Scenarios (2024) Movie Script
1
A CO-PRODUCTION
This morning, around 10am,
well, 10:30 actually...
we learned about the death
of Jean-Luc Godard.
Godard!
A man we all thought was...
- Larger-than-life.
- Yes, immortal, even.
Jean-Luc Godard has passed on,
as we learned this morning...
Jean-Luc Godard, a rebel
of the European cinematic world...
Goodbye to Jean-Luc Godard,
the maestro of
New Wave cinema.
Jean-Luc Godard has died...
We learned this morning,
13 September, about the death
of the iconic
French-Swiss cinema director...
A special edition dedicated
almost entirely to Godard.
Everything you need to
understand this man...
But others, like Le Figaro,
are actually pointing out his...
But the reactions and memories
go beyond the French-speaking world.
A question for you, Laure Adler.
Did you understand Godard?
No, but I never tried
to understand Jean-Luc Godard.
That's why I love him.
WE HAD THE FORTUNE
OF ACCOMPANYING JEAN-LUC GODARD
FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS
WHILST HE WAS WORKING.
HAVING WITNESSED HIS BRILLIANCE
AND THE DOUBTS HE ALSO HAD
ABOUT EACH OF HIS PROJECTS,
WE THOUGHT IT NECESSARY
FOR THIS DOCUMENTARY TO REVIEW
THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN WHAWOULD BE GODARD'S LAST FILM.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2018,
A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE RELEASE
OF 'THE IMAGE BOOK',
JEAN-LUC GODARD PROPOSED
A NEW PROJECT FOR
A FILM TO ARTE.
ARTE ACCEPTED TO CO-PRODUCE IT.
THE PROJECT WAS CALLED:
'SCENARIO'.
OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS,
JEAN-LUC GODARD
REGULARLY SENT ARTE
HIS NOTES,
FOLLOWED BY ILLUSTRATED NOTEBOOKS,
WHICH HE REFERRED TO
AS "BROCHURES",
IN WHICH HE OUTLINED
THE EVOLUTION OF THE THEMES
THAT HE WANTED TO ADDRESS
IN 'SCENARIO'.
MARCH 2019
1. THE DEPUTY OF ARCIS
2. AKHENATEN 3. DE RERUM NATURA
4. FAKE NEWS 5. OBSESSION
6. 5 ACTS WITH BERENICE
MAY 2019
A FILM BY
JEAN-LUC GODARD
THE DEPUTY OF ARCIS
WITH BERENICE
JULY 2020
JULY 2020
2 - ARTE, BLACK SCREEN.
FILM IN 6 SEQUENCES
DECEMBER 2020
MARCH 2021
WE
ARE NEVER
SAD
ENOUGH
FOR
THE WORLD...
SEQUENCE 2
THE HUMAN VOICE
SEQUENCE 3:
AKHENATON.
SEQUENCE 3
(ALTERNATIVE).
SEQUENCE 4:
TWO WOMEN
SEQUENCE 5:
OBSESSION.
SEQUENCE 6:
WITH BERENICE
6 PORTRAITS
OF TODAY.
...TO BE A BETTER PLACE.
26 OCTOBER 2021,
A NEW "BROCHURE" IS READY...
FILM TRAILER FOR 'SCENARIO'
(FIRST SHOOT).
This is the first mock-up...
Since this brochure
will also be
accompanied by a video
depicting
the same images,
not only in a photo format,
but also in...
How to put it...?
In video format,
with animated images.
For example,
if we take this image here,
this one,
we'll use the animated
image from the film
by Cassavetes, you see?
Then, we'll also add sound
and music, so it will be
a wonderful little trailer.
It will also be called,
"First edit
and trailer
for the film 'Scenario'",
since 'Scenario'
is the title
of the film that we
are going to make.
So, this is...
These are the individual pages,
which are all numbered.
We eventually begin to see
that the film
is divided into six parts.
So, there are four parts
in the middle of it,
which are framed by two
other parts
that I've highlighted in red,
which are the opening...
It's officially called
the "Opening"
and a concluding sequence,
called "Berenice".
Those two bookend
the four other parts:
1) "Fake News",
2) "One and Only God",
3)
"Nicephore Niepce-Hamlet",
4) "Vanished Reality".
They're all outlined in red
and in boxes in order to highlight
that they're separate.
If we were using
terrible 3-D technology,
it wouldn't be the
same as it is flat like this.
But, with 3-D, we could sort
of lift up
the middle four parts,
or actually,
even lift up the two other parts.
And all of these parts
also contain text,
but in the brochure,
I only depict them visually.
But, in the short trailer,
they would be longer,
because, since we have
the explanations
on the brochure,
that this is the opening,
which will be shot with images,
with what I call
"the five fingers"...
For this part,
we'd do
the parts where you can see
some text written down,
so throughout all of these parts.
That's why we need to film
the first part for quite a while,
with at least 30 seconds
or 1 minute of footage
to be...
...to be sure, yes.
Afterwards, we do a "travelling"
through the images
using a Mustcam.
It's not obvious from
what you see here,
which is quite...
Well, it's a bit all
over the place.
In other words...
you can't get a clear idea
if you're this close to it.
It slowly starts to take on form,
with a bit of text,
and with all that, we can...
Well, we'll try to do it
in several different shots.
It's really
a lot of work to shoot
all of this and for it to become...
If we're too close
to this part, for example,
of course,
you won't see much.
You only see...
Nothing but the material?
Yes, just the material,
but slowly, it'll become clear
and it'll become this.
On this summary page,
summing up the film,
could these
images be animated?
- No, not here?
- No. Not here.
I don't think so.
It's just a shot.
Perhaps this one could be,
to sort of frame the opening,
and perhaps this one here,
to frame...
The conclusion.
To be used in the trailer,
to depict...
Also, with some music,
this sort of, boom!
Something like that.
Then, on the following page...
You've made some notes
about music here?
"Prokofiev, Stravinsky"...
