Customer Reviews

Speaking about Godard

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"Speaking About Godard" by Kaja Silverman and Harun Farocki will stimulate Godard afficionados into conversations about Godard's work as the authors have themselves in this book. The authors devote chapters to selected works from the French auteur's oevre analyzing and debating specific aspects of the films. They attempt to find the meaning of specific scenes in the following Godard films: "Vivre sa vie", "Le mepris"("Contempt"), "Alphaville", "Weekend", "Le gai savoir", "Numero deux", "Passion", and "Nouvelle Vague". Some film stills accompany the authors examples from the respective films. You may not always agree with their analysis, but they don't always agree with each other. Of course, Godard's films are so rich with meaning, they are open to debate. The conversational style of the book makes it a great read for those stimulated by the great filmmaker's work.

The layout of this book is interesting and accessible. It is basically an extended conversation between two fans of Godard, who just happen to be very learned in film studies/theory as well. The chapter on "Weekend" is particularly good. If you are finding yourself drawn to Godard, but do not know where to start, try this book.

Even for those unfamiliar with all of Godard's films, these conversations are interesting. Although the book sometimes reads like a postmodern primer with footnote references and keyterms to all the 'right' writers of the sixties and seventies, the analysis is generally more complex and undogmatic. The scene by scene structure of each dialog also guarantees a trueness to the original "text" of the film, that is not always found in critical writing on film.

Speaking About Godard is one of the more interesting and unique studies of Godard's films. Silverman and Farocki's close reading is a great idea. This yields impressive results, particularly where films like Numero Deux and Le Gai Savoir. Their reading uncovers many interesting connections that wouldn't be apparent any other way.

The book covers a nice selection of films. One can find studies of Vivre sa Vie and Weekend elsewhere, but these offer fresh insights. Regardless of whether or not one agrees with their conclusions, their readings will make one see these films in a different way. The chapter on Numero Deux is worth the price of the book alone. Though I'm sure many won't have a chance to see Le Gai Savoir, but the authors should be commended for tackling such a difficult, obscure film.

Other reviewers have leveled criticism of "lightweight" and "fluffy" at this book. These are entirely unfounded. Only the most superficial reading of this book would lead to such irresponsible and incorrect conclusions. The writing style is clear and accessible, and the conversational format makes it easy to understand. Just because the text isn't dry, pedantic, or prolix doesn't mean that the ideas and concepts aren't deep.

With so many books published about Godard, one must be very discriminating when deciding what to spend one's valuable time reading. Some believe that the idea of the close reading is unfashionable, but in this instance, it's a very effective tool. There's something here for even the most seasoned Godard fan.