Is there something of his I might appreciate more?
I love Breathless but I think my interpretation is different than most - to me it’s about the meaningless of art, how the main characters drift aimlessly because they model their lives after superficial understandings of the other gleaned from media. Also there’s an artist character who iirc explicitly says that art is meaningless. But yeah its a difficult watch, it’s almost an easier watch if you watch it superficially since it’s so well shot.
That said, I don't really know why I've watched so many Godard films, since I almost never actually enjoy them (the reason is probably Anna Karina et al. hnngh). Still, he was undoubtedly a genius and I have the uttermost respect for his craft. RIP.
It's been a while since I've seen it but I remember liking Masculine Feminine more than Breathless, at least liking the characters in it more. Give it a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRiVKoW18Fw
Well, the key is not to let some rigid moralistic sentiments color the experience.
Cinema is for experiencing the point of view and lives of other people. Not for watching behaviors we already approve of.
With Rascolnicoff, Dostoyevsky wanted from the start to condemn the ideas he had (and his actions).
I don't think the protagonist has a viewpoint. My impression was that he was a random jerk. Why did I watch a movie about a random jerk who is not worth paying attention to. It was definitely a waste of time. If wasting my time was the intention of the director, then I would say that he succeeded.
More often than not, it's the audience that's stupid, especially the average viewer.
Which is also why e.g. the Monkeys sold more than Miles Davis, and Bieber more than any number of much higher quality pop.
It's too bad because there are parts of each that can stay with you like the "car scene" in "Week-End". But often they are peopled with unlikeable characters, have a meandering plot that feels made-up on the spot, are punctuated with obtuse poetry....
I appreciate what he did for cinema in showing all the things that it could be, but perhaps I like some of the films from other directors influenced by him that instead struck something of a balance.
I subscribed to Criterion a while back just to watch all six.
The only one of “Comedies and Proverbs” that I’ve seen so far is The Green Ray which is a very sweet film.
I still prefer the Six Moral Tales and La Collectionneuse remains my favorite Rohmer.
Now, despite not enjoying his films (and others in the "1001" list, c'mon Warhol!) I was in fact able to appreciate that he has died and the impact he had made on cinema (whether I enjoyed his work or not). So I suppose I look at "1001 Films" as my "film school" class. (That has been going on for several years now, ha ha — and I'm only just closing out the 1960's.) I'm less film-stupid than I was a few years ago — maybe still not erudite (?) enough to appreciate New Wave though.
Especially since you are getting consistent feedback from your own sub-consiousness. Or just go with the masses and watch top imdb rated ones if lists must be
It was an incredibly difficult movie for me to watch, the amount of psychological violence was so unbearable I barely made it to the end, couldn't help but think what could possibly go through the mind of the writer to give birth to such a twisted story.
(Note that Breathless has Godard for direction and screenplay but the story is Truffaut and Chabrol)
I really enjoy Koyaanisqatsi but I can understand how someone else might not like it at first, but perhaps enjoy it more after the theme and intended meaning become more clear.
Can’t say why, but in part perhaps his use of color and in part I’d been reading a lot on the Algerian War at the time, so there was some resonance there. I think it’s also just lighter in spirit, despite some serious themes.
Notice that you're supposed to suffer to watch many of his movies. It's part of the experience, to prove that you're part of the intellectual elite that "gets it".
but, that said, i was responding to the parent comment and accidentally got nested under you
IMO Eric Rohmer and Agnes Varda are more my style. Rohmer can be rather talk-y but that’s not necessarily bad. Definitely influenced the Woody Allen/Noah Baumbach school of directing.
Edit: And don’t feel guilty if you don’t care for Godard. Great filmmakers like Werner Hertzog and Ingmar Bergman shared your views. Hertzog famously said he’d prefer a good Kung fu movie. Which in fairness, I’m not sure Godard would have objected; he did love his B movies.