The Image Book

60 years after helping to define the French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard is still a vital and exciting filmmaker. During the last 20 years he has grown more and more experimental; from the mini TV series Histoire(s) du cinema to the masterful and absurd 3D movie Adieu au langage (2014).

With The Image Book he goes one step further, and delivers a challenging film which is just as much an art installation – while managing to remain both accessible and funny. In form it is a collage or an essay, wherein scenes from film history are edited together with everything from excerpts of artworks to jarring images from the news bulletins of the past ten years. Every so often the images on screen are commented upon by Godard’s own rasping voice. All of this is combined with bits of unsettling classical music and texts from the very best of world literature, making the film seem as much a dream as a nightmare.

The Image Book is a different experience. Its images evokes feelings that stay with you, and the soundscape is complex – sometimes even chaotic. As the title hints at, the film is a critical examination of the power of images, and of what truths and lies it can tell us. A common thread in the film is how images have shaped our understanding of the Arab world. Almost 90-years-old Godard has produced a virtuous commentary on politics and war, which is undoubtedly best experienced on the big screen.