All language subtitles for Le jeune cinéma _ Godard et ses émules (1967) WEB KG

Paris, October 1967.

Making a movie about young cinema

requires foraging in this traffic
for thoughts that might persist.

One then realizes that some young
people persist in making free movies.

They're not well known. Their
movies are rarely released. Why?

Trapped in individualism,
they badly formulate

a radical critique of
traditional systems.

It's self-preservation.
Their situation is precarious.

However, a nucleus of virulent cineastes
has formed around Jean-Luc Godard.

Francis Leroi, after Pop Game,
films his second movie, Cine-Girl.

Jean Eustache has made
two movies: Bad Company,

and Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes.

Jean-Michel Barjol has
made a number of movies:

La tour sans venin, Nadia,
Au temps des châtaignes.

He is working on a commissioned
project: The Strangers.

Luc Moullet made Brigitte and Brigitte.
He is working on the Smugglers.

The new wave has led
to positive developments.

For example, it is no longer contested

that the screenwriter can also
be the director. It is now accepted.

That is a big victory.

Prior to this, you had to work as an
assistant before becoming a director.

But other preconceived
notions must be defeated as well.

It is essential to enable
people to make more movies.

A movie costing hundreds
of millions is absurd.

There is no money to sustain this.

Movie crews are also too
large. That is detrimental to film.

It delays the production process.

We need more movies with smaller crews.

France has a film production problem.

That is the essential problem.

The new cinema, which
you are interested in,

is fighting for this new notion.

Cut.

What was the problem, William?

Is there a problem?

Go ahead, tell him.

Say it.

He is the problem. He's always off.

When? At the end?

Why don't we solve it? It's simple.

He's going too fast.

I'll tell him to slow down.

He'll slow down here.

He was in frame, and the girl was not,

but then he moved, and
the girl was partly in it.

She shouldn't be partly in it.

I am an amateur cineaste.

Being an amateur means being in love.

I refuse to be a professional.

A professional makes
movies because it's his job.

Was painting Renoir's profession?

It wasn't his job, but his passion.

If he did not feel like
it, he did not paint.

Professionals can't do that.

If a professional does not
want to film, he films anyway.

In two years, I might quit,
because I might have lost my desire.

I admire Rimbaud for quitting poetry.

He lost his desire and quit. It happens.

Thanks.

Was it longer?

He did it slower this
time. It was better.

This was good.

It was great.

Did you ever study film formally?

- What do you mean?
- A technical school.

- What's that?
- Like IDHEC.

IDHEC is fantastic. It shuttles
the failed ones towards television.

You think it trains them for TV?

Lucky for them.

Imagine a 25 year-old graduate

having to intern with me instead.

Fill this drawer up.

Clothes, papers, anything.

We have some binders.

It must be filled with stuff.

The role of money in
cinema must be demystified.

The common notion is that it is
expensive, which discourages many.

Parents of young people
who are interested in cinema

should fund their movie
instead of buying them an a flat.

They cost the same.
Cinema must similar to novels.

If you want to make
a movie, you just do it.

You put a team together,
you lease some equipment,

and you make your movie.

My movies target young people,
but they're not allowed to see them.

In France, people complain that
there is no cinema for the young.

We are making cinema for the
young, but they can't watch our movies.

In Pop Game, the actors were all minors.

We improvised a lot. They
collaborated on the script.

What did Godard think of Pop Game?

He never says much.

He said he liked it.

He said he liked it a lot.

That's all.

I don't think my movie is
directly influenced by Godard.

But it's made in total freedom,

it pays no heed to technical norms.
What counts is what happens on screen.

That's the extent of his influence.

What did viewers think of Pop Game?

It was well received
by critics and cinephiles.

People I meet would never
say they hated it though.

They wouldn't admit it to my face.

I think critics were
positive in general.

Except Michel Cournot.

What did he say?

He does not say much either.

But he did not like it.

That does not matter.

He advocates for another cinema.

Yes, his.

Perhaps.

Ciné-girl is the story of a girl,

obsessed with Godard, who moves to Paris

to live her life, like in Breathless.

Contrary to American movies,

things go well for her. She gets married

to a fashionable designer who
takes her to fashionable parties,

but she gets disillusioned
with her trophy wife existence,

and seeks something else.

She befriends a group of actors,
and decides to pursue cinema.

She fails. It is the story of a failure.

She does not do what it takes.

She does not commit completely.

She is unwilling to go to
bed with the assistant director.

That's why she does not make it.

Certain people hold the keys,

and there's no way around those people,

certainly in the case
of an aspiring actress.

Making it in cinema means being Brigitte
Bardot, otherwise it's pointless.

What does it mean to
make it as a director?