Yes, a type of music
that would suit
this opening,
like at the opera.
So next, we come
to the opening itself.
As you can see here.
It's called "De Rerum Natura"
after Lucretius' poem.
It is made up,
to quickly sum it up for you,
of what I call "the five fingers".
What this means is that
there's an image of socialists
versus capitalists,
then another of women
against socialists,
children versus...
Excuse me,
children versus women,
animals versus children
and finally,
nature against animals.
So, in other words,
what Lucretius referred to,
or what I call,
based on Lucretius' poem,
"the nature of things".
The nature of things are these...
- These steps?
- Yes.
Right.
So, in the trailer,
can any of these images
be animated for...
- Maybe a little.
- A little, OK.
I say "a little",
because they'll be taken
from a few other films.
This will just be photos,
but this one here,
for example, is an image
taken from a film
by Russ Meyer,
and there's another photo
taken from a painting by Bacon.
- OK, I see.
- But we could use something else.
This one here
could be an image
from 'Les Miserables'
by Riccardo Freda,
where we can see a crowd
attacking the riflemen.
It could also be an image
taken from 'La Commune',
when the soldiers
refused to shoot, and so on.
We don't know yet.
This will be an image
taken from a cartoon,
something called 'The Wolf'
and something or other.
And this will be an image
taken from the film
by Jean-Jacques Annaud...
- Two Brothers?
- Yes.
Where you can see the flames
surrounding the tigers.
So that will be it
for the opening part.
Following the opening,
there's a sort of conclusion...
which uses
a quote by Merleau-Ponty:
"The proper essence
of the visible
is to have
a layer of invisibility,
which makes it present
as a sort of absence".
It's a sort of
mysterious conclusion.
This would be filmed too.
These are pages that act
as breaks in the images.
Then, we'd move onto
the four proper parts,
which I have numbered
one, two, three, four,
as you can see here.
The first part
is about a woman
on the phone
with her lover, who's going.
Who's left her
or who's going to leave her,
it's based on
a piece by Jean Cocteau.
And we'll see her,
perhaps, as he arrives,
in a garage or
perhaps even directly
in her flat.
The flat is
almost completely dark,
except a light
from the aquarium,
so that we can at least see
some of the interior.
And we'll film
the woman, pacing about.
We won't necessarily use
these exact images.
We could even shoot this
with an actress.
- OK.
- I had Nade Dieu in mind,
but nothing is sure yet.
We have the text by Cocteau,
and all of it will be...
Well, it's Cocteau's text,
but also the Italian text
that was based on Cocteau's
'The Human Voice',
it was called 'Love' by Rossellini.
Importantly, at some point,
we'll hear the cries
from the governess
from the film
'The Magnificent Ambersons'.
There might be a few other
films in there, as well,
some older films
where we see there's a woman
arguing with a man,
like in 'The Docks of New York'
by Sternberg.
- May I interrupt you?
- Yes.
Also,
the moans and all that,
it's all mixed together.
The crying, Cocteau's lines
being read by the actress...
There might even be some lines
from 'Jenny' by Marcel Carne.
- It's spelled J-E-N-N-Y.
- OK.
With Francoise Rosay.
So all of that
will all be mixed together.
At the beginning,
there's no reason
why we couldn't
also start with
the beginning
from 'Ladies of the Park',
with... I've forgotten her name...
Maria Casares, sitting in a car,
with her famous line,
"There is no love,
only the proof of love".
Then, we'll move on
to the interior
if we want.
Just a quick question:
the young female journalist,
have you decided against that?
Well, after that...
We'll quickly cut to,
we'll see if others
agree with me,
but we'll switch to an image
of a female TV presenter
or a journalist
being interviewed
on television,
talking about something.
But it will be a stock image,
not real footage?
- You're going to take them...
- Yes, we'll use other sources
from TV. I wrote "TV,
LCI" underneath.
The actress
I would like to use,
who's not actually an actress,
but a real journalist,
is called Rachel Khan
and she often
does interviews on LCI.
Right, and she has this sort
of big hair, this...
Afro?
No, not African... I mean, well...
We just need it to be obvious
that one of them
does the news at night,
and that she...
I don't know how we'll do it,
because we'll really need
people to understand that
either it's the same woman,
or it's someone
who turns into someone
different at nighttime.
Like Jekyll and Hyde, then?
Yes, exactly.
Because this is
going to be Nade Dieu, right?
Well, in that case, this here
would be Nade Dieu
acting as the TV presenter
to make it clear.
Otherwise, it won't make sense.
- Right, so in that case...
- If it's not Nade Dieu,
we could just ask her
to roam around in this frame.
You see?
But we need to make it obvious
that this woman
is the same person.
After that
we move on to the second part.
It's a short adaptation of
of the book 'Akhenaton'
by Naguib Mahfouz,
in which a young man
questions...
A young man asks questions
to various people in the story,
but I think we'll only see
him talking to one person.
He asks people questions
to find out more about who
this Akhenaton is
that he heard about at school.
For now, it's...
I've included a few images
to evoke that scene.
But it will be...
It's hard to give you an idea here,
since I don't have any images,
except for this image taken
from 'The Image Book'
of a young boy
walking with someone
in the countryside.
It's an image from
'The Image Book'.
So ideally, you would film
these scenes here?
Would you have to shoot
all these images?
Or would you...
- look for them elsewhere?
- Not necessarily.
Not necessarily...
because
we need to see
that there's a difference.
It's a bit frustrating
to have everything
in such a flat format today,
since we can't
see that difference.
The type of difference you can
see in a painting, but not really
in a photo, where everything
is flat and on the same level.
In the end, when you...
When you have one image
coming after another,
whether you want to or not,
you've entered the realm
of narration.
With a book...
A book...
When you read a book,
you turn the pages.
And the act of
turning the pages
means that you touch it,
you feel it a bit more.
No matter the strength
of the narration,
you can sense
that you are moving forward
or even backward
in the story.
With cinema, you need...
