Cinema’s original enfant terrible, one of the leaders of the French New Wave, a key influence on the American cinema of the 1970s and one of the few true auteurs still making movies: Jean-Luc Godard is all of these and more. A maverick force from the beginning, when his debut film A Bout De Souffle (1959) tore up the cinematic rulebook, Godard has continued to inspire and challenge moviegoers throughout a career that spans more than four decades. Of this set, Passion is new to UK DVD. A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (1959) ‘Seminal, a film to see and see again’ The Observer Stylish and sexy, Breathless [A Bout De Souffle] is the epitome of cinematic cool. A fast tale of a young man on the run in Paris at the end of the 50’s, Breathless shook up the film world upon its release and has made a lasting impression on cinema history. Starring Jean Paul Belmondo, the film was produced by Godard from an original treatment by François Truffaut in a production that united the four initiators of the ‘nouvelle Vague’ - Claude Chabrol acted as artistic director while acclaimed director Jean Pierre Melville appeared in front of camera. ALPHAVILLE (1965) Written and directed by Godard, Alphaville is the strangely beautiful futuristic tale of Lemmy Caution, an American private eye sent to a planet ruled by Von Braun, a malevolent scientist who has outlawed human emotions in favour of logic. The film deals with the fight between indivualism in face of inhumanity and blind conformity, and won the Golden Bear award of the Berlin Film Festival in 1965. MADE IN THE USA (1966) A Classic New Wave crime thriller, Made in USA is inspired by the American Noir thrillers of previous decades, but as ever Godard colours the old traditions with his own distinctive style. Anna Karina stars as the questing anti-hero searching the murderer of her lover, and the film features a cameo by Marianne Faithful. PASSION (1982) Godard’s 1982 film Passion is a fascinating musing on the nature of life love and art, in a world seen through the eyes of disoriented Polish film director Jerzy and his partner Laszlo. Staying at the hotel where he is filming, Jerzy becomes involved with the hotel owner Hanna and Factory worker Isabelle and reality and art mingle as he searches for the story he wishes to tell. To the displeasure of his financial backers, Jerzy has no script to speak of, and hopes instead to live the narrative as he films it. A UK DVD premiere.

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