Themes and interpretations Goodbye to Language

—quote used in film s narration, attributed claude monet, paraphrased marcel proust s jean santeuil

many film critics have complained goodbye language difficult understand. todd mccarthy of hollywood reporter said there fragments of thoughts, nothing developed. charles ealy of austin 360 compared watching mike myers s sprockets sketch saturday night live. bordwell has criticized other reviewers shallow analysis of film, stating critics put off godard, think, have limited notion of criticism is.

bordwell has called film opaque characters difficult interpret, unexplained conflicts, , major plot points occur off-camera. godard frames characters make them unrecognizable audience, films scenes overlapping dialogue of characters on , off screen, , uses ellipses in scenes create gaps in time. cuts black frames, objects in scene, or landscapes while dialogue scene still heard. these techniques make film both difficult interpret , comprehend. bordwell believes ought find problems of comprehension fascinating. remind of storytelling conventions take granted, , push toward other ways of spinning yarns, or unraveling them. bordwell believes blocking or troubling our story-making process serves re-weight individual image , sound. when can t tie see , hear ongoing plot, re coaxed savor each moment micro-event in itself, word in poem or patch of color in painting.

this opaque technique has been godard s trademark style many years. in 1995 jean-michel frodon described same complexities bordwell , wrote that

when viewing godard film there moments when 1 has tendency resist experience. film unfolds confused, don t quite grasp , feel losing footing. on point of drowning 1 liable think godard vague , obscure there maritime movement/shift , if 1 lets oneself carried next wave comes 1 recovers drift of film.

when asked film s message, godard rejected premise of question , contended, rather, message of absence of message. s message in everyday life. colin maccabe wrote film has no story:

instead there patterns of images , sound overlaid quotations authors ... there concern history, above hitler , nazism, , understanding of history making no distinction between image , reality, history of cinema , history of modern world wind in , out of each other.

the film s title has double meaning. in vaud, french-speaking part of switzerland godard raised , lives, word adieu can mean both goodbye , hello according time of day, tone of voice. godard has acknowledged interpretation understood in vaud , said nowadays, seems talking has nothing do, speech no longer exists. believes words losing meaning , missing point ... when farewell language, means farewell , meaning goodbye own way of speaking. godard believes images, films mix words , visuals, still capable of meaningful communication, citing islamic , christian prohibitions of images while allowing words example. godard said in sequence mary shelley , himself painting watercolors wanted visually show physical acts of language of writing , language of visual art. bordwell believes theme of film idea language alienates primordial connection things.

use of 3d

godard became interested in 3d because still area there no rules , thought not interesting because had not yet been explored full potential. godard thinks technology, movie camera, reveal[s] cultural , such mean[s] times emerged , how limited cannot do. cinematic techniques such cinemascope, dolly shots, close-ups or high fidelity thought of innovative, create limitations setting standards , rules in technique. compares experiments 3d films auguste , louis lumière , d. w. griffith, made films before there rules technique, stating when technique @ beginnings, child knows no rules. inspiration came invention of perspective in painting, when viewer understands existence of space outside painting s edges. godard wanted explore illusion of depth in 3d image suggesting beyond frame. double exposure of 3d image, film contains 2 parallel narratives repeat 2 different couples. godard following alfred hitchcock s theory when want understood, @ least twice.

bryant frazer of studio daily wrote godard breaks conventional rules of 3d in 5 ways: not keep clean frame in screen compositions, embraces low-quality cameras , gravitates toward deep focus cinematography, rips 3d image apart , restores in single shot , uses stereo elevate mundane instead of spectacular subjects superhero or fantasy films. frazer said godard wants experiment technology, draw attention it, test boundaries, , see happens when image falls apart completely. richard brody of new yorker wrote rather using 3-d effect create sensation of flight or make viewer feel target of propelled objects, godard uses 3-d emphasize materiality, physical properties, of world @ hand. bordwell said that, other awe special effects , 3d s purposes typically realistic in enhancement of depth of objects , advancing our understanding of story , achieved 1 part of screen in 3d while rest out of focus , in 2d. in goodbye language godard uses 3d in deep focus shots images allow audience scan entire frame. bordwell wrote godard s use of 3d aiming make perceive world stripped of our conceptual constructs (language, plot, normal viewpoints, , on).

