ICA London premieres Godard's cinematic farewell

Institute of Contemporary Arts in London is opening an exhibition dedicated to the legendary film director Jean-Luc Godard. Titled Jean-Luc Godard: Scénario(s), the show explores Godard's final creative output before his death in 2022, comprising two films, both of which are premieres in the UK.

The first film, initially titled Scénario, then renamed Scénarios, was the product of Godard's final years, a short piece that represents the culmination of his film work. Combining elements of film, opera, and exhibitions and confronting the artist's poignant emotions towards his ageing body and the ever-approaching horizon of death, Scénarios is ambitious in its scope and multifaceted in the topics that it covers. Initially planned as a six-part feature-length film, Scénarios distils into 18 minutes the vicissitudes of the artist's life, interspersed with scenes of violence and socio-political commentary. Although technically unfinished, it is this incompleteness that infuses the piece with a melancholy undertone that highlights Godard's curiosity for what lies after death.

Exposé du film annonce du film “Scénarios” (36 minutes) chronologically precedes Scénarios, but also expands on it, penetrating into the thought processes that coalesced in Godard's mind. Throughout the entirety of the film, Godard expounds on the physical process of gathering the images, texts, ideas, and references and their role in conceptualizing the film Scénarios. While seemingly preparatory in its function, Godard's meticulous care belies the inherently transitory nature of this scrapbook, imbuing it with a completeness all its own.

The exhibition Jean-Luc Godard: Scénarios is complemented by a curated programme of films spanning over six decades of Godard's films, ranging from the Nouvelle Vague classic Une femme est une femme to his monumental eight-part treatise/cinematic painting Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988-1998). Tracing a trajectory through the vastness of Godard's substantial oeuvre and the myriad of stories that he has interwoven into it, this programme further contextualizes Godard's legacy, providing visitors the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with familiar works and discover or reassess those films which had been previously overlooked. The exhibition Jean-Luc Godard: Scénarios opens at ICA on December 14 and closes on December 22, 2024. More information about this and other events at ICA can be found on their site.