oscar@utcsrgv.UUCP (Oscar M. Nierstrasz) (11/15/83)
In Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless", a character who is apparently
standing in for the director himself is asked what his ambition
in life is. After no more than a moment's reflection he
responds: "To become immortal, and then die." This, of course, is
an answer an artist would give -- you can gain immortality only
through your art. The thesis of "Passion", made twenty-five
years later at the opposite end of Godard's career so far, is
that this ain't so easy, especially when your art is making
movies.
"Passion" is Godard's 8 1/2. It is a film about filmmaking that
is disturbingly self-referential. The protagonist is a Polish
filmmaker called Jerzy who is making a video production for
"Video Tele France". He is over-budget and behind schedule. He
is plagued by irate producers and actors who keep quitting. He
can't keep his own personal problems from interfering with the
production let alone those of the cast and crew. Even the
equipment is being disagreeable: every filming session ends
unsatisfactorily because the lighting isn't right. Jerzy
justifiably complains, "I'm fed up with a production that
produces nothing."
As in 8 1/2, the distinction between the film-within-the-film and
the film itself is deliberately obscure. The names of each of
the main characters is identically to the name of the actor
performing the role: Jerzy (Radziwilowicz), Isabelle (Huppert),
Hanna (Schygulla), Michel (Piccoli). (There are probably far
more "in" jokes than I can possibly ever hope to catch.) We never
do find out what the film Jerzy is making is in fact about.
People continually ask him: "What's the story? It must have a
story..." as he, with mounting frustration, argues that it
doesn't have to have a story. The question, though, is important
to him, since he argues that "You have to *live* stories before
writing them." As near as we can tell, Jerzy's film is simply a
collection of filmed paintings: scenes by Rembrandt, Goya,
Delacroix. Godard's film too appears to be a collection of
scenes without a story. The analogy of the painting is
appropriate, though, because Godard has never been interested in
conventional narrative. His films, seldom even approaching the
commercial, are more sketches that try to capture or explore a
mood, a theme, an idea. If anything his films are more
"realistic" than those that "tell a story". You must "live the
film" as you live life and then you may ask yourself if you've
got a story.
Which brings us to the title. Jean-Luc's "Passion" is a passion
in the sense of "suffering" rather than simply a strong emotion.
We see Jerzy quite *literally* struggle with angels. Each of the
sequences that he films is accompanied by a requiem (Mozart's,
Durufle's, etc.). And he is even wounded in the side (by
accident) by a knife-wielding lunatic, though he resurrected
within three days. The incident is too much for the production,
however, and the whole thing collapses.
The film is a failure, but life continues. Jerzy and Godard have
the right attitude in the end: One of the young women who worked
on the film is skipping along the road as she leaves the site of
the aborted production. She turns down several offers of a ride,
explaining "I don't like cars." When she says the same thing to
Jerzy, he replies, "It's not a car -- it's a flying carpet." She
shrugs and gets in the car.
Oscar Nierstrasz
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