A landmark biography explores the crucial resonances among the life, work, and times of one of the most influential filmmakers of our age

When Jean-Luc Godard wed the ideals of filmmaking to the realities of autobiography and current events, he changed the nature of cinema. Unlike any earlier films, Godard's work shifts fluidly from fiction to documentary, from criticism to art. The man himself also projects shifting images--cultural hero, fierce loner, shrewd businessman. Hailed by filmmakers as a--if not the--key influence on cinema, Godard has entered the modern canon, a figure as mysterious as he is indispensable.

In Everything Is Cinema, critic Richard Brody has amassed hundreds of interviews to demystify the elusive director and his work. Paying as much attention to Godard's technical inventions as to the political forces of the postwar world, Brody traces an arc from the director's early critical writing, through his popular success with Breathless, to the grand vision of his later years. He vividly depicts Godard's wealthy conservative family, his fluid politics, and his tumultuous dealings with women and fellow New Wave filmmakers.
Everything Is Cinema confirms Godard's greatness and shows decisively that his films have left their mark on screens everywhere.


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Review

"Richard Brody's biography of Godard—arguably the most important, enigmatic, and exciting filmmaker of the second half of the 20th century—effortlessly weaves intellectual history, a personal saga, and an authoritative reading of the films themselves into a seamless web. It virtually crackles with intelligence, and is a must read for anyone interested in cinema."—Peter Biskind, author of Gods and Monsters: Thirty Years of Writing on Film and Culture

"Full of lucid analysis and human context, Richard Brody's book performs a heroic act in rescuing Godard and his growing shelf of works from the prison of myth and theory, from the cult of youth and the cult of the '60s, restoring him to his place as an engaged, hard-working artist."—Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude


"Godard changed the movies as much as the American masters he grew up on: Welles, Hawks, Hitchcock, and the rest. He is as original as Picasso—but unlike Picasso, he has been denied the biography he has always deserved. This is it. Just at the moment when the New Wave turns fifty, Richard Brody has given us Everything is Cinema, a remarkable book which describes with sharp intelligence a great and elusive artist's times, intellect, passions, and work."—Wes Anderson, writer and director of Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic


"Everything Is Cinema is better than a biography, it is a novel. And a great novel, in which one discovers the story of a man who almost picked the wrong art form, a struggling writer who became an immense filmmaker."—Bernard-Henri Lévy, author of American Vertigo
About the Author
Richard Brody, a film critic and editor at The New Yorker, is also an independent filmmaker who lives in New York City. Everything Is Cinema is his first book.
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Publisher: Metropolitan Books; Revised edition (13 May 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805068864
ISBN-13: 978-0805068863

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Fine book on an enigmatic artist 25 November 2011
By Cliff Burns -
I must congratulate Mr. Brody for his in-depth examination of one the the great auteurs of cinema, a man who has consistently defied convention and created a body of work unlike anyone else in his profession.

Writing about Jean Luc Godard in an exercise in exasperation because the director is deliberately elliptical, leaving his films, methods and aesthetic open to discussion and varied interpretations. Branded, alternately, a fascist sympathizer, a communist, an anarchist and everything in between, Godard continues (to this day) to work at his own pace, exploring the themes that fascinate him without apology to critics, colleagues or even his most devoted followers and acolytes.

It is very easy to look foolish when discussing an artist as fluid, ever-evolving and unabashedly personal as Godard, but Mr. Brody's book treats its subject with finesse, subtlety, erudition and respect.

A superb meditation on a cinematic master.

must have on godard 9 September 2009
By Donna Nueva -
if you love godard, you must have this book,by THE NEW YORKER film reviewer, richard brody.he offers an insightful biography of godard, and his influences, the reviews are in chronological order, and are MUST READS, after watching the dvds. his treatment of BREATHLESS is packed with information and astute observations. it is absolutely amazing that BREATHLESS was godard's first film. keep this book by your dvd player!

Thorough and Detailed 12 January 2009
By Neil -
An excellent overview of the life and work of Godard. Although some may quibble at elements of Brody's approach, it would be impossible to write a book on Godard that pleases everyone. Brody's work is an interesting companion to Colin MacCabe's biography, published a few years back. Read both, watch the films and Godard will mean what he means as you stare out from within your human skull