Goodbye to Language (2014) on Netflix
Josette, who is married, and Gédéon, who is single, begin an affair. Ivitch and Marcus repeat the same story, and a dog moves between town and country.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb5.8/106,722 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
An affair is told twice, in two versions that mirror each other. In the first, called Nature, Josette, a married woman, meets Gédéon, a single man, at a cultural center in Nyon. A man arrives, speaks German to her, orders her home, fires a gun, and leaves. Gédéon follows her to a fountain and offers his service. In the second, called Metaphor, the same events unfold at the lakefront with Ivitch and Marcus. A dog named Roxy wanders between town and country.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Goodbye to Language (2014)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film includes a "separation" shot in which a single unbroken take splits into two separate images, one visible to each eye, before returning to one single 3D shot; the film's elaborate shots have been called new techniques of the film vocabulary.
- Godard initially wanted major stars in the lead roles and asked Sophie Marceau and Vincent Cassel to play the couple; Cassel refused, so Godard decided to use unknown actors instead.
- The actors waited two and a half years for shooting to begin because of constant delays, and after rehearsing for two years Kamel Abdelli travelled from Paris to Rolle for the first day of shooting only to find that Godard had changed his mind.
- For the 3D, one camera in Aragno's rig was mounted upside down so both sensors registered the same angle of view and parallax was avoided, and he said no computers were involved in the calibration — just a hammer and a chisel.
- Godard was expected at the film's Cannes premiere on 21 May 2014 but announced days before that he would not attend; he said he did not want the Palme d'Or and would give it to his tax advisor if he won, as he had done with his Honorary Oscar.
- French film historian Florence Colombani was asked to travel to Godard's home and act in the film, then discovered that he only wanted to film her hands drawing the Cross of Lorraine while she spoke her dialogue.
- Godard's dog Roxy won the Prix special Palm Dog Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where the film itself shared the Jury Prize with Xavier Dolan's Mommy.
- Goodbye to Language is Godard's 42nd feature film and 121st film or video project, and his first to use 3D technology.
