Film Socialisme Review

Jean-Luc Godard has declared this his last film and perhaps it’s as well, as he demonstrates a contempt for cinema and its audience in this ‘symphony in three movements’, which has been wilfully constructed to denounce the failings of the bourgeoisie and proclaim his own genius. The first segment elicits the views of cruise ship passengers; the second riffs on a generational struggle at a rural gas station; and the last collages images, ideas and sounds from a range of filmic, literary and historical sources. The effect of the clashing visual styles is often thrilling, while Godard boldly opts for shorthand subtitles instead of the traditional pseudo-translations. But while his anger at the continued folly of global society is entirely justified, the over-arching sense of auteuristic superiority is hugely resistible.