1
00:00:01,950 --> 00:00:04,180
<i>Paris, October 1967.</i>

2
00:00:04,210 --> 00:00:06,170
<i>Making a movie about young cinema</i>

3
00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,380
<i>requires foraging in this traffic
for thoughts that might persist.</i>

4
00:00:10,410 --> 00:00:14,820
<i>One then realizes that some young
people persist in making free movies.</i>

5
00:00:14,850 --> 00:00:19,230
<i>They're not well known. Their
movies are rarely released. Why?</i>

6
00:00:19,260 --> 00:00:21,990
<i>Trapped in individualism,
they badly formulate</i>

7
00:00:22,020 --> 00:00:25,030
<i>a radical critique of
traditional systems.</i>

8
00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:29,060
<i>It's self-preservation.
Their situation is precarious.</i>

9
00:00:29,090 --> 00:00:33,560
<i>However, a nucleus of virulent cineastes
has formed around Jean-Luc Godard.</i>

10
00:00:34,950 --> 00:00:39,520
<i>Francis Leroi, after Pop Game,
films his second movie, Cine-Girl.</i>

11
00:00:40,456 --> 00:00:44,080
<i>Jean Eustache has made
two movies: Bad Company,</i>

12
00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,030
<i>and Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes.</i>

13
00:00:46,060 --> 00:00:48,840
<i>Jean-Michel Barjol has
made a number of movies:</i>

14
00:00:48,870 --> 00:00:52,080
<i>La tour sans venin, Nadia,
Au temps des châtaignes.</i>

15
00:00:52,110 --> 00:00:55,192
<i>He is working on a commissioned
project: The Strangers.</i>

16
00:00:55,740 --> 00:00:59,856
<i>Luc Moullet made Brigitte and Brigitte.
He is working on the Smugglers.</i>

17
00:01:00,670 --> 00:01:05,620
The new wave has led
to positive developments.

18
00:01:06,860 --> 00:01:09,740
For example, it is no longer contested

19
00:01:09,770 --> 00:01:14,380
that the screenwriter can also
be the director. It is now accepted.

20
00:01:14,410 --> 00:01:18,050
That is a big victory.

21
00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,650
Prior to this, you had to work as an
assistant before becoming a director.

22
00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,850
But other preconceived
notions must be defeated as well.

23
00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,690
It is essential to enable
people to make more movies.

24
00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,690
A movie costing hundreds
of millions is absurd.

25
00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,420
There is no money to sustain this.

26
00:01:36,450 --> 00:01:43,420
Movie crews are also too
large. That is detrimental to film.

27
00:01:43,450 --> 00:01:47,160
It delays the production process.

28
00:01:47,190 --> 00:01:50,060
We need more movies with smaller crews.

29
00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,130
France has a film production problem.

30
00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,400
That is the essential problem.

31
00:01:57,890 --> 00:02:03,050
The new cinema, which
you are interested in,

32
00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,112
is fighting for this new notion.

33
00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,220
<i>Cut.</i>

34
00:02:24,380 --> 00:02:28,720
What was the problem, William?

35
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,700
Is there a problem?

36
00:02:31,730 --> 00:02:34,560
<i>Go ahead, tell him.</i>

37
00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,240
<i>Say it.</i>

38
00:02:37,710 --> 00:02:41,430
He is the problem. He's always off.

39
00:02:41,460 --> 00:02:44,640
<i>When? At the end?</i>

40
00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,690
Why don't we solve it? It's simple.

41
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,900
<i>He's going too fast.</i>

42
00:02:53,220 --> 00:02:56,570
I'll tell him to slow down.

43
00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:58,800
He'll slow down here.

44
00:03:02,490 --> 00:03:07,140
<i>He was in frame, and the girl was not,</i>

45
00:03:07,170 --> 00:03:10,680
<i>but then he moved, and
the girl was partly in it.</i>

46
00:03:10,710 --> 00:03:13,850
<i>She shouldn't be partly in it.</i>

47
00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,920
I am an amateur cineaste.

48
00:03:16,950 --> 00:03:20,240
Being an amateur means being in love.

49
00:03:20,270 --> 00:03:23,610
I refuse to be a professional.

50
00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:27,810
A professional makes
movies because it's his job.

51
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,620
Was painting Renoir's profession?

52
00:03:30,650 --> 00:03:33,010
It wasn't his job, but his passion.

53
00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,710
If he did not feel like
it, he did not paint.

54
00:03:35,740 --> 00:03:37,590
Professionals can't do that.

55
00:03:37,620 --> 00:03:42,880
If a professional does not
want to film, he films anyway.

56
00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:47,280
In two years, I might quit,
because I might have lost my desire.

57
00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,220
I admire Rimbaud for quitting poetry.

58
00:03:51,250 --> 00:03:53,992
He lost his desire and quit. It happens.

59
00:04:12,830 --> 00:04:14,820
Thanks.

60
00:04:22,950 --> 00:04:24,540
Was it longer?

61
00:04:24,570 --> 00:04:28,840
He did it slower this
time. It was better.

62
00:04:36,090 --> 00:04:38,490
This was good.

63
00:04:40,190 --> 00:04:42,400
It was great.