Well, we haven't done that.
So, that's an issue we face,
and it means we need
for people to feel it.
That's why I included black pages
every now and then.
They need to feel
that there's a difference,
moments of difference
in the way that the photos
are treated,
compared to actual shots.
Otherwise, it's all a bit...
It would be
like seeing nothing but photos
of Akhenaton,
and we can't get images
of Akhenaton in reality.
We could use a small frame
from the film 'Goha'
or something. I don't think
I even included that in here.
But...
That's why. To answer your
question. Or was it his question?
Right.
So nothing's definite yet?
No, it's not decided at all!
That's why you have to do it
step by step.
First, you have nothing
but the photos in the brochure,
and then,
you can introduce something
- in order to...
- "Maybe introduce?" You're unsure?
No, we're going to try.
OK, yes, we'll try it out.
No, I'm sure about this,
we will introduce things here.
Well, what I mean by my question
as to whether or not you'll film
the little boy
asking someone questions?
We've already shot that.
Really?
Yes, one shot has already
been filmed.
So we could also
place an image
amongst these photos,
or even a photo of text.
Without having it said
out loud, I don't know.
We'll see about all that
during the second phase
when we're
filming the brochure.
This is the third part
of the four central parts.
Which talks about...
Well, it's more me
doing the talking,
talking about Niepce's work,
I want to take a look
at what happened
when he...
With the very first
image in his lens.
After that, he put it
on glass,
but there isn't just
one single image
of what we call reality.
There are many others,
I don't mean all the ones
that are never seen,
but it's just to show...
To show all that.
- This is where you speak then.
- Yes, you could say that
this is my speech,
my contribution.
Which will be accompanied
by all these images.
Yes, perhaps...
I think there was one time
when we filmed me,
but you couldn't see me,
only my hands.
But, every now and then,
there are images
that are both illustrative...
They make things
clearer and more
confusing at the same time.
Let's say that my contribution
will be a very confused one.
There's this strange trend where,
for the hundredth anniversary
of cinema, every time
they celebrate
the anniversaries
of the first projections
and shows...
Not the date
of the actual invention?
Exactly, nothing about the
invention, it's always the same.
True.
It's as if nobody were to ever show
Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks
or talk about his life and only
showed people the Mona Lisa.
Right.
Well, that is kind
of the case too,
people only show the Mona Lisa
anytime Da Vinci is mentioned.
Yes, absolutely.
So, this is the fourth part,
with a text by Badiou.
It won't necessarily
be read by me.
We see two young girls,
one of them quite tanned,
and the other one moving along
on a scooter.
After that, both of them
go into a workshop
where string puppets are made,
and they get into place
to start moving
the puppets.
But they're having
a heated discussion.
We can see they're arguing,
but we don't know
if they're both young...
or if
one of them is young and the other
is a lot older
than the older.
We can see them talking,
but Badiou's text
is being recited over them.
And, at the moment we turn
to the puppets, as you know,
we'll use the image,
a colour image,
from the film
'Ivan the Terrible',
I haven't done it yet,
I need to do it.
After that...
Actually, here,
- I forgot something.
- The black page.
We need to re-shoot...
two pages.
But I can't do it anymore.
- No? OK.
- I can't do it now.
Or else, I can... Wait.
Let me think about
it for a minute.
Where did it all go?
I'm sure I had some left.
Paper?
Paper like this.
A notebook, you mean?
Yes, paper like this.
It looks like I've run out.
It's fine, I'll just use...
I'll use this paper.
I'll use...
How about paper this colour?
Would that work for you?
No, but what I can do
is use...
this page for the black,
but then I'll need another sheet
to add back in
the part about
'Ivan the Terrible'.
So it's between Ivan the Terrible
and the ending.
Yes.
Be careful not to break it.
Here, just use these pages.
No, I can't...
They're almost the
same colour, you see?
OK, I see.
I have a similar notebook...
I have one somewhere,
but I can't find it.
There must be one in here.
Nope, nothing there.
No, no notebook.
We'll just do it like this then.
We'll do it like this,
so I'll just...
Is this what
you're looking for?
"Vanished Reality"...
Four... OK, hold on.
You needed a new one
for Ivan the Terrible.
Yes, Ivan the Terrible goes here.
And since
I'm going to use this...
I'm going to cover up the
other one, though, so I need...
You just need
to re-do this one, right?
That shouldn't be too hard,
since it only has the title.
You're going to blacken
this whole page, is that right?
Yes.
Have you filmed this page?
Yes, I'll even take a photo of it,
so you can see it better.
Here, let me just take
a photo of it first.
How did I...
The paper's not the same.
We did the fourth part...
It's a shame.
Four...
Here, you have 13, 14, 15.
So, what are we doing, then?
- The black page.
- Yes, right.
No, wait! Stop!
The other side is fine.
That side is fine, you just need
to redo the Ivan the Terrible page.
So, should I do it like this?
Exactly. You can re-do
Ivan the Terrible there.
OK, but...
Then you just need to blacken
both sides.
No... If I may...
Look, you do
the Ivan the Terrible page here,
just like the original.
Turn the page, and make it black.
And then comes
the "Berenice" chapter.
Do you see what I mean?
So, you'll copy-paste the...
Yes.
Yes, we'll glue them.
I'm cutting it, OK?
There.
Right, and now, black.
So, for this part,
I make it black with a...
Right.
With a big felt-tip pen, maybe?
Take another photo
of this after, OK?
Yes.
- This page is black too.
- Agreed.
Great.
And then, the chapter... Yes.
OK, and now, I need to put...
No, this is the black page.
13,
13...
So this is 14.
14a, 14b, and then page 15.
This one here, yes.
It already says 14.
So 14b.
And then the next page is 15.
Yes, perfect.
So now, we have Berenice.
Separated by the
black page before it.
For the film, we'll have to see
how we actually film
these black pages.
Either we'll use a black image,
nothing like this,
or...