brody wrote godard treated 3-d device of independent filmmaking ... opens art form yet another, virtual dimension. use of 3-d film s big idea. maccabe wrote godard uses [3d] distance engage audience instead of enhancing realism, influenced bertolt brecht. armond white wrote godard uses digital 3d fad consider how men , women communicate ... , then, playfully, observes dog s loyalty ... demonstrate pure faith, pure curiosity, , own imperviousness in era when reality , digital reality confused. white believes film s use of 3d mocks technique s supposed visual depth , instead uses examine depth of human experience, such dynamics of sexual, political, , artistic relations.

social interpretations

the works of philosopher jacques ellul , predictions technology prominent in film s themes.

roxy miéville appears couple, unseen godard , anne-marie miéville @ end of film. godard , long-term professional , romantic partner miéville co-own roxy, no longer live together. during film s production godard talk miéville. olivier séguret of libération observed of film shot in places godard shared miéville in personal life , dialogue between 2 couples based on conversations between them. when interviewed npr, bordwell interpreted shots of roxy godard trying people @ world in kind of unspoiled way ... there hints throughout film animal consciousness kind of closer world are, language sets barrier or filter or screen between , s there. , although film full of language, talk, printed text , on, nevertheless think there s sense wants viewer scrape away lot of ordinary conceptions have how communicate , @ world afresh. godard said partially true sees world through roxy s eyes , roxy restores balance couple when in conflict , represent commoners while couple represents nobility or clergy. maccabe wrote roxy offer[s] image of acceptable sociality in film. in scene roxy, narrator talks universal declaration on animal welfare, brody calls godard s 1 rare glimmer of historical optimism. s if roxy agent of reconciliation—not of 1 merely lover of godard present day, rising generation.

jonathan romney expressed difficulty in jotting down each reference while watching film, writing propositions, allusions, sounds, images rush on in wave after wave, each building new layer on top of—or violently erasing—what s gone before. trying make sense of all, in rudimentary or provisional way, anguish-inducing process , might closer understanding godard film if d read director had read—but d have have read in same way had read it, making same connections. ted fendt wrote knowing original sources of godard s work seems me useful unlocking films , videos reading heavily footnoted copy of waste land.

brody has observed many of references have been used godard in previous film, making them self-referential , retrospective touches. relates visual references political themes of film , compares archival footage of nazi germany , soviet union in first part parallel scenes classic films on tv screens in second part. historical footage seem[s] persist outsized influence on today s politics, stories, , identities while hollywood movies compel modern film characters live in light of history of cinema, of great age of hollywood , classic european cinema overarches , overawes moderns. 1 technique godard uses having narrative scenes cut digression, collage of found footage, intertitles, or other material seems triggered mentioned in scene. bordwell has called associational form used in essay films, similar novelist john dos passos use of newspaper stories in usa trilogy.

the film examines many historical events of twentieth century, particularly rise of hitler, communism , technology. godard quotes lengthy passages jacques ellul s 1945 essay victoire d hitler? in essay ellul wrote hitler said, accomplished , examined dangers of individual giving absolute power state. ellul concluded state conquers power, never loses. , s hitler s second victory. eric kohn of indiewire wrote showing ellul s essay being read off of smart phone portrays information age dying breath of consciousness before intellectual thought becomes homogenized digital advancements , film suggests humankind has grown limited devices tell think need know.

there brief references africa, such joceyln benoist s quote: sir, possible produce concept africa? brody said reference suggests poverty of modern philosophy—and of modern art—in addressing political crises wrongly relegated margins of twentieth century , have come fore. white believes film s reference frankenstein prophesy of 21st century compulsion debase ourselves monsters , zombies—confused need make sense of topical complexities. our guilt-ridden age s retreat technology pretends realism rather moral imagination pathetic. brody interpreted reference suggestion book act of political metaphor , historical image creation. maccabe wrote film godard s intense example of director s increasing extreme calvinism , writing difficult not feel film is, among other things, work of old protestant pastor fulminating against sins of world , irredeemable fallenness of man.