A moment that stood out for me in Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin feminin was toward the end when the film showed people walking in the streets of Paris. The people shown weren't actors that were a part of the movie, they were real people being filmed. Some of them don't look at the camera, but a lot do, obviously unknowing what the camera is even there for. The street shots of people walking was not only shown for a solid couple of minutes near the end of the film, but also a few more times in earlier scenes as characters spoke in the background. Most of the time when films show cities, it is either scenic far away shots, or if it is a shot of the street, the people in it know they are in a movie and they are there on purpose. Godard's use of real people going about their daily lives gives the movie more of a sense of reality. This style of filming shows how interested Godard was in the documentary style of filmmaking and how blurred the line between documentary and fiction this particular film really is, as we discussed in class. Not only the street shots hinted at the documentary style, but also the improvised dialogue and interview-style conversations as the camera focused on one person for long periods of time.
Godard uses several film techniques that stray away from the usual rules filmmakers live by, so it is safe to say Godard believes film should be unique, without rules or guidelines. In this case, the documentary style he uses throughout the film shows that he believes film should be more real and lifelike than just fiction. He once said, "Every film is a documentary of its actors." He also said, "All great fiction films tend towards documentary, just as all great documentaries tend toward fiction… each word implies a part of the other. And he who opts wholeheartedly for one, necessarily finds the other at the end of his journey."
Godard believes every film is a documentary in a sense, and every film should try to be somewhat of a documentary, if it wants to be any good. He definitely does that with this film.
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ReplyDeleteThese scenes definitely are derivative of documentary film. Godard does a great job of placing a fictional character (Paul) in an actual setting (Paris) to blur the lines between the film world and reality. This technique finds its origins in Cinéma-Vérité or more directly, Dziga Vertov.
ReplyDeleteDziga Vertov was a 1920's filmmaker in the Soviet Union. He treated film not as a tool to portray politics, but as a political system in itself. He wrote agendas on film, which were heavily codified and specific to best evoke "truth". He wanted to rid the world of fictional film and would not have settled until every film in production followed his desired format.
Vertov's views were too extreme to be adopted by the public. He would never become the authoritarian on film theory, but his writings inspired subsequent filmmakers interested in evolving the art of film. These filmmakers, Godard included formed a collective called the Dziga Vertov group, creating works loosely inspired by his films and.
Most similar to Masculin-Féminin by Godard is Man with the Movie Camera by Vertov. A montage, the film is about capturing daily life in the technological age the Soviet Union. It is sometimes called a City Symphony, for its content and orchestral soundtrack.
Here is a clip of Dziga Vertov's Man with the Movie Camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeKKeiXTBos
You will notice that the "man" is placed into a film very similarly to how Paul is placed in the streets of Paris. Both are fictional characters reacting with real life to create a film. Vertov would argue, however, that this man is an extension of the camera and is solely capturing truths, while Godard is sewing little pieces reality into his narrative. Godard's technique required more filmic technology, like sound, before it could be implemented. I would not say Godard's film was "better" but in comparison is far less cumbersome than Vertov's effort (albeit still very codified and structured compared to Hollywood cinema). While both filmmakers lean to the left, Vertov does so in an almost authoritarian way while Godard is relatively more moderate.
Great conversation. I think you are both right on about Godard's use of reality and unreality. Kiran, great connection to Vertov. It is interesting that both of you (and Godard and Vertov, as well) are intrigued by the insertion of a fictional character into the "real world." It seems very politically charged when implemented by Vertov and Godard (and mixed with their images), but I wonder how close it is to real life. Don't we all create fictional characters of ourselves (Facebook profiles, virtual gaming, even in social interactions) that interact with the real world? We edit, photoshop, and composite ourselves online while the background (i.e., the world) is assumed to be real. Or is the facebook world a fictional creation as well? It is also interesting that Reality T.V. does the opposite -- it inserts "real" people into "fictional" or contrived settings. Hummmm, wonder what Godard would say about that practice?
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