Making it as a director means

you're Fritz Lang, Warhol, or Walsh.

People of that sort.

You're too far.

You're still too far.

Stand by the tree.

In front of the tree.

In front of the tree, facing me.

A little further.

There, but in front.

Good.

Godard's aesthetic
influence is felt in New York

and in Eastern Europe.

His influence in France
is on the economic plane.

He was the first to show that
you can make this kind of cinema.

A personal cinema that
was feasible financially.

Movies made in complete
freedom, beyond rules,

beyond conventions
such as a linear narrative.

That's his influence here.

Nobody has made a film in
the style of Godard in France yet.

No?

Pop Game was made outside of
the system. Will it be distributed?

It passed the censorship
commission. It is part of the system.

It will be released after the
Semaine of the Cahiers du Cinema.

Will you make another movie?

I intend to make many
movies. Nobody will stop me.

A conversation with Jean Eustache.

I was told by some cameramen
and film school students

that they procured film cheaply

by buying discarded rolls
from other productions.

When you use up 300 meters of film,
50 to 60 meters are usually dumped.

They're resold for a
discount after production.

You can collect enough film that way.

It's quite affordable.

So I visited other productions

looking for cheap film. I
had 2 to 3 months to find it.

Godard was shooting Masculin Féminin.

I asked him for film.

I had found nothing
yet up to that point.

He offered to give me all
the film I needed for free.

He said 'it's yours if you want it',

'you can shoot your movie'.

I shot the movie, then
came back to Paris.

I wrapped up editing in a month.

The whole thing took 16 weeks.

I showed it to Godard.

I wanted to show him the end result.

He paid off the pending bills:
editing, sound mixing, and so on.

He paid for a standard copy.

He paid off my debts.

His production company
took care of everything.

What did he think of the movie?

He liked it.

That's what he said at least.

How much did it cost?

10 millions.

I shot in Provence.

It's 45 minutes long.

The total budget was 10 million.

That would be just 20 millions for
a feature length movie.

It's expensive for a short,

but not for 45 minutes,

especially since I shot in Provence.

It's not expensive for
half a feature length movie.

- Was it distributed?
- Very badly.

Pretty badly.

At that time I had never involved
myself in the production aspect.

I was quite clueless.

I was told that distributors

worked haphazardly, with no
specific knowledge of the film.

It is true. My distributor
did not even watch my movie.

The movie played at
Cannes, in the Semaine.

It played at Pesaro as well.

He distributed it solely based on that.

He was ignorant, so
he promoted it badly.

That's the worst aspect of cinema.

That's why movies don't
get adequately distributed.

It was completely unprofessional.

So the movie did not
do well, as expected.

He was the only one surprised at that.

Nobody else was.

- Did you make up the money?
- Yes, eventually.

It won prize money
at the shorts festival.

At the Qualité.

Is it the story of a bored young man?

The tale of a soul's death?

Not exactly. That was not my intention.

It is not a story of ennui.

It's hard to talk about it.
My intention was different.

I don't know if it
translated onto the screen.

What I had in mind was an
adventure that could only happen

to a man living in very
particular circumstances.

When you're hungry, you don't think
about Marxism. You think about food.

When you're alone, and you
have no money to buy cigarettes,

you don't think about ideology.
You think about your condition.

Nothing else is on your mind.

Metaphysics and ideology
are a bourgeois luxury.

I wanted to express that notion coldly.

Many viewers reacted violently.

I was not surprised.
That was my intention.

I was aiming for that reaction:
'This guy does nothing'.

'Why doesn't he get
politically engaged?'

'Young people are so
lethargic', and so on.

I think I achieved part
of my goal in the film.

People's reaction to the film

validates my approach.

My name is Jean-Michel Barjol.

I was born May 19th
1938. How old is that?

28, 29. It does not matter.

What else?

I make movies, in total liberty,
because I feel like making them.

I had some money, so I made
a movie with 2 million francs.

The movie was Nadia. We slept
outdoors, we cooked in the woods.

We set a tree on fire by mistake.

We hoisted a camera 100 feet up a
pine tree for a shot. We had no crane.

The movie is about a
teenager who runs away.

I ran away once, during a storm.

My father

would not give me his hat.

He had read Nadia's letter.

I did not want him to.

I snatched it from him.

'Give it back', he said.

I pushed him to the ground.

He charged towards me.

He wanted to hit me.

He didn't. My mom was right there.

My brother was reading a comic book.

He lifted his head for a second,

then went back to reading.

That's all he did.

So, I ran away.

I said 'ciao'.

She watched me skiing.

She told me later.

'I saw you skiing', she said.

I was quite small.

I am working on a
commission: The Strangers.

