Duras/Godard Dialogues (The Film Desk)
April 12, 2023
Marguerite Duras is a writer who makes films, and Jean-Luc Godard is a filmmaker who sort of reads books. The book consists of three sessions of talks between the two and mostly takes place in the 1980s. Mostly they talk about the cinema, but the concept of text and the written word is very much on the minds of these two titans of 20th-century art. Godard, in a strange manner, is very much of a literate who uses literature not as a basis but as a commentary on whatever image he shows in his work. Duras has the genius ability to use the language used in literature but transform it into a pure form of cinema. Writers/poets like Jean Cocteau makes a hybrid of the two, but Duras understands the format of cinema and that it is a visual medium. Godard uses a lot of text in his work, like reading a multi-textural novel or even a computer game where you have to keep your wits up front.
Duras/Godard Dialogues is a remarkable exchange of opinions, thoughts, and at times, frustration in communicating ideas between these two, which is like an active Tennis game in the process. Two brilliant minds at work and play, especially Godard. While I read this book, I felt sad because one doesn’t hear or read such dialog these days. Everything seems based on fact, or how much money something gets made or sold, but never ideas. Godard and Duras are about ideas, so this is a fantastic read for anyone who loves cinema at its most severe and extraordinary stance.
Both absolutely charmed fabulists.
Thanks Tosh. Two favorites of mine. And yes, I agree there’s not much of this kind of conversation or Art going on, that gets much attention.