It's not just that there's a self-awareness here that Godard is rarely interested in pursuing, but a remarkably observant depiction of systematic abuses both from that system itself and how it translates into basic interpersonal relationships which makes me wonder if this might be Godard's best film. As JLG mentioned on Dick Cavett in 1980, the more accurate translation of the films title is probably "Save Your Ass," - the official English title does not note that this is about two genders, not one. Anyways, I wonder if the perceptivity here comes from being the first movie after Godard's most radical (and in my opinion, possibly his richest and most interesting) and is his return to "the world," "the mainstream,"…

Godard's crudely sexual metafiction (starring Jacques Dutronc as a director named Paul Godard) seems to be prototypical of latter day Godard, a mishmash of ideas and images, jumps and narrative juxtapositions, but with a more or less coherent central plot. Notably, he plays around with slow motion, a feature made more prominent by the British title of the film (Slow Motion, naturlich), which is the name under which I eventually found it.

The slow motion is most notable as used for emphasis, not necessarily like it gets used in action films, where it is used to either depict emotional distress or to highlight the speed of the action through contrast. Rather, here it captures relatively low key moments. While it's…

During the last three months, I've made a pretty aggressive effort at going through Jean-Luc Godard's filmography in quasi-chronological order. In that time, I feel as though I've evoked, if not explicitly described a "rebirth of cinema" at least eight times. At this point, it's probably tiresome to anyone reading. And yet, Godard himself described Sauve qui peut (la vie) as his "second first film." As his first feature narrative film in over a decade (though I guess this can be disputed), the film was already seen at the time as Godard's rebirth. He was finally back to making a film that the general public could go to an actual theater and see projected on screen.

With his work in…

I have a love-hate relationship with the films of Jean-Luc Godard. On one hand, I adore the masterworks that are Pierrot le Fou, Breathless, and Contempt. Yet on the other side, I cannot stand Alphaville and A Woman is a Woman. (Weekend is on the fence for me) So when I picked up Every Man for Himself at the Criterion sale, I was nervous, to say the least. What a relief that this was, at the very least, enjoyable- after some time watching it. But there were a few style choices present in the film I didn't particularly care for.

I, for one, love Godard's unique avant garde style of film. It simply mesmerizes me. But the constant use of…

"Every Man for Himself" may not be the most clear of cinematic messages, but it is an undeniably cerebral vision from one of cinema's biggest question marks. Jean-Luc Godard has directed one of the most divisive bodies of work the movies have ever seen. This film is no different than his others, it is almost certainly going to either draw you in, or push you far, far away. For me, it is one of my favorite Godard films. Where Tarkovsky is most certainly cinema's poet, and Ozu cinema's tofu-maker, Godard is cinema's coach. Each of his films represents a healthy work out of the mind, with "Breathless" being a jog through the park and "Weekend" being an Olympic triathlon. His…