Goodbye to Language

Jean-Luc Godard’s typically innovative and playful meditation on technology, love and language was acclaimed one of the best films of 2014.

Jean-Luc Godard, ever the innovator well into his eighties, returns with a film that has gathered widespread acclaim since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2014, where it shared the Jury Prize.

While it’s narrative about a couple and their communication problems is as typically dense and disruptive as ever, crammed with Godard’s usual meditations on philosophy, relationships, technology, politics and language, there’s also an increased sense of playfulness, exemplified by a star role for the director’s dog, Roxy, and even the odd spot of toilet humour. Although released to cinemas in 3D, this 2D presentation still contains more visual and aural innovations than most filmmakers manage in a career, proving that the director who popularised the jump-cut back in 1959 has lost none of his power to evolve the language of film. The film’s widespread acclaim has resulted in a new appreciation of Godard’s continuing relevance, and it went on to earn second place in the year-end polls of the three most prestigious international film publications – Sight and Sound, Film Comment and Cahiers du Cinema.