Eloge De L'Amour Details

Already renowned for a career studded with memorable and revolutionary work, Jean-Luc Godard has produced an experimental meditation on the nature of love which ranks as one of his finest achievements. It's essentially a Teach Yourself Guide to the stylistic gimmicks — non-linear narrative, unusual editing techniques, varying visual textures — and ideological concerns — the “Hollywoodisation” of culture, the elusiveness of history and memory — that have pre-occupied the maverick maestro throughout his life. The consciously convoluted story concerns film-maker Bruno Putzulu's attempt to study the four stages of love — meeting, passion, separation and reconciliation — through the eyes of three couples. The contrast between the melancholic monochrome of the opening section and the lustrous high-resolution digital colour of the conclusion would have been enough to set it apart. But Godard's precise dissection of American cultural arrogance and the sly asides on the nature of heroism and the value of history lend a razor-sharp edge to what is, quite simply, a latterday masterpiece.

"...The performances are fresh and uninhibited....ELOGE DE L'AMOUR is its director's most substantial feature for some time..."