Watching a Jean Luc-Godard Movie Does Not Always Need to Be Frustrating

Jean Luc-Godard is without question one of the giants of international cinema, up there with Fellini and Kurosawa and maybe even the master himself Ingmar Bergman. Maybe. Foreign films in general can be frustrating for Americans since they have to read in order to get the fullest enjoyment; badly dubbed English language versions should be avoided at all costs. But Godard presents a further difficulty apart from language.

No, that's not true. The frustration involved in enjoying a Jean Luc-Godard film does have to do with language, but not language in terms of words. Rather, the language that frustrates so many American filmgoers is the language of cinema. Jean Luc-Godard is a Marxist and therefore his films exist to challenge the ideology behind cinema as an art form. Since ideology is expressed not only in content but form, the non-linear structure of Godard's films serve a purpose.

The ideology behind Hollywood movies are dependent upon the importance of narrative. The story is what it's important. Yes, there can be meaning in a movie even as seemingly absent of a deeper meaning like Nacho Libre, but what's important above all else is the story. And the way the story is told is designed to further the understanding of the story. Even when a story may get a little complex---Syriana or Memento, for instance-it's still pretty easy to explain what happened. And we have come to think that narrative is the only real reason to make a movie. Anything else is art-house avant garde. Or pretentious. Pretentious is a word granted Godard's movies quite often. Usually by frustrated people who didn't understand it. Pretentious is always a reliable adjective for describing what you don't understand.