Jean-Luc Godard decided to go. His relation to the photographic image and use of it in his films were so rich and fascinating. Here’s a little extract on the matter from my book ‘Photography and Cinema’: “The place of the photograph in the films of Jean-Luc Godard deserves a book-length study of its own. Few directors have explored it so thoroughly. He has considered everything from the freeze frame (Sauve qui peut (la vie), 1980) and advertising (Une femme mariée, 1964) to news photos (Cinétracts, 1968; Je vous salue, Sarajevo, 1993) and the tableau (Passion, 1982). In general, he sees photographs as social signs belonging to the construction of popular belief or ideology. His relation to them is invariably analytical; when they enter his work they are usually from the domain of the mass media, and on screen they are as much objects of cultural critique as filmic fascination. Les Carabiniers (The Riflemen, 1963), Godard’s take on the war movie, is a political satire about two coarse young men joining a king’s army on the promise of riches and the opportunity to kill. To their girlfriends back home they send banal picture postcards with equally banal comments: ‘We shot seven men then had breakfast’ (Godard appropriated real wartime correspondence). On their return the soldiers divide up a suitcase of more postcards, as if they were conquerors gloating over spoils. ‘We’ve got the world’s treasures!’ boasts one. ‘Monuments. Transportation. Stores. Works of Art. Factories. Natural Wonders. Mountains. Flowers. Deserts. Landscapes. Animals. The five continents. The planets. Naturally each part is divided into several parts that are divided into more parts.’ They slam down endless images of cars, buildings, boats, houses and more. Then come images of women – from art history, pornography and Hollywood – as if women too were commodities promised by the state in exchange for their labours. Intentionally, the scene goes on far too long, making clear the numbing effects not just of war but also of photographs as casual substitutes for knowledge and experience.” @reaktionbooks