Fall 1978. Serge Losique, then director of the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art at Sir George Williams University, now Concordia, invites Jean-Luc Godard to give courses on the history of cinema. The 14 conferences that followed inspired his book Introduction to a real history of cinema (1980) and its titanic series of films History(s) of cinema (1988 to 1998), which many consider to be his magnum opus.
Although Godard recognized, in the preface to his 1980 work, the contribution of the Montreal courts to his project, few traces of the courses themselves remained until now.
When Professor André Habib, of the University of Montreal, learned from researcher Timothy Barnard that videotapes of the lectures had been preserved by Concordia, he wanted to give them a second wind. Three programs from these recordings, newly restored under his direction, will be presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise this weekend.
“Even if the book remains faithful to what Godard said at Concordia, seeing him smoke his cigars, witnessing his doubts and hearing him respond to the public transports us to a very special atmosphere” , observes Professor Habib, who devoted his master’s thesis to History(s) of cinema. “The lessons also attest to its particular relationship to the history of cinema, which is not necessarily chronological. »
Historian-editor
“Every trip [à Montréal], I brought a little of my history,” wrote the filmmaker who died last year. Attached to Quebec, friend of Pierre Perrault and Gilles Groulx, he called himself a “cousin of the ONF”. At Concordia, he “confronted pieces of cinema history with his own filmography,” explains André Habib. “Godard brought together things that we didn’t necessarily think of together, which created clashes between eras and aesthetics. »
While the history of cinema was just beginning to be taught in universities, “Godard had the idea of theorizing it based on films,” adds Martin Lefebvre, professor of cinema at Concordia and thesis director of André Habib. . “He draws on his classic cinephilia, emblematic of the era of Cinema notebooksquoting Roberto Rossellini or Otto Preminger, to create unusual links with his own work” or place them in their historical context.
Due to lack of time, the extracts chosen by Godard do not appear in the programs that will be presented at the Cinémathèque québécoise. Instead, we see him interacting with Losique and the students. He addresses themes that have run through the history of cinema and his own films, as well as his screenwriting methods and the contribution of technological changes to cinematographic creation.
“We recognize Godard’s great talent as an editor in the classes,” underlines Professor Lefebvre. “Among other things, he gives a lesson on the figure of the monster, where he puts his film into dialogue Weekend (1967) with Dracula by Tod Browning, Germany year zero by Rossellini and The birds by Alfred Hitchcock. This refers to the approach of Henri Langlois, who programmed films to reveal through contrast differences or links that we would not have noticed otherwise. »
The influence of Losique
Co-founder of the Cinémathèque française in 1936 with Georges Franju and Jean Mitry, Langlois was a friend of Godard and Losique. The latter had also welcomed him to Concordia before his death in 1977. “Serge Losique offered me [ensuite] to continue the work undertaken” with Langlois, wrote Godard in 1980. “Rather than giving courses as is done in all universities in the world, I suggested to Losique that he consider the matter… as a matter… A kind of co-production which would be a sort of scenario for a possible series of films. »
The two men even signed a contract under which they would co-produce films together based on the courses at Concordia. But Godard accused Losique of sending him bogus checks. So he stopped coming to Montreal, then wrote his book and produced his Stories by himself. Losique, who signed the death warrant of his World Film Festival in 2018, saddled with $500,000 in debt, denied the allegations. It is impossible to know who is telling the truth today, especially since he did not respond to the interview request from Duty.
André Habib, however, received his blessing to present the videotapes of the courses, first at the Il cinema ritrovato festival in Bologna last spring, then at French and Quebec cinematheques this fall. A year after the filmmaker’s death, his Montreal conferences eloquently testify, according to the professor, to his vision of cinema, “an extraordinary celebration of all forms of art.”