I have been thinking a lot about
Godard emphasis on the spontaneous and the unscripted elements in his
film. While it is obvious in films
like Weekend there must be some
scripted elements and planned shots, Godard also declines to fully commit to
the typical pre production style that has become standard for so many
filmmakers. In the article "Struggle on Two Fronts: A Conversation with Jean-Luc Godard" Godard states, “It is only in shooting that you find out what you have to shoot” (Bontemps
25). Godard’s approach seems to be more about finding the story through
arrangement than editing towards a preconceived vision
For Godard, the creator has to be
“open” to the spontaneity of life; it is the lack of perfection that creates
dynamic films. Yet in a struggle on two fronts he drafts a wish list of sorts.
Things that he claims would aide the filmmaker in his production. One of his
main complains centers on the editing table and how it doesn’t seem to be
suited for editing at all. “they are manufactured by men who’ve never done any
editing,” (Bontemps 28) and therefore aren’t imbued with the right kind of
usefulness to the film editor.
Godard laments that these editing
tables are symptomatic of reactionary ideology, and that “If you're trying to
make revolutionary movies on a reactionary editing-table, you're going to run
into trouble,” (Bontemps 28) .I disagree.
Rather run into trouble I believe that where the reactionary and the
revolutionary meet is where the spontaneity that Godard advocates. I believe that this tension is exactly
what Godard needs, the challenges presented by the corporate capitalist
structure provide opportunities not only to subvert the system in interesting
and creative was but to be challenged to be industrious, to be a problem solver.
This is the spontaneity that Godard talks about. The lack of perfection in
created by capitalist society offers the artist the problems that become the
catalysts for revolutionary art. It is only by having boundaries that limit the
artist that allow him to break free through artistic innovation.
Oz
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