A cinematic essay by way of a moving picture collage, this cryptic film by iconoclastic filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard ostensibly explores the way we understand images. Using only film clips (many iconic), news footage, paintings, and texts chopped into fragments, Godard removes his images from their familiar contexts, juxtaposing them with others, while also adding a fragmentary soundtrack of music, narration, unexpected sounds, and stretches of silence. Godard also manipulates the images—stretching, distorting the color and contrast, recording and playing scenes in old low-fidelity video—to create distinctive visual textures. Opening with images of filmmaking and writing, the film moves through five sections featuring images of war, technology, justice, and revolutionary action, ending on an extended segment called "Joyful Arabia," which both celebrates the beauty of the Arab world and criticizes the images and ideas that the West has used to define it. In typical Godardian fashion, a contradiction lies inherent in the way he decries war but sympathizes with the terrorist response from radical Arab movements. The Image Book plays like a free-association exercise that is constantly making unexpected connections, coming across as both lively and obtuse. For those unfamiliar with Godard’s mix of intellectual rigor and visual playfulness (or avant-garde filmmaking) it will likely seem arbitrary and opaque. But even those who appreciate Godard’s approach to filmmaking will have a hard time pinning down exactly what it is about. Still, for those who appreciate challenging cinema, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Jean-Luc Godard: The Image Book
Kino Lorber, 87 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $34.99 Volume 34, Issue 5
Jean-Luc Godard: The Image Book
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