Or we could do something like this,
if we can't find anything else,
but we really need to ensure
that it's harmonious,
so that it reminds us
of the black page
from the first part.
So, now, we're looking
at "Berenice".
I have no idea
how we're going to do this.
I've added some images,
various images, but...
We'll have an actress
reciting Racine's final verses,
along with Titus' response.
And then...
The same thing again?
Well after that, we'll do
a variation, one that's...
This one's a bit more genuine,
if it's still going to be
Issa Traore doing it.
Then, we have
an image of the sea,
followed by one last image.
There's nothing special
about this one.
And then three more images,
that are black, black and black,
with another photo to end.
You've said a lot less
about "Berenice". It seems as if
in chapter five... No,
chapter four, I mean,
you had a lot more to say.
About "Berenice"?
Yes, I thought you were
less eloquent talking about Berenice
- than the other chapters.
- I'm not an eloquent person!
It'll just be Berenice reciting
Racine's verses,
to the backdrop of images
taken from television broadcasts,
like Macron
at parades.
And we'll hear...
Berenice's voice?
No, we'll hear Macron's voice.
No, not Macron...
No, the verses...
Titus' voice.
- OK.
- No, Berenice only...
Berenice only has...
this text...
Berenice only has
this text to recite.
This is some text
that might be read
on voice-over.
This is Racine's text,
to be recited
as we see the images
of Macron and the soldiers.
And perhaps,
we could even include some text
by Racine, again.
But I need to find it,
so that the next actress
can recite it.
It would be recited here,
by another female voice.
So Berenice definitely needs
to be played by an actress.
It could be this actress here,
if she's interested in doing it.
We'll film, as we said,
by the colonnade
behind the Louvre pyramid,
or somewhere outside.
I'm not sure yet.
I don't know.
It might be better not to mix
the pyramid in with all this,
unless we use an image
of Macron
walking along...
We'll have to see it first.
So have you dropped
idea of showing
the pyramid when Macron
- was "enthroned"?
- I don't know yet,
we'll have to wait and see.
It'll be...
In the video, we'll explain,
I'll talk over it,
to explain that we're
still not sure about certain things.
- The images are just...
- You'll explain the idea.
The idea behind it, yes.
And is there anything
on the back cover then?
Just a short montage
or something...
OK.
Was that OK for you?
WHAT DOES IT MATTER,
IT'S ALL GRACE!
IN EARLY SEPTEMBER 2022
JEAN-LUC GODARD DECIDED
HE WOULD SOON CARRY OUVOLUNTARY ASSISTED SUICIDE.
A FEW DAYS LATER,
HE WAS OFFERED A DATE
FOR THE PROCEDURE:
TUESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER, AT 10AM.
HE ACCEPTED THIS PROPOSAL.
HOWEVER, BEING AWARE OF THE
COMMITMENT HE HAD MADE
TO ARTE AND ECRAN NOIR,
HE INVITED US TO HIS HOME
ON 12 SEPTEMBER
AND GAVE US
VERY PRECISE INSTRUCTIONS
REGARDING THE TWO PARTS THAT,
ONCE PUT TOGETHER,
WOULD BECOME 'SCENARIOS'.
THEY WERE TO BE CALLED
'DNA' AND 'MRI'.
EACH PART WOULD BE MADE UP
OF 13 SHOTS: PHOTOGRAPHS,
FILM CLIPS AND DRAWINGS THAT HAD
BEEN METICULOUSLY CHOSEN BY GODARD.
THEN HE TOLD US:
"ALL THAT'S MISSING
IS THE LAST SHOOF THE SECOND PART...
...AND WE'RE GOING
TO SHOOT IT NOW."
'SCENARIOS'
BY JEAN-LUC GODARD
PART ONE - DNA,
THE BUILDING BLOCKS.
In the bowels of the dead planet,
tired old machinery
began to stir.
Pale tubes flickered
with uneven life,
gradually coming alive.
Slowly, reluctantly,
a main switch
was wheezed out of the negative
and into the positive position.
This is your last warning!
Comrade!
The West, please!
THE ART OF ESCAPE
The name was B-A-C-H.
Is the composer dead?
Hey, I'm working here!
He said,
"Tomorrow, my dear angel,
out on the edge of the horizon,
beneath the orange tree
full of oranges,
our bodies and lips
shall become joined".
He is saying farewell, Miss!
Say something, Miss.
Do something!
The last sonata by Dmitri,
Opus 147.
TO WHERE HAVE ALL
MY BYGONE YEARS VANISHED.
Comrade! The West, please!
Using a white horse
to illustrate the fact
that horses are not really horses
is less effective than using
non-horses
to illustrate the fact
that horses are not really horses.
The universe is a finger,
and every thing is a horse.
SECOND PART - MRI
ODYSSEY.
In the bowels of the dead planet,
tired old machinery
began to stir.
Pale tubes flickered
with uneven life,
gradually coming alive.
Slowly, reluctantly,
a main switch
was wheezed out of the negative
and into the positive position.
This is your last warning!
Breathe nice and easy, OK?
Arthur's last thought before dying
was that of Odile's face.
In the foggy blackness
that fell around him,
he also saw an amazing bird
from Indian legends,
which is apparently born
without feet,
so that it never rests
on the ground.
It sleeps in the great winds,
much higher than the eye can see,
and it can never truly be seen
until it dies.
It has transparent wings,
longer than those of an eagle,
and the bird could fit into a hand
when its wings are closed.
These aholes are all dead.
Francesco!
- Francesco!
- Pina, stop! No!
Mama!
"Using fingers
to illustrate the fact that fingers
are not really fingers
is less effective
than using non-fingers
to illustrate the fact
that fingers are
not really fingers.
Using a white horse
to illustrate the fact that
horses are not
really horses
is less effective than using
horses
to illustrate..."
No! "...than using..."
"Is less effective
than using non-horses
to illustrate the fact
that horses
are not really horses.
Are not really horses."
OK.