I just finished filming
a movie about youth.

I haven't settled on a name yet.

Maybe I'll call it All set, Let's Go!

The producers were
wonderful, so I had total liberty.

It's a movie about summer, but shot
indoors. You never glimpse the sun.

It shows that most young people are old.

Picasso was right: It takes a
long time for one to become young.

Youth is an elusive term. Most
young people are not young.

My first movie, Nadia, was
produced by Pierre Braunberger.

It's still in his drawer.

The next one was produced by Paul de
Roubaix, and the latest by Samy Halfon.

Halfon made Hiroshima Mon Amour.
He worked with Robbe-Grillet, Franju...

Why didn't Braunberger release Nadia?

He is in no hurry.

It makes sense from his point of view.

It would have not made much money.

Maybe it would make a little money now.

Godard is great.

People think he always talks in jest,

But he is very serious.

I think he is quite a lonely person.

Attention.

You go there.

Silence please.

All set.

Take 3.

People talk a lot of nonsense
about him. He does not care.

It's good publicity after all.

Take La Chinoise for the
example. For me, the film says

"Death to Lumiere. Long live Melies".

The movie expresses that clearly.

Les Carabiniers is a Melies film too.

People who watch La Chinoise should
first watch the Carabiniers 4 times.

If they can't take it, they lose the
privilege of watching Godard ever again.

That will solve a lot of problems.

Godard is a genius handyman
too. That's the real form of genius.

He can handle cameras and
sound recorders as well as actors.

He's wonderful.

- Got a light?
- No.

There's a chick here.

So what?

Is she yours?

No.

No. Help.

Before I started making movies.
I felt like a was trapped in a box.

When I make a movie, I
punch a hole in the box.

I work on making the hole wider.

Who attacked first, Israel or Egypt?

- Was it Egypt?
- Stupid fool.

There is a downside to Godard though.

It's not his fault, he's
never claimed this.

But his movies have propagated
certain damaging myths.

For example, that making movies is easy,

that anyone can make a
movie. In a sense, that is true,

but it is also hard.

I, Romain Goupil, member
of the Communist Youth,

condemn Godard's La Chinoise,
for the following reasons:

First, he betrayed Marxism–Leninism.

Second, he attacks actual
leftist groups by name,

such as the New Humanity
and the Red Guards.

Third, he has portrayed
militants as neurotics.

Forth, he is an ally of the Bourgeoisie,
as shown by the critical reception.

Fifth, he portrays characters
with no understanding of Marxism,

which is an imposture.

Lastly, he retrieved the
irretrievable: Revolution.

The worst thing that
can happen to a director

is to become fashionable.

One becomes fashionable
based on misunderstandings.

The question is whether
the fashionable person,

a director for example,
or a creator, or a charlatan

will take this adulation
seriously or not.

Contrary to what he says,
Godard really knows his craft.

He has mastered it.

He understands cinema,
and he is searching.

He managed not to
fall prey to the system.

One day he'll achieve his masterpiece,

though The Carabiniers and
Pierrot Le Fou are close to that.

He works non-stop, but
that is the right thing to do.

One must be constantly filming,

just like a painter paints every day.

He is desacralizing cinema.

Cinema has a mythical aspect:
The master is silent for a long time,

and then announces a
new film to the people.

That is not the case for a
painter, who is constantly working,

discarding attempts,
starting over again.

A director can't just discard a movie.

Godard devised an economic model
that allows him to work like a painter.

Since any movie he makes is profitable,
he has the freedom to do what he wants,

and make as many as he wants.

That is fundamentally different
from talentless charlatans

who abuse fame to churn out garbage.

That was very good.

That was a good punch.
Does your hand hurt?

At the moment when spits out his food,

can you stare at him before
he checks his sandwich?

You were great too. One more time.

How do I live?

It's a funny life.

This is my first commission ever.

It's worse than being on parole.

My salary as a director

is the same as a cleaning lady's,
about 80 thousand old francs.

I get 11 months per year on this salary.

Not much incentive for young
people to get into movies.

Whenever he sees me, his luck turns.

Nadia.

She said I had a Picasso head.

She's always the same, so complicated.

She likes Picasso's eyes.

I was wearing jeans.

I had long hair.

He was pale as a sheet.
He had a mustache.

Godard is complicit
in propagating a myth

by saying that anyone can make movies.

Because of these statements,
you now have a group of people,

about 40 sub-Godard types,

who, instead of exploring
their own ideas and lives,

just recycle the same Godard tropes.

That's dangerous. Godard is a genius,

but it's his own genius.

Like Cocteau said,

an artist can describe the secret of
movie-making, but only he can apply it.