64
00:04:49,180 --> 00:04:52,000
<i>Did you ever study film formally?</i>

65
00:04:52,030 --> 00:04:54,850
- What do you mean?
- A technical school.

66
00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,970
- What's that?
- Like IDHEC.

67
00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,210
IDHEC is fantastic. It shuttles
the failed ones towards television.

68
00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,050
<i>You think it trains them for TV?</i>

69
00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:08,850
Lucky for them.

70
00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,370
Imagine a 25 year-old graduate

71
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,880
having to intern with me instead.

72
00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:18,328
Fill this drawer up.

73
00:05:18,770 --> 00:05:22,540
Clothes, papers, anything.

74
00:05:23,060 --> 00:05:24,960
<i>We have some binders.</i>

75
00:05:25,530 --> 00:05:28,750
It must be filled with stuff.

76
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,850
<i>The role of money in
cinema must be demystified.</i>

77
00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,580
<i>The common notion is that it is
expensive, which discourages many.</i>

78
00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,990
<i>Parents of young people
who are interested in cinema</i>

79
00:06:37,020 --> 00:06:40,490
<i>should fund their movie
instead of buying them an a flat.</i>

80
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,420
<i>They cost the same.
Cinema must similar to novels.</i>

81
00:06:44,450 --> 00:06:46,540
<i>If you want to make
a movie, you just do it.</i>

82
00:06:46,570 --> 00:06:50,640
<i>You put a team together,
you lease some equipment,</i>

83
00:06:50,670 --> 00:06:54,090
<i>and you make your movie.</i>

84
00:06:54,340 --> 00:06:59,700
My movies target young people,
but they're not allowed to see them.

85
00:06:59,730 --> 00:07:05,160
<i>In France, people complain that
there is no cinema for the young.</i>

86
00:07:05,190 --> 00:07:13,190
<i>We are making cinema for the
young, but they can't watch our movies.</i>

87
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,520
<i>In Pop Game, the actors were all minors.</i>

88
00:07:19,170 --> 00:07:24,560
<i>We improvised a lot. They
collaborated on the script.</i>

89
00:07:39,700 --> 00:07:43,410
<i>What did Godard think of Pop Game?</i>

90
00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:45,980
He never says much.

91
00:07:46,010 --> 00:07:48,790
He said he liked it.

92
00:07:49,250 --> 00:07:52,700
He said he liked it a lot.

93
00:07:52,730 --> 00:07:54,480
That's all.

94
00:07:55,430 --> 00:07:59,740
I don't think my movie is
directly influenced by Godard.

95
00:07:59,770 --> 00:08:02,080
But it's made in total freedom,

96
00:08:02,110 --> 00:08:07,570
it pays no heed to technical norms.
What counts is what happens on screen.

97
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,560
That's the extent of his influence.

98
00:08:14,790 --> 00:08:20,850
<i>What did viewers think of Pop Game?</i>

99
00:08:21,190 --> 00:08:26,610
It was well received
by critics and cinephiles.

100
00:08:27,140 --> 00:08:30,950
People I meet would never
say they hated it though.

101
00:08:30,980 --> 00:08:34,810
They wouldn't admit it to my face.

102
00:08:35,810 --> 00:08:41,910
I think critics were
positive in general.

103
00:08:42,420 --> 00:08:44,210
Except Michel Cournot.

104
00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:46,500
<i>What did he say?</i>

105
00:08:46,770 --> 00:08:50,150
He does not say much either.

106
00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:52,320
But he did not like it.

107
00:08:53,450 --> 00:08:55,730
<i>That does not matter.</i>

108
00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,580
He advocates for another cinema.

109
00:09:00,270 --> 00:09:01,900
<i>Yes, his.</i>

110
00:09:02,180 --> 00:09:03,580
Perhaps.

111
00:09:03,610 --> 00:09:06,370
<i>Ciné-girl is the story of a girl,</i>

112
00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,620
<i>obsessed with Godard, who moves to Paris</i>

113
00:09:10,650 --> 00:09:13,210
<i>to live her life, like in Breathless.</i>

114
00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,810
<i>Contrary to American movies,</i>

115
00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,120
<i>things go well for her. She gets married</i>

116
00:09:20,150 --> 00:09:24,750
<i>to a fashionable designer who
takes her to fashionable parties,</i>

117
00:09:24,780 --> 00:09:28,410
<i>but she gets disillusioned
with her trophy wife existence,</i>

118
00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,530
<i>and seeks something else.</i>

119
00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:35,470
<i>She befriends a group of actors,
and decides to pursue cinema.</i>

120
00:09:35,500 --> 00:09:37,890
<i>She fails. It is the story of a failure.</i>

121
00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,040
<i>She does not do what it takes.</i>

122
00:09:40,070 --> 00:09:42,030
<i>She does not commit completely.</i>

123
00:09:42,060 --> 00:09:45,730
<i>She is unwilling to go to
bed with the assistant director.</i>

124
00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,070
<i>That's why she does not make it.</i>

125
00:09:49,100 --> 00:09:51,300
Certain people hold the keys,

126
00:09:51,330 --> 00:09:54,970
and there's no way around those people,

127
00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,570
certainly in the case
of an aspiring actress.

