To say it frankly, at the time I was surprised by Godar’s pull out of the Israeli film festival. My naive presumption was that such a formidable film director my have his own criticisms or appraises about the work of his fellow directors or even students but without discriminating them on a political base.

Unfortunately, Godard is also insane, anti-American, anti-Israeli and possibly anti-Semitic. The last one is ambiguous given his involvement with other Jews in the industry and his definite acknowledgment of the victims of the Holocaust.

However his career is so strange and he always goes back on things he liked – both dismissing Hollywood in general despite being completely influenced with Howard Hawks, John Ford, Nicholas Ray and Sam Fuller and his own early films, dismissing those as bourgeois.

Only hardcore Godard acolytes – which I am for all of his 60s output – still thinks he has it but he really is an old man struggling as hard as he can to say film is did, he’s still relevant, etc.

Also of note: he did say Otto Preminger’s ‘Exodus’ a very pro-Israeli film was in his 10 best list for 1960.

DAY AND NIGHT