In a series of lectures presented at the Conservatoire d'Art Cinématographique de Montréal, Jean-Luc Godard attempted “an introduction to a true history of the cinema...true in the sense that it be made of images and sounds and not of texts, even illustrations....”
Each lecture - each “voyage” as Godard termed them - was based on a showing of one of Godard's own films, juxtaposed to several films by which he had been influenced - either consciously or unconsciously, and this is the key, for what emerges is a text full of fresh insights into the interrelationships between apparently disparate films. In our series (see also February 20, 21, and 28) we are presenting only a sampling of Godard's selections (tonight's program, for example, includes Top Hat and One Plus One, where Godard's lecture covers, in addition to these two films, Brigadoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones, and New York, New York). However, we hope to provide excerpts from translations of the lectures (reprinted as “Introduction à une véritable histoire du cinéma” by Éditions Albatros, Paris) in film notes on the night of each film, so that our audience might have access to the unique rationale behind Godard's selections.