128
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:05,940
Making it in cinema means being Brigitte
Bardot, otherwise it's pointless.

129
00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,880
<i>What does it mean to
make it as a director?</i>

130
00:10:10,910 --> 00:10:13,950
Making it as a director means

131
00:10:13,980 --> 00:10:19,280
you're Fritz Lang, Warhol, or Walsh.

132
00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:22,176
People of that sort.

133
00:10:22,570 --> 00:10:24,520
You're too far.

134
00:10:24,630 --> 00:10:27,580
You're still too far.

135
00:10:27,610 --> 00:10:29,750
Stand by the tree.

136
00:10:29,780 --> 00:10:31,820
In front of the tree.

137
00:10:32,330 --> 00:10:34,750
In front of the tree, facing me.

138
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,140
A little further.

139
00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,180
There, but in front.

140
00:10:42,740 --> 00:10:44,104
Good.

141
00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:49,240
Godard's aesthetic
influence is felt in New York

142
00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,390
and in Eastern Europe.

143
00:10:52,420 --> 00:10:55,620
His influence in France
is on the economic plane.

144
00:10:55,650 --> 00:10:59,650
He was the first to show that
you can make this kind of cinema.

145
00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,050
A personal cinema that
was feasible financially.

146
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:09,370
Movies made in complete
freedom, beyond rules,

147
00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:15,180
beyond conventions
such as a linear narrative.

148
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,560
That's his influence here.

149
00:11:18,590 --> 00:11:23,750
Nobody has made a film in
the style of Godard in France yet.

150
00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:27,560
No?

151
00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,970
<i>Pop Game was made outside of
the system. Will it be distributed?</i>

152
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,840
It passed the censorship
commission. It is part of the system.

153
00:11:42,070 --> 00:11:46,860
It will be released after the
Semaine of the Cahiers du Cinema.

154
00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:50,830
<i>Will you make another movie?</i>

155
00:11:50,860 --> 00:11:55,280
I intend to make many
movies. Nobody will stop me.

156
00:11:57,030 --> 00:12:00,120
<i>A conversation with Jean Eustache.</i>

157
00:12:11,970 --> 00:12:18,020
I was told by some cameramen
and film school students

158
00:12:18,250 --> 00:12:22,170
that they procured film cheaply

159
00:12:22,530 --> 00:12:25,930
by buying discarded rolls
from other productions.

160
00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:31,990
When you use up 300 meters of film,
50 to 60 meters are usually dumped.

161
00:12:32,020 --> 00:12:35,670
They're resold for a
discount after production.

162
00:12:35,700 --> 00:12:40,240
You can collect enough film that way.

163
00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:44,440
It's quite affordable.

164
00:12:44,470 --> 00:12:47,500
So I visited other productions

165
00:12:47,530 --> 00:12:54,370
looking for cheap film. I
had 2 to 3 months to find it.

166
00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,850
Godard was shooting <i>Masculin Féminin</i>.

167
00:12:58,140 --> 00:12:59,850
I asked him for film.

168
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:07,180
I had found nothing
yet up to that point.

169
00:13:07,420 --> 00:13:12,650
He offered to give me all
the film I needed for free.

170
00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:16,320
He said 'it's yours if you want it',

171
00:13:16,350 --> 00:13:19,490
'you can shoot your movie'.

172
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:30,650
I shot the movie, then
came back to Paris.

173
00:13:33,090 --> 00:13:35,650
I wrapped up editing in a month.

174
00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:39,480
The whole thing took 16 weeks.

175
00:13:39,900 --> 00:13:43,300
I showed it to Godard.

176
00:13:43,690 --> 00:13:46,930
I wanted to show him the end result.

177
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:53,900
He paid off the pending bills:
editing, sound mixing, and so on.

178
00:13:54,070 --> 00:13:57,930
He paid for a standard copy.

179
00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:02,700
He paid off my debts.

180
00:14:02,730 --> 00:14:08,800
His production company
took care of everything.

181
00:14:09,230 --> 00:14:12,180
<i>What did he think of the movie?</i>

182
00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:14,180
He liked it.

183
00:14:14,300 --> 00:14:17,860
That's what he said at least.

184
00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:21,610
<i>How much did it cost?</i>

185
00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:23,780
10 millions.

186
00:14:26,350 --> 00:14:29,250
I shot in Provence.

187
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,170
It's 45 minutes long.

188
00:14:31,700 --> 00:14:34,860
The total budget was 10 million.

189
00:14:35,390 --> 00:14:38,490
That would be just 20 millions for
a feature length movie.

190
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,570
It's expensive for a short,

191
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,810
but not for 45 minutes,

192
00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:50,500
especially since I shot in Provence.

193
00:14:50,780 --> 00:14:57,230
It's not expensive for
half a feature length movie.

194
00:14:58,970 --> 00:15:02,570
- Was it distributed?
- Very badly.

195
00:15:02,750 --> 00:15:04,570
Pretty badly.

196
00:15:05,020 --> 00:15:10,980
At that time I had never involved
myself in the production aspect.

197
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,760
I was quite clueless.

