Notre Musique

Part poetry, part journalism, part philosophy, Jean-Luc Godard’s “Notre Musique” is a timeless meditation on war as seen through the prisms of cinema, text and image.

Largely set at a literary conference in Sarajevo, the film draws on the conflagration of the Bosnian war, but also draws on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the brutal treatment of Native Americans, and the legacy of the Nazis.

“Notre Musique” is structured into three Dantean Kingdoms: “Hell,” “Purgatory” and “Heaven.”

In the film, real-life literary figures (including Arab poet Mahmoud Darwish and Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo) intermingle with actors; and documentary meshes with fiction.

“Notre Musique” also follows the parallel stories of two Israeli Jewish women, Judith Lerner (Sarah Adler) and Olga Brodsky (Nade Dieu); one drawn to the light and one drawn towards darkness.

Through evocative language and images, Godard explores a series of conflicting forces:

death; life

dark, light;

good; bad

negative, positive;

real; imaginary;

activists; storytellers

vanquished; victor;

criminals; victims;

suicidal; hopeful

shot, reverse shot.

These opposing movements are eternal. They are the two faces of truth.

They are our music.

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