Giuseppe Ilisco
A CO-PRODUCTION
This morning, around 10am,
well, 10:30 actually...
we learned about the death
of Jean-Luc Godard.
Godard!
A man we all thought was...
- Larger-than-life.
- Yes, immortal, even.
Jean-Luc Godard has passed on,
as we learned this morning...
Jean-Luc Godard, a rebel
of the European cinematic world...
Goodbye to Jean-Luc Godard,
the maestro of
New Wave cinema.
Jean-Luc Godard has died...
We learned this morning,
13 September, about the death
of the iconic
French-Swiss cinema director...
A special edition dedicated
almost entirely to Godard.
Everything you need to
understand this man...
But others, like Le Figaro,
are actually pointing out his...
But the reactions and memories
go beyond the French-speaking world.
A question for you, Laure Adler.
Did you understand Godard?
No, but I never tried
to understand Jean-Luc Godard.
That's why I love him.
WE HAD THE FORTUNE
OF ACCOMPANYING JEAN-LUC GODARD
FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS
WHILST HE WAS WORKING.
HAVING WITNESSED HIS BRILLIANCE
AND THE DOUBTS HE ALSO HAD
ABOUT EACH OF HIS PROJECTS,
WE THOUGHT IT NECESSARY
FOR THIS DOCUMENTARY TO REVIEW
THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN WHAWOULD BE GODARD'S LAST FILM.
IN THE SUMMER OF 2018,
A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE RELEASE
OF 'THE IMAGE BOOK',
JEAN-LUC GODARD PROPOSED
A NEW PROJECT FOR
A FILM TO ARTE.
ARTE ACCEPTED TO CO-PRODUCE IT.
THE PROJECT WAS CALLED:
'SCENARIO'.
OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS,
JEAN-LUC GODARD
REGULARLY SENT ARTE
HIS NOTES,
FOLLOWED BY ILLUSTRATED NOTEBOOKS,
WHICH HE REFERRED TO
AS "BROCHURES",
IN WHICH HE OUTLINED
THE EVOLUTION OF THE THEMES
THAT HE WANTED TO ADDRESS
IN 'SCENARIO'.
MARCH 2019
1. THE DEPUTY OF ARCIS
2. AKHENATEN 3. DE RERUM NATURA
4. FAKE NEWS 5. OBSESSION
6. 5 ACTS WITH BERENICE
MAY 2019
A FILM BY
JEAN-LUC GODARD
THE DEPUTY OF ARCIS
WITH BERENICE
JULY 2020
JULY 2020
2 - ARTE, BLACK SCREEN.
FILM IN 6 SEQUENCES
DECEMBER 2020
MARCH 2021
WE
ARE NEVER
SAD
ENOUGH
FOR
THE WORLD...
SEQUENCE 2
THE HUMAN VOICE
SEQUENCE 3:
AKHENATON.
SEQUENCE 3
(ALTERNATIVE).
SEQUENCE 4:
TWO WOMEN
SEQUENCE 5:
OBSESSION.
SEQUENCE 6:
WITH BERENICE
6 PORTRAITS
OF TODAY.
...TO BE A BETTER PLACE.
26 OCTOBER 2021,
A NEW "BROCHURE" IS READY...
FILM TRAILER FOR 'SCENARIO'
(FIRST SHOOT).
This is the first mock-up...
Since this brochure
will also be
accompanied by a video
depicting
the same images,
not only in a photo format,
but also in...
How to put it...?
In video format,
with animated images.
For example,
if we take this image here,
this one,
we'll use the animated
image from the film
by Cassavetes, you see?
Then, we'll also add sound
and music, so it will be
a wonderful little trailer.
It will also be called,
"First edit
and trailer
for the film 'Scenario'",
since 'Scenario'
is the title
of the film that we
are going to make.
So, this is...
These are the individual pages,
which are all numbered.
We eventually begin to see
that the film
is divided into six parts.
So, there are four parts
in the middle of it,
which are framed by two
other parts
that I've highlighted in red,
which are the opening...
It's officially called
the "Opening"
and a concluding sequence,
called "Berenice".
Those two bookend
the four other parts:
1) "Fake News",
2) "One and Only God",
3)
"Nicephore Niepce-Hamlet",
4) "Vanished Reality".
They're all outlined in red
and in boxes in order to highlight
that they're separate.
If we were using
terrible 3-D technology,
it wouldn't be the
same as it is flat like this.
But, with 3-D, we could sort
of lift up
the middle four parts,
or actually,
even lift up the two other parts.
And all of these parts
also contain text,
but in the brochure,
I only depict them visually.
But, in the short trailer,
they would be longer,
because, since we have
the explanations
on the brochure,
that this is the opening,
which will be shot with images,
with what I call
"the five fingers"...
For this part,
we'd do
the parts where you can see
some text written down,
so throughout all of these parts.
That's why we need to film
the first part for quite a while,
with at least 30 seconds
or 1 minute of footage
to be...
...to be sure, yes.
Afterwards, we do a "travelling"
through the images
using a Mustcam.
It's not obvious from
what you see here,
which is quite...
Well, it's a bit all
over the place.
In other words...
you can't get a clear idea
if you're this close to it.
It slowly starts to take on form,
with a bit of text,
and with all that, we can...
Well, we'll try to do it
in several different shots.
It's really
a lot of work to shoot
all of this and for it to become...
If we're too close
to this part, for example,
of course,
you won't see much.
You only see...
Nothing but the material?
Yes, just the material,
but slowly, it'll become clear
and it'll become this.
On this summary page,
summing up the film,
could these
images be animated?
- No, not here?
- No. Not here.
I don't think so.
It's just a shot.
Perhaps this one could be,
to sort of frame the opening,
and perhaps this one here,
to frame...
The conclusion.
To be used in the trailer,
to depict...
Also, with some music,
this sort of, boom!
Something like that.
Then, on the following page...
You've made some notes
about music here?
"Prokofiev, Stravinsky"...