198
00:15:14,790 --> 00:15:18,540
I was told that distributors

199
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,480
worked haphazardly, with no
specific knowledge of the film.

200
00:15:25,510 --> 00:15:30,170
It is true. My distributor
did not even watch my movie.

201
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,850
The movie played at
Cannes, in the Semaine.

202
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,560
It played at Pesaro as well.

203
00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,790
He distributed it solely based on that.

204
00:15:43,820 --> 00:15:48,220
He was ignorant, so
he promoted it badly.

205
00:15:48,250 --> 00:15:50,610
That's the worst aspect of cinema.

206
00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:56,860
That's why movies don't
get adequately distributed.

207
00:16:00,070 --> 00:16:05,810
It was completely unprofessional.

208
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:15,030
So the movie did not
do well, as expected.

209
00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,460
He was the only one surprised at that.

210
00:16:19,890 --> 00:16:22,950
Nobody else was.

211
00:16:26,310 --> 00:16:30,730
- Did you make up the money?
- Yes, eventually.

212
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,580
It won prize money
at the shorts festival.

213
00:16:34,690 --> 00:16:35,952
At the Qualité.

214
00:16:42,010 --> 00:16:44,450
<i>Is it the story of a bored young man?</i>

215
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,340
<i>The tale of a soul's death?</i>

216
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,730
Not exactly. That was not my intention.

217
00:16:51,990 --> 00:16:56,110
It is not a story of ennui.

218
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:04,180
It's hard to talk about it.
My intention was different.

219
00:17:04,210 --> 00:17:08,130
I don't know if it
translated onto the screen.

220
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:13,560
<i>What I had in mind was an
adventure that could only happen</i>

221
00:17:14,450 --> 00:17:18,580
<i>to a man living in very
particular circumstances.</i>

222
00:17:19,460 --> 00:17:25,280
<i>When you're hungry, you don't think
about Marxism. You think about food.</i>

223
00:17:25,310 --> 00:17:31,050
<i>When you're alone, and you
have no money to buy cigarettes,</i>

224
00:17:31,510 --> 00:17:36,810
<i>you don't think about ideology.
You think about your condition.</i>

225
00:17:42,930 --> 00:17:46,100
<i>Nothing else is on your mind.</i>

226
00:17:52,290 --> 00:17:56,340
<i>Metaphysics and ideology
are a bourgeois luxury.</i>

227
00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:01,860
I wanted to express that notion coldly.

228
00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,500
Many viewers reacted violently.

229
00:18:05,530 --> 00:18:10,190
I was not surprised.
That was my intention.

230
00:18:10,220 --> 00:18:13,140
I was aiming for that reaction:
'This guy does nothing'.

231
00:18:13,170 --> 00:18:17,040
'Why doesn't he get
politically engaged?'

232
00:18:17,070 --> 00:18:20,210
'Young people are so
lethargic', and so on.

233
00:18:20,590 --> 00:18:26,940
I think I achieved part
of my goal in the film.

234
00:18:26,970 --> 00:18:31,270
People's reaction to the film

235
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,190
validates my approach.

236
00:18:41,530 --> 00:18:44,220
My name is Jean-Michel Barjol.

237
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,490
I was born May 19th
1938. How old is that?

238
00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,600
28, 29. It does not matter.

239
00:18:52,910 --> 00:18:56,160
What else?

240
00:18:57,540 --> 00:19:02,040
I make movies, in total liberty,
because I feel like making them.

241
00:19:02,070 --> 00:19:07,150
I had some money, so I made
a movie with 2 million francs.

242
00:19:07,450 --> 00:19:13,830
The movie was <i>Nadia</i>. We slept
outdoors, we cooked in the woods.

243
00:19:13,940 --> 00:19:16,430
We set a tree on fire by mistake.

244
00:19:16,460 --> 00:19:21,840
We hoisted a camera 100 feet up a
pine tree for a shot. We had no crane.

245
00:19:22,170 --> 00:19:27,860
The movie is about a
teenager who runs away.

246
00:19:28,410 --> 00:19:31,950
<i>I ran away once, during a storm.</i>

247
00:19:34,370 --> 00:19:35,960
<i>My father</i>

248
00:19:37,070 --> 00:19:39,140
<i>would not give me his hat.</i>

249
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,760
<i>He had read Nadia's letter.</i>

250
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,050
<i>I did not want him to.</i>

251
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:47,550
<i>I snatched it from him.</i>

252
00:19:49,850 --> 00:19:51,740
<i>'Give it back', he said.</i>

253
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,040
<i>I pushed him to the ground.</i>

254
00:19:55,470 --> 00:19:57,240
<i>He charged towards me.</i>

255
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:00,320
<i>He wanted to hit me.</i>

256
00:20:02,020 --> 00:20:04,140
<i>He didn't. My mom was right there.</i>

257
00:20:06,180 --> 00:20:08,540
<i>My brother was reading a comic book.</i>

258
00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,290
<i>He lifted his head for a second,</i>

259
00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,960
<i>then went back to reading.</i>

260
00:20:16,710 --> 00:20:18,320
<i>That's all he did.</i>

261
00:20:20,900 --> 00:20:22,640
<i>So, I ran away.</i>

262
00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:25,350
<i>I said 'ciao'.</i>

263
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:28,680
<i>She watched me skiing.</i>

264
00:20:30,430 --> 00:20:32,150
<i>She told me later.</i>

265
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,680
<i>'I saw you skiing', she said.</i>

266
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,360
<i>I was quite small.</i>

267
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,970
I am working on a
commission: <i>The Strangers</i>.

