Few filmmakers have had so profound an effect on the development of the art as Jean-Luc Godard. From his early days as a critic and thinker in the pages of Cahiers du Cinéma and elsewhere, through the great age of the New Wave in the 1960s, continuing (with a lesser impact) in the 70s and 80s, Godard has redefined the way we look at film. An essayist and poet of the cinema, he makes the language of film a real part of his narratives.

With a prodigious sense of exploration, Godard has worked his way through no less than four artistic periods since his days as a critic in the 50s: The "New Wave" Godard (still the most influential) lasted from Breathless (1959) to Weekend (1967). The "Revolutionary" Godard stretched from Le Gai Savoir (1968) to Tout va bien (1972), encompassing the "Dziga Vertov" period. Godard the "Vidéoaste" lasted from the formation of the Sonimage production company with Anne-Marie Miéville in Grenoble through 1978. Finally, the "Contemplative" Godard began with Every Man for Himself / Sauve qui peut la vie and has extended through Hélas pour moi / Woe is Me (1993).