Jean-Luc Godard, a legend in French-Swiss cinema, has died at 91 by assisted suicide.
Godard was a key figure in the Nouvelle Vague, a filmmaking movement that changed the course of cinema in the late 1950s and 60s.
He was born in Paris on December 3, 1930 and came from a fairly wealthy background. His father was a French-born physician who gained citizenship in Switzerland. His mother came from a line of bankers.
After World War II, Godard began to visit the Cinematheque Francaise and discovered his love for movies. He met several other French cinema legends in the Cinematheque Francaise, including Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and Claude Chabrol.
Godard began to write for the French magazine Cahiers du Cinema and gained notoriety as a critic. He believed that movies were art, powerful enough to compare to books, poetry, and paintings.
His debut was an instant success. Titled “Breathless,” the 1960s film followed the story of a Frenchman and his love for an American exchange student. Godard wanted the movie to feel realistic as though it were a documentary. He was the first to use prominent jump-cuts, which have become a major piece in film editing.
He was awarded an honorary Cesar in 1987 and 1998 and received an honorary Academy Award in 2010. Many celebrities and filmmakers have taken to social media to pay their respects for the legend.
Edgar Wright, the director behind “Baby Driver” said that Godard was “one of the most influential, iconoclastic film-makers of them all.”
The news was first reported on by French newspaper, Liberation.
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