Career Timeline of Jean-Luc Godard: Major Achievements and Milestones

From career breakthroughs to professional milestones, explore how Jean-Luc Godard made an impact.

Jean-Luc Godard was a highly influential French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and critic, a key figure in the French New Wave. His experimental approach revolutionized filmmaking through innovations in narrative, sound, camerawork, and continuity. Godard's work challenged conventional cinematic norms and cemented his place as one of the most important filmmakers of the post-war era.

Sections (3)

Full Timeline Early Life & Education Career & Achievements

1950: Founding of La Gazette du cinéma

In 1950, Jean-Luc Godard, along with Maurice Schérer (Éric Rohmer) and Jacques Rivette, founded the short-lived film journal La Gazette du cinéma, publishing five issues.

1951: Publication in Cahiers du Cinéma

In 1951, Jean-Luc Godard was among the first younger critics from the CCQL/Cinémathèque group to be published in Cahiers du Cinéma, a seminal publication on cinema.

January 1952: Review of No Sad Songs for Me

In January 1952, Jean-Luc Godard's review of Rudolph Maté's American melodrama, No Sad Songs for Me, was featured in Cahiers du Cinéma.

September 1952: Publication of Defence and Illustration of Classical Découpage

In September 1952, Jean-Luc Godard's "Defence and Illustration of Classical Découpage" was published, where he defended the shot-reverse shot technique and attacked an earlier article by André Bazin.

1955: Making of Une femme coquette

In 1955, while continuing to work for Cahiers, Jean-Luc Godard made Une femme coquette, a 10-minute short film in Geneva, marking an early step in his directorial career.

January 1956: Return to Paris

In January 1956, Jean-Luc Godard returned to Paris, but his ambitious plan to create a feature film based on Goethe's Elective Affinities was unsuccessful.

1956: Seberg in Saint Joan

In 1956, Jean Seberg became famous after Otto Preminger chose her to play Joan of Arc in his film Saint Joan.

1957: Directing All the Boys Are Called Patrick

In the autumn of 1957, Jean-Luc Godard directed All the Boys Are Called Patrick from a script by Éric Rohmer, produced by Pierre Braunberger, as part of a planned series of short films.

May 1958: Setting of Le petit soldat

The film Le petit soldat begins on 13 May 1958, the date of the attempted putsch in Algeria, and ends later the same month. The film revolves around Bruno Forestier, a photojournalist involved with a right-wing paramilitary group, and his relationship with Veronica Dreyer.

December 1958: Reporting from the Festival of Short Films

In December 1958, Jean-Luc Godard reported from the Festival of Short Films in Tours, expressing admiration for the work of Jacques Demy, Jacques Rozier, and Agnès Varda and solidifying friendships.

1958: Bonjour Tristesse

In 1958, Jean Seberg starred in Otto Preminger's adaptation of Bonjour Tristesse. Her performance was not well-received by critics, but Truffaut and Godard disagreed with the negative reviews.

1959: Seeking Funds for Feature Film

Jean-Luc Godard traveled to the 1959 Cannes Film Festival to seek funds from producer Georges de Beauregard for his feature film project, eventually securing financing from a film distributor, René Pignières.

January 1960: Jean Vigo Prize

In January 1960, Godard won the Jean Vigo Prize for Breathless. The prize was awarded "to encourage an auteur of the future".

1960: Shooting Le petit soldat

In 1960, Godard shot Le petit soldat (The Little Soldier), which starred Anna Karina, who had very little acting experience. Godard and Karina became a couple by the end of the shoot.

1960: Global Acclaim for Breathless

In 1960, Jean-Luc Godard received global acclaim for his film Breathless, which became a milestone in the French New Wave movement.

1960: Release of Breathless

In 1960, Jean-Luc Godard released Breathless (À bout de souffle), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, showcasing the French New Wave style and innovative film techniques.

1961: A Woman Is a Woman Release

In 1961, Godard released his first color film, A Woman Is a Woman, starring Anna Karina and Belmondo. The film was intended as an homage to the American musical and had autobiographical elements related to Godard's relationship with Anna Karina.

