Film critic Richard Brody to introduce Godard film series at IU Cinema

The IU Cinema will welcome Richard Brody, a film critic with the New Yorker, to introduce a series of films by French New Wave director and screenwriter Jean-Luc Godard.

Brody will also be the keynote speaker of the Jorgensen Guest Lecture Series on Friday, Nov. 8, examining various works by Godard.

IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers worked alongside other cinema administrators for two months on this specific series.

“The timing is fortuitous, though, as IU Cinema can capitalize on the great press in NYC surrounding their series,” Vickers said.

The films will play from Nov. 1 through Nov. 17.

Vickers said he hopes both the screenings and the lecture will garner spectatorship of anywhere from 50 to 150 people.

One Godard enthusiast who plans to attend is Joan Hawkins, associate professor in the Department of Communication and Culture.

Hawkins said she appreciates the rebellious nature of Godard’s films.

“Godard once famously said that he didn’t make films about politics, he made political films or made them in a political way,” Hawkins said.

James Hook, associate instructor and Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication and Culture, said he has focused more on Godard’s older work.

“One of the things that excites me most about the upcoming series is the chance it will provide to see some of his later and more recent works,” Hook said.

Hawkins said she has studied Godard for 40 years and has been personally influenced by his films.

“The first I saw was “Breathless”, which just knocked me out,” he said. “I was 19 and just beginning to study French and philosophy, and it was that film that made me want to study film seriously.”

The series also provides an opportunity for those unfamiliar with the work of Godard to experience his films.

“Godard is considered by many to be one of the greatest filmmakers ever, and by some — like me — to be one of the greatest filmmakers still working today,” Hawkins said.

Vickers said he finds Godard’s work fascinating.

“For me, Godard’s work has always been complex, political and immersed in popular culture,” he said. “I would suggest that for me, the experience of watching his films is much more intellectual than visceral — full of poetry and philosophy.”

Hook said the cinematic experience itself will be a treat.

“I know it’s a cliché, but Godard is such a cinematic director that his work really does deserve to be seen in, well, a cinema,” he said.