Final Thoughts on Everything is Cinema by Richard Brody

I have finished Brody's book about Godard. I read the last 200 pages or so these past few weeks. The material mostly deals with Godard's later works that, regrettably, are hard to find on DVD. I've found a few but not everyone. Last night I watched Hail Mary which I thought was great. Much better than Ici et Ailleurs. The late 70s were not a great period for Godard. In fact you could probably call it his "wilderness period" to all of the 70s when he left Paris and eventually, returned to Switzerland where he now makes his work and life.

One discernible trend I detected, especially in the last 50 pages of the book, is Godard trending more and more to the extreme right following a large portion of French society. In recent times and espcecially after the attacks on the magazine Charlie Hebdo, France has gone more to the right. Godard has led or followed that trend. Brody talks about Godard's anti-semitism and his adherence to support of the Palestinian cause. I didn't detect that Godard made any outlandish statements. For example comparing the concentration camps to what Israel does to Palestinians. So there is some level of reason behind his, however objectionable, political stances.

Remarkably Godard has remained productive throughout the 80s and 90s, yet you get the sense that he has reached another block in his work. His last film was not well attended or well received by critics suggesting that Godard has fallen back into relative obscurity. Yet, Brody says a the end of his book that as long as Godard keeps making films, Cinema will still be alive and have a place in culture.

Over the course of the last few chapters Godard returned again and again to Cinema's role as a marker for art and humanity. He, as I interpreted the book, makes the claim that Cinema or any art lost efficacy after the Shoah or Holocaust. He makes an interesting point about whether we can truly call ourselves sophisticated or human after that atrocity was committed. From his ruminations about the Holocaust, which according to Godard, was never dealt with by Hollywood, what role does Cinema play in culture? In politics? If Cinema is supposed to be an agent for change, then does it still retain that role after WWII and the Shoah? I guess I would quote Samuel Beckett's famous words; "I can't go on. I'll go on."

Godard's films are intertwined with his politics and his intellectualism. His film Sauve Qui Peu brought him out of the wilderness and Brody calls it his second first film. Godard tried to revive his art again to little success in the early 2000s.

I agree with Brody's statement that Godard is at the center of filmmaking. Brody comments that some people have said that Godard is out of touch, but I think he is very much in touch with the World and his films show that. His thoughts about the Middles East are clear evidence of that. As are his right leaning opinions. I think Godard is a voice that should be paid attention to.