268
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,950
I just finished filming
a movie about youth.

269
00:21:34,570 --> 00:21:36,850
I haven't settled on a name yet.

270
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,010
Maybe I'll call it <i>All set, Let's Go!</i>

271
00:21:41,350 --> 00:21:46,910
The producers were
wonderful, so I had total liberty.

272
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,730
It's a movie about summer, but shot
indoors. You never glimpse the sun.

273
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,740
It shows that most young people are old.

274
00:21:55,770 --> 00:21:59,920
<i>Picasso was right: It takes a
long time for one to become young.</i>

275
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,170
<i>Youth is an elusive term. Most
young people are not young.</i>

276
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:09,610
<i>My first movie, Nadia, was
produced by Pierre Braunberger.</i>

277
00:22:10,250 --> 00:22:12,140
It's still in his drawer.

278
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:18,500
The next one was produced by Paul de
Roubaix, and the latest by Samy Halfon.

279
00:22:19,210 --> 00:22:24,060
Halfon made <i>Hiroshima Mon Amour</i>.
He worked with Robbe-Grillet, Franju...

280
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,820
<i>Why didn't Braunberger release Nadia?</i>

281
00:22:28,230 --> 00:22:30,930
He is in no hurry.

282
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,550
It makes sense from his point of view.

283
00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:40,390
It would have not made much money.

284
00:22:40,420 --> 00:22:42,760
Maybe it would make a little money now.

285
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,350
<i>Godard is great.</i>

286
00:22:50,830 --> 00:22:55,930
People think he always talks in jest,

287
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,540
But he is very serious.

288
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:03,416
I think he is quite a lonely person.

289
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:05,860
Attention.

290
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,300
You go there.

291
00:23:17,260 --> 00:23:18,860
Silence please.

292
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:22,360
All set.

293
00:23:22,950 --> 00:23:25,120
<i>Take 3.</i>

294
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,820
<i>People talk a lot of nonsense
about him. He does not care.</i>

295
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,410
<i>It's good publicity after all.</i>

296
00:23:34,860 --> 00:23:40,330
<i>Take La Chinoise</i> for the
example. For me, the film says

297
00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:43,740
<i>"Death to Lumiere. Long live Melies".</i>

298
00:23:43,770 --> 00:23:48,900
<i>The movie expresses that clearly.</i>

299
00:23:51,450 --> 00:23:55,150
<i>Les Carabiniers is a Melies film too.</i>

300
00:23:56,490 --> 00:24:01,260
<i>People who watch La Chinoise</i> should
first watch <i>the Carabiniers</i> 4 times.

301
00:24:01,380 --> 00:24:07,390
<i>If they can't take it, they lose the
privilege of watching Godard ever again.</i>

302
00:24:07,420 --> 00:24:10,200
<i>That will solve a lot of problems.</i>

303
00:24:20,670 --> 00:24:26,310
<i>Godard is a genius handyman
too. That's the real form of genius.</i>

304
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:32,690
<i>He can handle cameras and
sound recorders as well as actors.</i>

305
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,820
<i>He's wonderful.</i>

306
00:24:45,290 --> 00:24:47,150
- Got a light?
- No.

307
00:24:52,910 --> 00:24:54,330
There's a chick here.

308
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:56,330
<i>So what?</i>

309
00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,260
Is she yours?

310
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:07,950
<i>No.</i>

311
00:25:08,300 --> 00:25:10,140
No. Help.

312
00:25:10,550 --> 00:25:15,230
<i>Before I started making movies.
I felt like a was trapped in a box.</i>

313
00:25:15,510 --> 00:25:19,810
<i>When I make a movie, I
punch a hole in the box.</i>

314
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,890
<i>I work on making the hole wider.</i>

315
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,140
<i>Who attacked first, Israel or Egypt?</i>

316
00:25:33,170 --> 00:25:36,460
- Was it Egypt?
- Stupid fool.

317
00:25:46,450 --> 00:25:50,900
<i>There is a downside to Godard though.</i>

318
00:25:51,050 --> 00:25:55,270
<i>It's not his fault, he's
never claimed this.</i>

319
00:25:56,580 --> 00:26:00,380
<i>But his movies have propagated
certain damaging myths.</i>

320
00:26:04,650 --> 00:26:07,370
<i>For example, that making movies is easy,</i>

321
00:26:07,770 --> 00:26:12,820
<i>that anyone can make a
movie. In a sense, that is true,</i>

322
00:26:14,170 --> 00:26:15,740
<i>but it is also hard.</i>

323
00:26:31,050 --> 00:26:34,360
I, Romain Goupil, member
of the Communist Youth,

324
00:26:34,830 --> 00:26:38,400
condemn Godard's <i>La Chinoise</i>,
for the following reasons:

325
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:46,120
First, he betrayed Marxism–Leninism.