Yes, a type of music
that would suit
this opening,
like at the opera.
So next, we come
to the opening itself.
As you can see here.
It's called "De Rerum Natura"
after Lucretius' poem.
It is made up,
to quickly sum it up for you,
of what I call "the five fingers".
What this means is that
there's an image of socialists
versus capitalists,
then another of women
against socialists,
children versus...
Excuse me,
children versus women,
animals versus children
and finally,
nature against animals.
So, in other words,
what Lucretius referred to,
or what I call,
based on Lucretius' poem,
"the nature of things".
The nature of things are these...
- These steps?
- Yes.
Right.
So, in the trailer,
can any of these images
be animated for...
- Maybe a little.
- A little, OK.
I say "a little",
because they'll be taken
from a few other films.
This will just be photos,
but this one here,
for example, is an image
taken from a film
by Russ Meyer,
and there's another photo
taken from a painting by Bacon.
- OK, I see.
- But we could use something else.
This one here
could be an image
from 'Les Miserables'
by Riccardo Freda,
where we can see a crowd
attacking the riflemen.
It could also be an image
taken from 'La Commune',
when the soldiers
refused to shoot, and so on.
We don't know yet.
This will be an image
taken from a cartoon,
something called 'The Wolf'
and something or other.
And this will be an image
taken from the film
by Jean-Jacques Annaud...
- Two Brothers?
- Yes.
Where you can see the flames
surrounding the tigers.
So that will be it
for the opening part.
Following the opening,
there's a sort of conclusion...
which uses
a quote by Merleau-Ponty:
"The proper essence
of the visible
is to have
a layer of invisibility,
which makes it present
as a sort of absence".
It's a sort of
mysterious conclusion.
This would be filmed too.
These are pages that act
as breaks in the images.
Then, we'd move onto
the four proper parts,
which I have numbered
one, two, three, four,
as you can see here.
The first part
is about a woman
on the phone
with her lover, who's going.
Who's left her
or who's going to leave her,
it's based on
a piece by Jean Cocteau.
And we'll see her,
perhaps, as he arrives,
in a garage or
perhaps even directly
in her flat.
The flat is
almost completely dark,
except a light
from the aquarium,
so that we can at least see
some of the interior.
And we'll film
the woman, pacing about.
We won't necessarily use
these exact images.
We could even shoot this
with an actress.
- OK.
- I had Nade Dieu in mind,
but nothing is sure yet.
We have the text by Cocteau,
and all of it will be...
Well, it's Cocteau's text,
but also the Italian text
that was based on Cocteau's
'The Human Voice',
it was called 'Love' by Rossellini.
Importantly, at some point,
we'll hear the cries
from the governess
from the film
'The Magnificent Ambersons'.
There might be a few other
films in there, as well,
some older films
where we see there's a woman
arguing with a man,
like in 'The Docks of New York'
by Sternberg.
- May I interrupt you?
- Yes.
Also,
the moans and all that,
it's all mixed together.
The crying, Cocteau's lines
being read by the actress...
There might even be some lines
from 'Jenny' by Marcel Carne.
- It's spelled J-E-N-N-Y.
- OK.
With Francoise Rosay.
So all of that
will all be mixed together.
At the beginning,
there's no reason
why we couldn't
also start with
the beginning
from 'Ladies of the Park',
with... I've forgotten her name...
Maria Casares, sitting in a car,
with her famous line,
"There is no love,
only the proof of love".
Then, we'll move on
to the interior
if we want.
Just a quick question:
the young female journalist,
have you decided against that?
Well, after that...
We'll quickly cut to,
we'll see if others
agree with me,
but we'll switch to an image
of a female TV presenter
or a journalist
being interviewed
on television,
talking about something.
But it will be a stock image,
not real footage?
- You're going to take them...
- Yes, we'll use other sources
from TV. I wrote "TV,
LCI" underneath.
The actress
I would like to use,
who's not actually an actress,
but a real journalist,
is called Rachel Khan
and she often
does interviews on LCI.
Right, and she has this sort
of big hair, this...
Afro?
No, not African... I mean, well...
We just need it to be obvious
that one of them
does the news at night,
and that she...
I don't know how we'll do it,
because we'll really need
people to understand that
either it's the same woman,
or it's someone
who turns into someone
different at nighttime.
Like Jekyll and Hyde, then?
Yes, exactly.
Because this is
going to be Nade Dieu, right?
Well, in that case, this here
would be Nade Dieu
acting as the TV presenter
to make it clear.
Otherwise, it won't make sense.
- Right, so in that case...
- If it's not Nade Dieu,
we could just ask her
to roam around in this frame.
You see?
But we need to make it obvious
that this woman
is the same person.
After that
we move on to the second part.
It's a short adaptation of
of the book 'Akhenaton'
by Naguib Mahfouz,
in which a young man
questions...
A young man asks questions
to various people in the story,
but I think we'll only see
him talking to one person.
He asks people questions
to find out more about who
this Akhenaton is
that he heard about at school.
For now, it's...
I've included a few images
to evoke that scene.
But it will be...
It's hard to give you an idea here,
since I don't have any images,
except for this image taken
from 'The Image Book'
of a young boy
walking with someone
in the countryside.
It's an image from
'The Image Book'.
So ideally, you would film
these scenes here?
Would you have to shoot
all these images?
Or would you...
- look for them elsewhere?
- Not necessarily.
Not necessarily...
because
we need to see
that there's a difference.
It's a bit frustrating
to have everything
in such a flat format today,
since we can't
see that difference.
The type of difference you can
see in a painting, but not really
in a photo, where everything
is flat and on the same level.
In the end, when you...
When you have one image
coming after another,
whether you want to or not,
you've entered the realm
of narration.
With a book...
A book...
When you read a book,
you turn the pages.
And the act of
turning the pages
means that you touch it,
you feel it a bit more.
No matter the strength
of the narration,
you can sense
that you are moving forward
or even backward
in the story.
With cinema, you need...
Well, we haven't done that.
