Difficult work in a popular medium: Godard on 'Hitchcock's method'

In the next-to-last episode of his video series "Histoire(s) du cinema" (1988-98), Jean-Luc Godard recombines familiar images from Hitchcock's films in a demonstration of what he calls "Hitchcock's method", an all-powerful form of montage. The basic thrust seems to be a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Critical quarterly 2009-10, Vol.51 (3), p.63-84
Main Author: WARNER, RICK
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative studies
Godard, Jean-Luc (1930-2022)
Hitchcock, Alfred (1899-1980)
Motion picture criticism
Motion picture directors & producers
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In the next-to-last episode of his video series "Histoire(s) du cinema" (1988-98), Jean-Luc Godard recombines familiar images from Hitchcock's films in a demonstration of what he calls "Hitchcock's method", an all-powerful form of montage. The basic thrust seems to be a salute to Hitchcock's command of objects through film form; Godard's itemizing voiceover indicates as much and so far this has been a common reading of the segment by critics. But this view, however encouraged by Godard's own statements, gives us a limited sense of what's going on in this complex sequence. The more closely we examine this segment in "Histoire(s)", the more difficult it becomes to reconcile what Godard is doing with what he is saying. (Quotes from original text)
ISSN:0011-1562
1467-8705
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8705.2009.01875.x