326
00:26:49,130 --> 00:26:54,400
Second, he attacks actual
leftist groups by name,

327
00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:57,800
such as the New Humanity
and the Red Guards.

328
00:27:02,310 --> 00:27:05,150
Third, he has portrayed
militants as neurotics.

329
00:27:08,980 --> 00:27:14,800
Forth, he is an ally of the Bourgeoisie,
as shown by the critical reception.

330
00:27:17,370 --> 00:27:23,280
Fifth, he portrays characters
with no understanding of Marxism,

331
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,820
which is an imposture.

332
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,660
Lastly, he retrieved the
irretrievable: Revolution.

333
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,120
The worst thing that
can happen to a director

334
00:27:59,260 --> 00:28:03,400
is to become fashionable.

335
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,820
One becomes fashionable
based on misunderstandings.

336
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:15,060
The question is whether
the fashionable person,

337
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,450
a director for example,
or a creator, or a charlatan

338
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,760
will take this adulation
seriously or not.

339
00:28:23,420 --> 00:28:26,540
Contrary to what he says,
Godard really knows his craft.

340
00:28:26,570 --> 00:28:28,800
He has mastered it.

341
00:28:29,590 --> 00:28:33,750
He understands cinema,
and he is searching.

342
00:28:34,270 --> 00:28:38,250
He managed not to
fall prey to the system.

343
00:28:38,620 --> 00:28:43,740
One day he'll achieve his masterpiece,

344
00:28:44,990 --> 00:28:49,690
though <i>The Carabiniers</i> and
<i>Pierrot Le Fou</i> are close to that.

345
00:28:51,490 --> 00:28:55,380
He works non-stop, but
that is the right thing to do.

346
00:28:56,010 --> 00:28:58,540
One must be constantly filming,

347
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,150
just like a painter paints every day.

348
00:29:02,460 --> 00:29:04,960
He is desacralizing cinema.

349
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,440
Cinema has a mythical aspect:
The master is silent for a long time,

350
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:13,070
and then announces a
new film to the people.

351
00:29:13,490 --> 00:29:18,730
That is not the case for a
painter, who is constantly working,

352
00:29:19,030 --> 00:29:21,730
discarding attempts,
starting over again.

353
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:25,620
A director can't just discard a movie.

354
00:29:25,820 --> 00:29:31,720
Godard devised an economic model
that allows him to work like a painter.

355
00:29:32,030 --> 00:29:37,760
Since any movie he makes is profitable,
he has the freedom to do what he wants,

356
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,560
and make as many as he wants.

357
00:29:39,700 --> 00:29:44,690
That is fundamentally different
from talentless charlatans

358
00:29:45,220 --> 00:29:48,530
who abuse fame to churn out garbage.

359
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,030
That was very good.

360
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,290
That was a good punch.
Does your hand hurt?

361
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:06,140
At the moment when spits out his food,

362
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:11,310
can you stare at him before
he checks his sandwich?

363
00:30:12,530 --> 00:30:15,660
You were great too. One more time.

364
00:30:16,450 --> 00:30:17,760
How do I live?

365
00:30:18,300 --> 00:30:20,680
It's a funny life.

366
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,920
This is my first commission ever.

367
00:30:24,950 --> 00:30:27,890
It's worse than being on parole.

368
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:30,940
My salary as a director

369
00:30:31,380 --> 00:30:36,710
is the same as a cleaning lady's,
about 80 thousand old francs.

370
00:30:39,060 --> 00:30:43,860
I get 11 months per year on this salary.

371
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:49,112
Not much incentive for young
people to get into movies.

372
00:31:39,660 --> 00:31:42,490
<i>Whenever he sees me, his luck turns.</i>

373
00:31:43,090 --> 00:31:44,590
<i>Nadia.</i>

374
00:31:47,750 --> 00:31:49,960
<i>She said I had a Picasso head.</i>

375
00:31:55,190 --> 00:31:57,940
<i>She's always the same, so complicated.</i>

376
00:32:00,150 --> 00:32:02,210
<i>She likes Picasso's eyes.</i>

377
00:32:16,750 --> 00:32:17,940
<i>I was wearing jeans.</i>

378
00:32:19,590 --> 00:32:22,260
<i>I had long hair.</i>

379
00:32:25,060 --> 00:32:28,950
<i>He was pale as a sheet.
He had a mustache.</i>

380
00:32:31,190 --> 00:32:35,580
Godard is complicit
in propagating a myth

381
00:32:36,110 --> 00:32:41,070
by saying that anyone can make movies.

382
00:32:41,450 --> 00:32:45,570
Because of these statements,
you now have a group of people,

383
00:32:45,850 --> 00:32:48,410
about 40 sub-Godard types,

384
00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:55,500
who, instead of exploring
their own ideas and lives,

385
00:32:56,230 --> 00:33:00,940
just recycle the same Godard tropes.

386
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,410
That's dangerous. Godard is a genius,

387
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:09,410
but it's his own genius.

388
00:33:09,850 --> 00:33:11,860
Like Cocteau said,

389
00:33:13,110 --> 00:33:19,120
an artist can describe the secret of
movie-making, but only he can apply it.