1962: Vivre sa vie Release

In 1962, Godard released Vivre sa vie (My Life to Live), starring Anna Karina as Nana, a mother and aspiring actress who becomes a streetwalker.

1962: Release of Vivre sa vie

In 1962, Jean-Luc Godard released Vivre sa vie, starring Anna Karina. This collaboration with Karina is considered highly influential in cinema history.

1963: Le Mepris Release

In 1963, Godard released Le Mépris (Contempt), starring Michel Piccoli and Brigitte Bardot. The film follows a screenwriter commissioned to rewrite the script for an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey.

1964: Anouchka Films and Bande à part

In 1964, Godard and Anna Karina formed a production company called Anouchka Films. That same year, Godard directed Bande à part (Band of Outsiders), starring Karina, which he described as "Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka."

1964: Une femme mariée Release

In 1964, Godard followed Band of Outsiders with Une femme mariée (A Married Woman). The film was a deliberate, toned-down picture shot in four weeks, and reflected Godard's engagement with contemporary thinking and his loss of faith in Hollywood styles.

1964: A Band Apart film release

In 1964, Godard released the film A Band Apart. Quentin Tarantino later named his production company after it.

1964: Release of Bande à part

In 1964, Jean-Luc Godard released Bande à part, starring Anna Karina. This collaboration with Karina is considered highly influential in cinema history.

1965: Alphaville and Pierrot le Fou Release

In 1965, Godard directed Alphaville, a blend of science fiction, film noir, and satire, and also released Pierrot le Fou, which featured Belmondo. Godard described Pierrot le Fou as being about the violence and loneliness that lie so close to happiness today.

1965: Release of Pierrot le Fou

In 1965, Jean-Luc Godard released Pierrot le Fou, starring Anna Karina. This collaboration with Karina is considered highly influential in cinema history.

1965: Pierrot le fou and the Marxist Critique

In 1965, in Pierrot le fou, Belmondo played on the word 'scandal' and the 'freedom' that the Scandal girdle supposedly offered women, in the context of a Marxist critique of commodification, of pop art derision at consumerism, and of a feminist denunciation of women's false 'liberation'.

1966: Made in U.S.A Release

In 1966, Godard released Made in U.S.A, inspired by Richard Stark's The Jugger and American Noir films. The film stars Anna Karina and features a cameo by Marianne Faithfull.

1966: Masculin Féminin shot in Sweden

In 1966, Godard's movie Masculin Féminin was shot in Sweden, Ingmar Bergman found it mind-numbingly boring.

1967: Loin du Vietnam Participation

In 1967, Godard participated in the anti-war project Loin du Vietnam, which consisted of seven sketches directed by multiple directors. Godard used stock footage from La Chinoise for his contribution.

1967: La Chinoise Release

In 1967, Godard released La Chinoise. The film focused on a group of students and engaged with the ideas coming out of the student activist groups in contemporary France.

1967: Two or Three Things I Know About Her Release

In 1967, Godard released Two or Three Things I Know About Her, starring Marina Vlady, who portrays a woman leading a double life. The film is considered to be "among the greatest achievements in filmmaking."

May 1968: May 1968 Events Foreshadowed

Released just before the May 1968 events, Godard's film La Chinoise is thought by some to have foreshadowed the student rebellions that took place.

May 1968: Beginning of the Militant Period

The period from May 1968 into the 1970s marks the beginning of Godard's "militant" or "radical" period, characterized by revolutionary rhetoric in his films and public statements.

1969: Formation of the Dziga Vertov Group

In 1969, Jean-Luc Godard, influenced by Marxist philosophy, formed the Dziga Vertov Group with other radical filmmakers to create political works.

1970: Middle East Trip

In 1970, Godard traveled to the Middle East to make a pro-Palestinian film, but the project was not completed. The footage was later used in the 1976 film Ici et ailleurs.

1976: Release of Ici et ailleurs

In 1976, Godard released the film Ici et ailleurs, which included footage from a pro-Palestinian film project that he did not complete in 1970.

1980: Brecht's influence until 1980

Until 1980, Bertolt Brecht's influence is keenly felt through much of Godard's work, when Godard used cinematic expression for specific political ends.