So, that's an issue we face,
and it means we need
for people to feel it.
That's why I included black pages
every now and then.
They need to feel
that there's a difference,
moments of difference
in the way that the photos
are treated,
compared to actual shots.
Otherwise, it's all a bit...
It would be
like seeing nothing but photos
of Akhenaton,
and we can't get images
of Akhenaton in reality.
We could use a small frame
from the film 'Goha'
or something. I don't think
I even included that in here.
But...
That's why. To answer your
question. Or was it his question?
Right.
So nothing's definite yet?
No, it's not decided at all!
That's why you have to do it
step by step.
First, you have nothing
but the photos in the brochure,
and then,
you can introduce something
- in order to...
- "Maybe introduce?" You're unsure?
No, we're going to try.
OK, yes, we'll try it out.
No, I'm sure about this,
we will introduce things here.
Well, what I mean by my question
as to whether or not you'll film
the little boy
asking someone questions?
We've already shot that.
Really?
Yes, one shot has already
been filmed.
So we could also
place an image
amongst these photos,
or even a photo of text.
Without having it said
out loud, I don't know.
We'll see about all that
during the second phase
when we're
filming the brochure.
This is the third part
of the four central parts.
Which talks about...
Well, it's more me
doing the talking,
talking about Niepce's work,
I want to take a look
at what happened
when he...
With the very first
image in his lens.
After that, he put it
on glass,
but there isn't just
one single image
of what we call reality.
There are many others,
I don't mean all the ones
that are never seen,
but it's just to show...
To show all that.
- This is where you speak then.
- Yes, you could say that
this is my speech,
my contribution.
Which will be accompanied
by all these images.
Yes, perhaps...
I think there was one time
when we filmed me,
but you couldn't see me,
only my hands.
But, every now and then,
there are images
that are both illustrative...
They make things
clearer and more
confusing at the same time.
Let's say that my contribution
will be a very confused one.
There's this strange trend where,
for the hundredth anniversary
of cinema, every time
they celebrate
the anniversaries
of the first projections
and shows...
Not the date
of the actual invention?
Exactly, nothing about the
invention, it's always the same.
True.
It's as if nobody were to ever show
Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks
or talk about his life and only
showed people the Mona Lisa.
Right.
Well, that is kind
of the case too,
people only show the Mona Lisa
anytime Da Vinci is mentioned.
Yes, absolutely.
So, this is the fourth part,
with a text by Badiou.
It won't necessarily
be read by me.
We see two young girls,
one of them quite tanned,
and the other one moving along
on a scooter.
After that, both of them
go into a workshop
where string puppets are made,
and they get into place
to start moving
the puppets.
But they're having
a heated discussion.
We can see they're arguing,
but we don't know
if they're both young...
or if
one of them is young and the other
is a lot older
than the older.
We can see them talking,
but Badiou's text
is being recited over them.
And, at the moment we turn
to the puppets, as you know,
we'll use the image,
a colour image,
from the film
'Ivan the Terrible',
I haven't done it yet,
I need to do it.
After that...
Actually, here,
- I forgot something.
- The black page.
We need to re-shoot...
two pages.
But I can't do it anymore.
- No? OK.
- I can't do it now.
Or else, I can... Wait.
Let me think about
it for a minute.
Where did it all go?
I'm sure I had some left.
Paper?
Paper like this.
A notebook, you mean?
Yes, paper like this.
It looks like I've run out.
It's fine, I'll just use...
I'll use this paper.
I'll use...
How about paper this colour?
Would that work for you?
No, but what I can do
is use...
this page for the black,
but then I'll need another sheet
to add back in
the part about
'Ivan the Terrible'.
So it's between Ivan the Terrible
and the ending.
Yes.
Be careful not to break it.
Here, just use these pages.
No, I can't...
They're almost the
same colour, you see?
OK, I see.
I have a similar notebook...
I have one somewhere,
but I can't find it.
There must be one in here.
Nope, nothing there.
No, no notebook.
We'll just do it like this then.
We'll do it like this,
so I'll just...
Is this what
you're looking for?
"Vanished Reality"...
Four... OK, hold on.
You needed a new one
for Ivan the Terrible.
Yes, Ivan the Terrible goes here.
And since
I'm going to use this...
I'm going to cover up the
other one, though, so I need...
You just need
to re-do this one, right?
That shouldn't be too hard,
since it only has the title.
You're going to blacken
this whole page, is that right?
Yes.
Have you filmed this page?
Yes, I'll even take a photo of it,
so you can see it better.
Here, let me just take
a photo of it first.
How did I...
The paper's not the same.
We did the fourth part...
It's a shame.
Four...
Here, you have 13, 14, 15.
So, what are we doing, then?
- The black page.
- Yes, right.
No, wait! Stop!
The other side is fine.
That side is fine, you just need
to redo the Ivan the Terrible page.
So, should I do it like this?
Exactly. You can re-do
Ivan the Terrible there.
OK, but...
Then you just need to blacken
both sides.
No... If I may...
Look, you do
the Ivan the Terrible page here,
just like the original.
Turn the page, and make it black.
And then comes
the "Berenice" chapter.
Do you see what I mean?
So, you'll copy-paste the...
Yes.
Yes, we'll glue them.
I'm cutting it, OK?
There.
Right, and now, black.
So, for this part,
I make it black with a...
Right.
With a big felt-tip pen, maybe?
Take another photo
of this after, OK?
Yes.
- This page is black too.
- Agreed.
Great.
And then, the chapter... Yes.
OK, and now, I need to put...
No, this is the black page.
13,
13...
So this is 14.
14a, 14b, and then page 15.
This one here, yes.
It already says 14.
So 14b.
And then the next page is 15.
Yes, perfect.
So now, we have Berenice.
Separated by the
black page before it.
For the film, we'll have to see
how we actually film
these black pages.
Either we'll use a black image,
nothing like this,
or...