390
00:33:19,770 --> 00:33:23,310
<i>Compared to the totality of my sandwich,</i>

391
00:33:23,340 --> 00:33:27,510
<i>it's equivalent to US aid to Congo
versus the total US budget.</i>

392
00:33:29,460 --> 00:33:30,830
<i>Kiss me.</i>

393
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:35,410
Kiss me.

394
00:33:41,070 --> 00:33:42,170
You crazy?

395
00:33:42,904 --> 00:33:47,096
I am applying a
classic educational rule.

396
00:33:47,568 --> 00:33:48,568
What rule?

397
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,744
A kiss, and then a kick in the butt.

398
00:33:52,900 --> 00:33:54,900
<i>Don't be mean.</i>

399
00:33:55,620 --> 00:33:59,940
You must fight to be able
to make movies in liberty,

400
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,940
where you can take full responsibility.

401
00:34:03,510 --> 00:34:08,980
If it turns out to be shit,
it's my responsibility.

402
00:34:09,710 --> 00:34:10,990
It's important.

403
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:17,650
You should never blame the cameraman,
or the work conditions.

404
00:34:19,260 --> 00:34:22,470
It's fine to work on little
money if things are clear.

405
00:34:22,750 --> 00:34:27,540
My films are made with little
money, and they're my responsibility.

406
00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:29,610
They can still be good.

407
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:39,000
<i>Aren't you exhausted?</i>

408
00:34:39,940 --> 00:34:43,590
This system is very tiring.

409
00:34:45,490 --> 00:34:50,400
For a period of 15 days,
there is a sense of euphoria.

410
00:34:50,650 --> 00:34:54,580
Acquaintances visit you,
ask you what you're doing,

411
00:34:55,270 --> 00:34:57,490
and you can say you're filming.

412
00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:02,120
But the euphoria wears off,
and you're back on the grind.

413
00:35:02,740 --> 00:35:06,210
The work conditions are an issue.

414
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,780
This editing room is
very nice for example.

415
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:16,510
It's first rate. But I have
to commute to get here.

416
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,540
I first take a bus,

417
00:35:19,850 --> 00:35:23,720
then the subway for many stops.

418
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,630
It's not so different from people
who commute to work twice a day.

419
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:35,250
I get no commute
compensation. I am a proletarian.

420
00:35:35,430 --> 00:35:37,110
A proletarian of the cinema.

421
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,970
It is not so bad, as
long as you can bare it.

422
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:46,970
A guy takes the train to work for 40
years. Then one day, he's had enough.

423
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:51,140
He says 'I'm fed up. I
can't do this anymore'.

424
00:35:51,990 --> 00:35:53,380
I feel like that a little.

425
00:35:54,780 --> 00:35:57,630
One must fight and persist.

426
00:35:58,620 --> 00:36:04,560
You must fight to keep making movies.

427
00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,300
I'm a little ashamed

428
00:36:10,910 --> 00:36:16,700
for accepting this commission.
It's a learning experience, they say.

429
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,580
You can't teach me my job.

430
00:36:24,780 --> 00:36:26,580
You either have it or you don't.

431
00:36:27,930 --> 00:36:30,850
Fiction's function is
to scare people off.

432
00:36:31,390 --> 00:36:33,970
We're all clowns and acrobats,

433
00:36:34,310 --> 00:36:37,180
but it's work that's done in solitude.

434
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,580
It's a hard and isolating job.

435
00:36:42,690 --> 00:36:47,080
People see me as a man who's
had bad luck in life. I disagree.

436
00:36:48,010 --> 00:36:55,650
My childhood friends have
money, cars, and secretaries.

437
00:36:56,810 --> 00:36:58,300
I'm happy the way I am.

438
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:04,770
It is important not to deceive people.

439
00:37:05,250 --> 00:37:08,780
You should not say that this
is easy, that anyone can do it,

440
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:11,760
that you'll be appreciated,

441
00:37:12,030 --> 00:37:14,580
that you'll be in charge of many people.

442
00:37:15,530 --> 00:37:21,460
My crew members would
all work with me again.

443
00:37:21,940 --> 00:37:25,450
I am as proud of that
as of making movies.

444
00:37:26,260 --> 00:37:27,910
<i>Will you make a new one soon?</i>

445
00:37:28,310 --> 00:37:31,780
I hope so.

446
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:36,230
I must be braver. I have
moments of weakness.

447
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:41,740
I accepted this commission
after 15 months of inactivity.

448
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:48,360
I had tried to make a movie with
a producer I like, but we couldn't.

449
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,110
We didn't have the money.

450
00:37:50,580 --> 00:37:54,000
For 15 months, we slowly regressed.

451
00:37:54,490 --> 00:37:57,580
We'd talk every morning,
and fade further.

452
00:37:58,780 --> 00:38:04,100
And my friends, who were
hoping to work on the movie,

453
00:38:04,420 --> 00:38:09,550
who were looking forward to it,

454
00:38:09,980 --> 00:38:14,090
gradually lost interest as well.

455
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:15,710
I gave in eventually.

456
00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,380
My name is Luc Moullet.

457
00:38:18,730 --> 00:38:21,050
I was born in 1937.

