see the pyramids (She even links to the YouTube cat video in the article! And I like the way that the title of the article alludes to Fellini's And The Ship Sails On!)

Overall my impression of the subtitles on first seeing the film was that they place the spectator in somewhat the same position as someone who is listening to a language he or she does not really understand. When I hear someone speaking Italian or German, I can pick out individual words (no doubt being mistaken about some of them), but they don’t add up to an understanding of what is said. Whether or not we make the connection, we are in somewhat the same situation as those waiters and maids, though for them their jobs may depend upon figuring out what all these tourists speaking their various languages want from them. Europe is full of such people. We more privileged, educated people can have little sense of how they cope, but for me, Godard has found a way to sort of put us in their positions for a little while.

[Michael Kerpan]

Wonderful essay by KT.

I also recently watched this on Netflix. I'm glad I saw it, but I doubt I will watch it again. ;~}

[Alan Smithee]

I'll second the praise for that article. She finds the truly eerie parallel between the film and the fate of the cruise ship. The fact that the safety training was done in English by people for whom it wasn't their first language and it became difficult to understand. This Tower of Babel aspect must have been truly appreciated by Godard upon hearing.

[Oedipax]

Reportedly (from the Godard listserv) Godard was asked about the Concordia and declined to comment.

[Noiretirc]

Reportedly (from the Godard listserv) Godard was asked about the Concordia and declined to comment.

It's so the opposite of Cameron/Titanic.

[mfunk9786]

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