Or we could do something like this,
if we can't find anything else,
but we really need to ensure
that it's harmonious,
so that it reminds us
of the black page
from the first part.
So, now, we're looking
at "Berenice".
I have no idea
how we're going to do this.
I've added some images,
various images, but...
We'll have an actress
reciting Racine's final verses,
along with Titus' response.
And then...
The same thing again?
Well after that, we'll do
a variation, one that's...
This one's a bit more genuine,
if it's still going to be
Issa Traore doing it.
Then, we have
an image of the sea,
followed by one last image.
There's nothing special
about this one.
And then three more images,
that are black, black and black,
with another photo to end.
You've said a lot less
about "Berenice". It seems as if
in chapter five... No,
chapter four, I mean,
you had a lot more to say.
About "Berenice"?
Yes, I thought you were
less eloquent talking about Berenice
- than the other chapters.
- I'm not an eloquent person!
It'll just be Berenice reciting
Racine's verses,
to the backdrop of images
taken from television broadcasts,
like Macron
at parades.
And we'll hear...
Berenice's voice?
No, we'll hear Macron's voice.
No, not Macron...
No, the verses...
Titus' voice.
- OK.
- No, Berenice only...
Berenice only has...
this text...
Berenice only has
this text to recite.
This is some text
that might be read
on voice-over.
This is Racine's text,
to be recited
as we see the images
of Macron and the soldiers.
And perhaps,
we could even include some text
by Racine, again.
But I need to find it,
so that the next actress
can recite it.
It would be recited here,
by another female voice.
So Berenice definitely needs
to be played by an actress.
It could be this actress here,
if she's interested in doing it.
We'll film, as we said,
by the colonnade
behind the Louvre pyramid,
or somewhere outside.
I'm not sure yet.
I don't know.
It might be better not to mix
the pyramid in with all this,
unless we use an image
of Macron
walking along...
We'll have to see it first.
So have you dropped
idea of showing
the pyramid when Macron
- was "enthroned"?
- I don't know yet,
we'll have to wait and see.
It'll be...
In the video, we'll explain,
I'll talk over it,
to explain that we're
still not sure about certain things.
- The images are just...
- You'll explain the idea.
The idea behind it, yes.
And is there anything
on the back cover then?
Just a short montage
or something...
OK.
Was that OK for you?
WHAT DOES IT MATTER,
IT'S ALL GRACE!
IN EARLY SEPTEMBER 2022
JEAN-LUC GODARD DECIDED
HE WOULD SOON CARRY OUVOLUNTARY ASSISTED SUICIDE.
A FEW DAYS LATER,
HE WAS OFFERED A DATE
FOR THE PROCEDURE:
TUESDAY 13 SEPTEMBER, AT 10AM.
HE ACCEPTED THIS PROPOSAL.
HOWEVER, BEING AWARE OF THE
COMMITMENT HE HAD MADE
TO ARTE AND ECRAN NOIR,
HE INVITED US TO HIS HOME
ON 12 SEPTEMBER
AND GAVE US
VERY PRECISE INSTRUCTIONS
REGARDING THE TWO PARTS THAT,
ONCE PUT TOGETHER,
WOULD BECOME 'SCENARIOS'.
THEY WERE TO BE CALLED
'DNA' AND 'MRI'.
EACH PART WOULD BE MADE UP
OF 13 SHOTS: PHOTOGRAPHS,
FILM CLIPS AND DRAWINGS THAT HAD
BEEN METICULOUSLY CHOSEN BY GODARD.
THEN HE TOLD US:
"ALL THAT'S MISSING
IS THE LAST SHOOF THE SECOND PART...
...AND WE'RE GOING
TO SHOOT IT NOW."
'SCENARIOS'
BY JEAN-LUC GODARD
PART ONE - DNA,
THE BUILDING BLOCKS.
In the bowels of the dead planet,
tired old machinery
began to stir.
Pale tubes flickered
with uneven life,
gradually coming alive.
Slowly, reluctantly,
a main switch
was wheezed out of the negative
and into the positive position.
This is your last warning!
Comrade!
The West, please!
THE ART OF ESCAPE
The name was B-A-C-H.
Is the composer dead?
Hey, I'm working here!
He said,
"Tomorrow, my dear angel,
out on the edge of the horizon,
beneath the orange tree
full of oranges,
our bodies and lips
shall become joined".
He is saying farewell, Miss!
Say something, Miss.
Do something!
The last sonata by Dmitri,
Opus 147.
TO WHERE HAVE ALL
MY BYGONE YEARS VANISHED.
Comrade! The West, please!
Using a white horse
to illustrate the fact
that horses are not really horses
is less effective than using
non-horses
to illustrate the fact
that horses are not really horses.
The universe is a finger,
and every thing is a horse.
SECOND PART - MRI
ODYSSEY.
In the bowels of the dead planet,
tired old machinery
began to stir.
Pale tubes flickered
with uneven life,
gradually coming alive.
Slowly, reluctantly,
a main switch
was wheezed out of the negative
and into the positive position.
This is your last warning!
Breathe nice and easy, OK?
Arthur's last thought before dying
was that of Odile's face.
In the foggy blackness
that fell around him,
he also saw an amazing bird
from Indian legends,
which is apparently born
without feet,
so that it never rests
on the ground.
It sleeps in the great winds,
much higher than the eye can see,
and it can never truly be seen
until it dies.
It has transparent wings,
longer than those of an eagle,
and the bird could fit into a hand
when its wings are closed.
These aholes are all dead.
Francesco!
- Francesco!
- Pina, stop! No!
Mama!
"Using fingers
to illustrate the fact that fingers
are not really fingers
is less effective
than using non-fingers
to illustrate the fact
that fingers are
not really fingers.
Using a white horse
to illustrate the fact that
horses are not
really horses
is less effective than using
horses
to illustrate..."
No! "...than using..."
"Is less effective
than using non-horses
to illustrate the fact
that horses
are not really horses.
Are not really horses."
OK.
Giuseppe Ilisco