458
00:38:21,850 --> 00:38:27,000
I've made 3 shorts, and this is
my second feature-length movie,

459
00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:28,780
<i>The Smugglers.</i>

460
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:35,260
It is the first western filmed
in France in a long time.

461
00:38:35,650 --> 00:38:41,490
They used to be made in Camargue,
but they went out of fashion.

462
00:38:41,900 --> 00:38:45,100
Only western parodies remain.

463
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:47,930
This film is an adventure movie.

464
00:38:49,630 --> 00:38:53,430
I wrote the script and I directed it.

465
00:38:53,850 --> 00:38:55,780
I also produced it.

466
00:38:56,220 --> 00:38:59,340
I'm currently editing it.

467
00:39:01,670 --> 00:39:06,220
There were no difficulties,
because I was the producer,

468
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:08,970
and I get along well with myself.

469
00:39:09,350 --> 00:39:11,610
I produced <i>Brigitte et Brigitte</i> too.

470
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:13,950
It was my first film.

471
00:39:14,370 --> 00:39:18,330
That was the only
feasible way to make it.

472
00:39:18,950 --> 00:39:21,480
It was hard to find a suitable producer.

473
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:27,710
An outsider producer would have
forced significant script changes

474
00:39:27,980 --> 00:39:30,230
which I wanted to avoid.

475
00:39:36,310 --> 00:39:37,700
<i>Did you have money?</i>

476
00:39:38,380 --> 00:39:39,700
Yes.

477
00:39:40,980 --> 00:39:46,300
It took me a long time to raise it.

478
00:39:46,730 --> 00:39:49,720
I managed to secure it eventually.

479
00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:55,420
<i>Did you use the regular
distribution system?</i>

480
00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:59,220
The mainstream system?

481
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:04,930
Yes, I relied on
standard distribution.

482
00:40:05,780 --> 00:40:08,780
It worked reasonably well in Paris,

483
00:40:09,220 --> 00:40:11,540
not so well in other regions,

484
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:14,980
because production companies

485
00:40:15,410 --> 00:40:20,130
are more used to large productions
from mainstream directors.

486
00:40:31,070 --> 00:40:32,700
Mister Samuel Fuller,

487
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:38,110
It is a great honor to interview
the world's greatest director.

488
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,560
- I forgot my questions.
- Brigitte.

489
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:43,590
I too, I'm quite...

490
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,580
You are very beautiful.

491
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:49,880
Very charming, very...

492
00:40:50,780 --> 00:40:54,260
It is my honor to talk to you.

493
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,480
Cinema is America's
only artistic manifestation.

494
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:04,700
Prior to cinema, it was desolate.

495
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:09,020
It is much superior
to American literature.

496
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:14,150
Didn't Hollywood commercialism cultivate
2 generations of juvenile delinquents?

497
00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,740
Gangsters, beatniks,
and mashed potatoes?

498
00:41:17,390 --> 00:41:22,850
The aura of romantic failure in
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Williams

499
00:41:23,310 --> 00:41:26,810
has propped up 3 generations
of adult delinquents.

500
00:41:27,330 --> 00:41:28,980
<i>Did Godard help you?</i>

501
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,540
He did.

502
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:35,430
He found a producer for my first short.

503
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:38,750
- Which was?
- <i>An overcooked steak</i>.

504
00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:41,580
It was a comedy.

505
00:41:42,990 --> 00:41:47,760
He was the one who
allowed me to make it.

506
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,590
<i>What did he think of
Brigitte and Brigitte?</i>

507
00:41:53,110 --> 00:41:55,300
He said he liked it.

508
00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:59,950
- Anything else?
- Sure.

509
00:42:01,860 --> 00:42:04,550
There were things he did not like,

510
00:42:05,490 --> 00:42:12,380
but overall he liked
it a lot. I believe him.

511
00:42:13,750 --> 00:42:17,650
<i>Are you facing difficulties
in your film career?</i>

512
00:42:18,310 --> 00:42:21,130
No big difficulties.

513
00:42:22,010 --> 00:42:26,740
There are roadblocks,
but they're surmountable.

514
00:42:27,470 --> 00:42:29,700
Things are going well.

515
00:42:30,060 --> 00:42:32,100
<i>Wouldn't you advocate</i>

516
00:42:33,090 --> 00:42:35,500
<i>for changes in the production system?</i>

517
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:40,620
I would, but from my
perspective, it is OK.

518
00:42:40,970 --> 00:42:42,920
2 best American directors?

519
00:42:43,070 --> 00:42:45,730
Minnelli and Edward Ludwig.

520
00:42:46,050 --> 00:42:49,440
For his latest movie, I
filled 12 pages of notes.

521
00:42:50,270 --> 00:42:51,950
No, 13.

522
00:42:52,830 --> 00:42:54,570
Where do you watch movies?

523
00:42:54,850 --> 00:42:58,810
London, Brussels or New
York for new Ludwig movies.

524
00:42:59,900 --> 00:43:01,950
What is your greatest movie desire?

525
00:43:04,300 --> 00:43:05,790
To die during a projection.

526
00:43:49,350 --> 00:43:52,700
SUBTITLES BY KANAFANI


