MovieChat Forums > Wildflowers (2000) Discussion > Hints of Godard?

Hints of Godard?

posted 14 years ago by rooprect
1 reply | jump to latest

Not much action on this board, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I couldn't help but notice some very Godard-esque tricks in this film. Wondering what it might mean.

One scene that comes to mind is the scene where Sabine & Cally are sitting at the table; Sabine is opening up & telling her story for the first time. The camera does this very jarring thing where, while Sabine is talking, it abruptly switches viewpoints several times. This is a lot like the beginning of Godard's "Contempt" where the camera focuses on Bardot and abruptly switches lens filters several times.

Godard used these sorts of 'interruptions' to make a symbolic statement. I was wondering if the director of Wildflowers was doing the same thing, and if so, what's the statement?

[–] PsychoDingo 12 years ago

What you are describing is called a jump cut. That's when multiple takes of the same shot are done with slightly different camera positions, and then those takes are mixed together to create the final edited scene. The slight variations in camera position make the subject appear to suddenly jump around on the screen at each edit point.

Godard didn't invent jump cuts, but he is associated with the technique, which breaks the "rules" of film editing.