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The Image Book

Play trailer 1:36 Poster for The Image Book 2019 1h 25m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 89 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Jean-Luc Godard provides social commentary during a montage of digitally altered, color-saturated film clips.
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The Image Book

The Image Book

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Critics Consensus

Potentially insurmountable for viewers not attuned to the director's wavelength, The Image Book is typically confounding - and ultimately rewarding - late-period Godard.

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Critics Reviews

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Peter Rainer FilmWeek (LAist) 09/18/2019
Another infuriatingly incomprehensible Godard movie made up entirely out of archival images... Having said that, some of the imagery is powerful. Go to Full Review
Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle 03/08/2019
3.5/5
Is The Image Book really a film? Godard himself has re-engineered it as an art installation, to be shown on a TV. Go to Full Review
Ty Burr Boston Globe 02/28/2019
3.5/5
A rumination on art, politics, history, and mankind's eternal folly disguised as a cinematic collage. It's plotless but it has shape; random but with purpose. Go to Full Review
Taylor Baker Drink in the Movies 10/18/2021
60/100
Episode 47: Doc Talk Part 3 / Hail Satan? / American Factory / Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese / Honeyland / The Image Book Go to Full Review
Joseph Fahim Middle East Eye 07/02/2021
The last chapter of The Image Book transpires as a deconstruction not only of the Arab narrative imparted by the West since the invention of cinema, but of the occidental control of cinema history. Go to Full Review
Gustavo Herrera Taboada Cinencuentro 05/06/2021
As in the rest of [Godard's] filmography, the written text also complements his audiovisual language [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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08/25/2021 Complexo, muito complexo, diferente, muito diferente, muitas imagens, pouco sons, muito a dizer com poucas palavras, recorte de filmes, reportagens, animações, guerra, dor, sofrimento, às vezes desconexo, mas sempre muito intenso… Primeira obra de Jean-Luc Godard que assisto, e comecei logo pelo mais subjetivo, profundo e estranho… "O mundo não se interessa por árabes e muçulmanos, enquanto o Islã detém atenção política." É sobre. Isso, sobre a generalização, sobre Islamofobia, generalização, xenofobia, querer calar uma nação… O diretor sugeriu que nem todas as cenas fossem traduzidas, para que a imagem e sonoridade falassem por si só… Estupendo… See more 03/23/2020 Extremely cinephilic metamodern picture consisting of endless citing of feature and documentary films, which form the own statement of Godard. Not easy to watch, since Godard intentionally defies all the cinema laws, confusing and mixing pictures with sounds and music from different sources, and saturating the image to the extreme levels. Though it is still mesmerising to observe. See more 03/06/2020 This movies is not for birds, and it is for humans, and so I like it, make Breathless 2. So, this movie is good for me but not for birds. Make Pierrot LE Fou 2 please 10/ I don't know (10??) See more 01/03/2020 Somewhat uneven, but all in all a fun and smart update of a familiar story, "The Depraved" turned out better than what I was initially expecting. See more 04/25/2019 Not abysmal, albeit a well coiffed and stylish pontification of modern clergistic remedies. See more 03/28/2019 New Wave film legend Jean-Luc Godard. Godard's personal views on the state of affairs in the world and his more targeted political commentary is characterized by some film critics as coherent, but there is a distinct disconnect in the imagery and dialogue in the first 75 minutes of the film. While some of Godardï¿ 1/2(TM)s color saturated images are stunning and well worth the wait, one must have embraced his last film, Goodbye to Language, to fully accept the artistic construct of his new film. At its best, The Image Book is a continuous rollout of images that Godardï¿ 1/2(TM)s cinematographer has cleverly manipulated in terms of speed, lightening, darkening and tilting, which have the power to evoke different emotions from each viewer. The film, alternatively, can be viewed as incongruous images tenuously thread together with Godardï¿ 1/2(TM)s opinions of worldly dread, especially as it relates to the European social/political environment, and that of the world generally See more Read all reviews
The Image Book

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Movie Info

Synopsis Jean-Luc Godard provides social commentary during a montage of digitally altered, color-saturated film clips.
Director
Jean-Luc Godard
Producer
Fabrice Aragno, Mitra Farahani, Hamidreza Pejman, George Schoucair
Screenwriter
Jean-Luc Godard
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Production Co
RTS, Ecran Noir Productions, Casa Azul Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 25, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 23, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$92.8K
Runtime
1h 25m
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