Compared to the totality of my sandwich,

it's equivalent to US aid to Congo
versus the total US budget.

Kiss me.

Kiss me.

You crazy?

I am applying a
classic educational rule.

What rule?

A kiss, and then a kick in the butt.

Don't be mean.

You must fight to be able
to make movies in liberty,

where you can take full responsibility.

If it turns out to be shit,
it's my responsibility.

It's important.

You should never blame the cameraman,
or the work conditions.

It's fine to work on little
money if things are clear.

My films are made with little
money, and they're my responsibility.

They can still be good.

Aren't you exhausted?

This system is very tiring.

For a period of 15 days,
there is a sense of euphoria.

Acquaintances visit you,
ask you what you're doing,

and you can say you're filming.

But the euphoria wears off,
and you're back on the grind.

The work conditions are an issue.

This editing room is
very nice for example.

It's first rate. But I have
to commute to get here.

I first take a bus,

then the subway for many stops.

It's not so different from people
who commute to work twice a day.

I get no commute
compensation. I am a proletarian.

A proletarian of the cinema.

It is not so bad, as
long as you can bare it.

A guy takes the train to work for 40
years. Then one day, he's had enough.

He says 'I'm fed up. I
can't do this anymore'.

I feel like that a little.

One must fight and persist.

You must fight to keep making movies.

I'm a little ashamed

for accepting this commission.
It's a learning experience, they say.

You can't teach me my job.

You either have it or you don't.

Fiction's function is
to scare people off.

We're all clowns and acrobats,

but it's work that's done in solitude.

It's a hard and isolating job.

People see me as a man who's
had bad luck in life. I disagree.

My childhood friends have
money, cars, and secretaries.

I'm happy the way I am.

It is important not to deceive people.

You should not say that this
is easy, that anyone can do it,

that you'll be appreciated,

that you'll be in charge of many people.

My crew members would
all work with me again.

I am as proud of that
as of making movies.

Will you make a new one soon?

I hope so.

I must be braver. I have
moments of weakness.

I accepted this commission
after 15 months of inactivity.

I had tried to make a movie with
a producer I like, but we couldn't.

We didn't have the money.

For 15 months, we slowly regressed.

We'd talk every morning,
and fade further.

And my friends, who were
hoping to work on the movie,

who were looking forward to it,

gradually lost interest as well.

I gave in eventually.

My name is Luc Moullet.

I was born in 1937.

I've made 3 shorts, and this is
my second feature-length movie,

The Smugglers.

It is the first western filmed
in France in a long time.

They used to be made in Camargue,
but they went out of fashion.

Only western parodies remain.

This film is an adventure movie.

I wrote the script and I directed it.

I also produced it.

I'm currently editing it.

There were no difficulties,
because I was the producer,

and I get along well with myself.

I produced Brigitte et Brigitte too.

It was my first film.

That was the only
feasible way to make it.

It was hard to find a suitable producer.

An outsider producer would have
forced significant script changes

which I wanted to avoid.

Did you have money?

Yes.

It took me a long time to raise it.

I managed to secure it eventually.

Did you use the regular
distribution system?

The mainstream system?

Yes, I relied on
standard distribution.

It worked reasonably well in Paris,

not so well in other regions,

because production companies

are more used to large productions
from mainstream directors.

Mister Samuel Fuller,

It is a great honor to interview
the world's greatest director.

- I forgot my questions.
- Brigitte.

I too, I'm quite...

You are very beautiful.

Very charming, very...

It is my honor to talk to you.

Cinema is America's
only artistic manifestation.

Prior to cinema, it was desolate.

It is much superior
to American literature.

Didn't Hollywood commercialism cultivate
2 generations of juvenile delinquents?

Gangsters, beatniks,
and mashed potatoes?

The aura of romantic failure in
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Williams

has propped up 3 generations
of adult delinquents.

Did Godard help you?

He did.

He found a producer for my first short.

- Which was?
- An overcooked steak.

It was a comedy.

He was the one who
allowed me to make it.

What did he think of
Brigitte and Brigitte?

He said he liked it.

- Anything else?
- Sure.

There were things he did not like,

but overall he liked
it a lot. I believe him.

Are you facing difficulties
in your film career?

No big difficulties.

There are roadblocks,
but they're surmountable.

Things are going well.

Wouldn't you advocate

for changes in the production system?

I would, but from my
perspective, it is OK.

2 best American directors?

Minnelli and Edward Ludwig.

For his latest movie, I
filled 12 pages of notes.

No, 13.

Where do you watch movies?

London, Brussels or New
York for new Ludwig movies.

What is your greatest movie desire?

To die during a projection.

SUBTITLES BY KANAFANI