Notre Musique (DVD)

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Godard doesn´t provide any solutions here. Revolutionaries have frequently played a central role in his films, but here Olga is strictly a tragic figure. Her act of protest is neither heroic nor criminal; she is merely doomed to failure the minute she chooses this path. Godard, once the angry young man, seems to have aged into the resigned fatalist; revolution no longer holds the promise of delivery from the world´s problems and he doesn´t seem to know what comes next. The same is true of the future of film. At one point, a student asks if digital cameras can save cinema and Godard can only stare in mute silence; he simply doesn´t know the answer. Later, when he is informed of Olga´s death, he can only listen helplessly as he tends to his flower garden. Can anything break us out of this vicious cycle or are we going to be listening to "our music" for many more centuries to come? For once, JLG doesn't have any answers.

It is tempting to suggest that Godard has matured into a more contemplative phase, but that is too facile an interpretation. "Notre Musique" is not nearly as accusatory or aggressive as many of his films, but it´s probably foolish to read any major shift into a single work. Still, it´s difficult to watch this movie without wondering if it represents a kind of summation or end-point for Godard, one of the most prolific filmmakers of the latter half of the 20th Century.

I am not qualified to assess the film´s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; I´m not sure "stance" is even the right word since the film ultimately focuses on a kind of doleful mourning for the whole sorry state of affairs than any overt political statement. However, I am comfortable in stating that I consider "Notre Musique" Godard´s best work at least since his criminally underrated "Germany Year Ninety Nine Zero" (1991). When I saw it in the theater, I was overwhelmed by the experience on a very visceral level. On DVD, I find it to be eminently rewatchable (I have seen it four times now) and filled to the brim with a soup of ideas, thoughts and wisps of emotion.

Video

The DVD is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The image quality is generally good though the colors seem a bit washed out; I can´t remember if this is what it looked in the theater as well.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The sound design is not nearly as complex as in some of Godard´s earlier work like "King Lear" (1987), which could be the subject of an entire book on sound all by itself. Reflecting its international cast, the film is in French (mostly), English, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and Serbo-Croatian. Optional English subtitles support the audio, though not all lines are subtitled as some languages were meant not to be translated even for French audiences; only a few lines (some in Spanish, some in Serbo-Croatian go untranslated).

Extras

Nothing save for a Filmography and a Trailer Gallery.

Closing Thoughts

Your appreciation of "Notre Musique" is likely to be related to your familiarity with Godard´s recent work. A perfectly reasonable viewer might see "Notre Musique" as willfully opaque and incomprehensible. On the other hand, most of the critics familiar with Godard´s recent output have argued that "Notre Musique" is, by far, his most accessible and mainstream film in many years; compared to "In Praise of Love" it is certainly, in the words of Alex de Large, "as clear as an unmuddied lake." The film has a very obvious tripartite structure (the three kingdoms) and is perhaps his most beautifully and clearly composed film in years, but nobody will blame you if you still find yourself lost. "Notre Musique" is not a great jumping-on point for the Godard neophyte. My rating is simply an acknowledgement of my own appreciation for a film by perhaps my favorite director of all-time; I can´t really "recommend" the movie to any particular viewer without knowing more about his or her familiarity with Godard. Maybe the best strategy is to work your way up to it by way of "Alphaville", "Weekend" and "Tout Va Bien." Like many of Godard´s films, "Notre Musique" requires a little extra work on the part of the viewer, work that, in my opinion, will be richly rewarded.