Fall 2010 – International Cinema in an Age of Change

Neighbor at Golden Gate Park

And another semester has come to an end. Another remarkable one.
All the four classes I took have been important in shaping my thinking and my growth as a person and student. For my Liberal Arts, I took International Cinema in an Age of Change [60s+70s], which turned out to be quite great. With a main focus on Jean-Luc Godard’s work, we watched parts of movies from all over the world, discussing styles, ideas, contexts, and meaning. I’ve always heard about Godard, but I had never watched his movies, nor pondered about his art. Now, after 15 weeks, I can say he’s one of my favorite movie directors, and thinkers. I suggest anyone to watch his movies, focus on his words and actions, and you will find a lot of truth, poetry, and in full honesty I see Godard’s work much more relevant to nowadays’ society than Hollywood’s studio films. He depicts simple reality with touches of philosophy and art, giving meaning to situations that might be not even considered otherwise. He let us enter his personal life through his characters and isn’t this what people are looking for on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, …?

Besides being a great filmmaker, Godard is also a great writer and here are some of my favorite quotes of his:

“Our thoughts are not the substance of reality, but its shadow.”

“Language is the house man lives in.”

“What is art? Form becoming style; but the style is the man; therefore art is the humanizing of forms.”

Thank you Jay for showing us such great movies, and thanks Godard for inspiring and provoking my thoughts.
These are 5 minutes of the movie "Le Mepris", where two of my favorite characteristics of Godard are displayed: the always beautiful opening credits and the long shots driven by conversation and subliminal messages.




Two or Three Things I Know About Her [Coffee Scene]