Happy Science (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | the happy Science |
| Original title | Le gai savoir |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1969 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean-Luc Godard |
| script | Jean-Luc Godard inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile or about education (1762) |
| production | ORTF |
| camera |
Georges Leclerc Jean-Louis Picavet |
| cut | Germaine Cohen |
| occupation | |
| |
The happy science is a cinema experiment staged by Jean-Luc Godard in 1968 that breaks all previous forms of film design.
action
The film is a conceptual and creative experiment that consistently breaks with all narrative forms of classic entertainment cinema. Émile Rousseau, a descendant of Jean-Jacques Rousseau , and Patricia Lumumba, the daughter of the Congolese anti-colonialist, freedom fighter and first independent prime minister of his country, Patrice Lumumba , who was murdered in 1961 , meet one night in no man's land and begin a comprehensive discussion about the meaning of images and words. Émile was expelled from the university in the unrest year of 1968, and the laid-off worker Patrice is fighting for the world revolution. Both shed light on the aspects of urgently needed change, listen to the radio, read newspapers and books and finally state an omnipresent and progressive oppression of the masses as well as of the individual.
Production notes and trivia
The happy science was produced in the most minimalistic way and heralded Godard's phase of the total renunciation of common forms of design with regard to narrative structures and image compositions in his feature films. Filmed shortly before and after May 1968 in France , which was marked by student unrest, Le gai savoir also reflects the basic political and social mood of the country, especially among the left-wing revolutionary student body. The first verifiable performance took place on June 28, 1969 at the Berlinale , where the film was also nominated for the Golden Bear . The mass start in Germany was on July 16, 1969.
The film title refers to Friedrich Nietzsche 's book of the same name published in 1882 . Numerous texts were taken from the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau .
The production in Munich's Bavaria Studios was commissioned and co-produced by the French state television broadcaster ORTF , but not broadcast.
In the French original, director Godard also appeared as a (invisible) narrator.
criticism
“Everyone is talking about the revolution; Jean-Luc Godard, 38, too. But the fastest and most clever cinema chronicler of our day doesn't take to the streets; he goes into theory. His most recent film is a ciné essay on ciné elements, a discourse on media studies, an attempt to portray the mechanics of association and thus the ability to manipulate hearing and seeing: For the filmmaker Godard, revolution begins with 'revolutionizing audio-visual communication' 'Liberation through' right knowing '. As is usually the case with Godard, the film brings more and so too much. He quotes Marx, Marcuse, Montaigne and the structuralist Lévi-Strauss; he collages posters, comic strips, advertisements and some May Revolution; at first sight it appears more chaotic than methodical. (...) 'The film failed,' concluded Godard. Coquetry? Barely. To philosophize with film about film means to use the means that should be disavowed as manipulation means. "
“ Le gai savoir is a radical rejection of the dramaturgy of the film. Long dialogues in front of a fixed camera alternate with still photos, text inserts; The screen remains dark for long stretches while you only hear dialogues. The result can undoubtedly no longer be 'consumed' as art, but it limits its effect to a small circle of convinced Godard followers. "
“Since the film was commissioned (later rejected) by French television, Godard chose the interview, the most common form of television, as a model. Never before has cinema been used so radically as a medium for philosophical discourse and the examination of systems of signs. The ideas are just as important to the film as the images. "
Individual evidence
Web links
- detailed review in Der Spiegel , issue 28/1969
- The Gay Science in the Internet Movie Database (English)