Features: DVD, English, Subtitled
Part poetry, part journalism, part philosophy, master filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard's Notre Musique is a witty and lyrical reflection on war through the ages.The film is structured into three Dantean Kingdoms: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The journey begins in Hell, represented by modern war and then moves to Purgatory, set in Sarajevo. Finally, Paradise is conceived as a small beach guarded by Marines from the United States. At the same time, the film also follows the parallel stories of two Israeli Jewish women, one drawn to the light and one drawn towards darkness.
"...the most lucid of the master's recent films." J. Hoberman, Village Voice
"A film of flowing, redemptive beauty and poetry, at once immediate yet classic in its simplicity of form." Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"Elegant, insistent movie -- a great gray filmmaker's finest in years." Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Editor's Note
French master Jean-Luc Godard's NOTRE MUSIQUE is a passionate, scathing indictment of war. Divided into three segments, the film boldly condemns the notion of war and the damage that it causes. The first segment, Hell, is a breathtaking visual montage that captures the cruelty and brutality of battle. Next comes Purgatory. Set in postwar, modern-day Sarajevo, this chapter of the film finds Godard at his most philosophical. Godard himself appears as a lecturer at a cultural conference, in which he points out, through a photographic presentation, the similarities between such seemingly opposite groups as the Israelis and Palestinians. Meanwhile, a young Israeli student (Sarah Adler) searches for answers of her own by taking photographs and interviewing various individuals about the concept of power. Another young woman, Olga (Nade Dieu), shows her disdain for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict by performing an act of defiance that leads to the film's third and final segment, Paradise, in which Olga finds herself on the other side of consciousness. NOTRE MUSIQUE is an expression of frustration with the violence in the world. The opening montage recalls Godard's experimental work from the 1970s, while the middle segment features the same literate, philosophical musings that have been with Godard since day one. Meanwhile, the closing vision of paradise brings to mind his audacious films from the late-1960s (WEEKEND, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL). NOTRE MUSIQUE is the work of a genius who is still at the top of his game. This film was included in the 42nd New York Film Festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
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