Veteran Claire Denis colleague reveals how she navigated a male-dominated profession and where she sees it going in the future.
Agnes Goddard made history in 2001 by becoming the first woman to take home the César Award for Best Cinematography on her own (Marie Perrenau shared it with three men in 1997 for her documentary “Microcosmos”). The film “Beau Travail,” a poetic parody of “Billy Budd” that explores masculinity in the French Foreign Legion, won Godard the award.
Prior to a new film series showcasing her work, she sat down for an interview in New York and stated, “I thought it was humorous because the film was about all these men.” “That was humorous. I had a small grin on my face. It wasn’t retaliation. Yet it was humorous. Yet, there were no news stories on the historic event. Nobody brought it up at the time, she said.
Although there are now more women working as cinematographers than ever before, the sector was quite specialized 30 years ago when Goddard, now 71, first started her career. There were occasionally some complications, according to Goddard. “They believed that since we were “weak” or “fragile,” we might not be capable enough. When performing this kind of task, I believe you need to have a really firm conviction in it. That is difficult at times. Yet if you persevere through it, you’ll find the power to get past it.
Goddard and Dennis first met while working as assistants on the Wim Wenders set of “Paris, Texas.” Goddard then assisted Dennis as camera operator on the film “Chocolate,” and the two then collaborated on the Jacques Rivette documentary “Cinema, de Notre Temps.” in the 1990s. Since then, they have collaborated on practically all of Dennis’ projects. Godard’s vibrant lighting designs and fluid camera movement influenced Dennis’ distinct directing style as well as her partnerships with other filmmakers, many of whom are female.
Goddard has filmed three movies with Swiss-French director Ursula Meier over the past ten years, starting with “Home” in 2008 and continuing with “Sister” in 2012 and “The Line” this year, which made its US debut last week. Goddard traveled to New York to take part in a mini-retrospective of his work at Metrograph, which also featured “Jaquet de Nantes” by Agnes Varda, “Beau Travail,” and “Trouble Every Day,” another significant Denis collaboration. Was.
Goddard continues to work with Dennis, with whom he just decided on an idea for a new movie; nevertheless, he also collaborates with up-and-coming directors. The German filmmaker Marika Engelhardt’s debut feature film, “Rabia,” about a woman who journeys to Syria to join extremist rebels, was just shot by her. The movie is currently preparing for its appearance in Cannes, where Goddard will be a member of the impartial jury that selects the main competition picture to receive the Special Craft Prize.
In “Beawar Travels”
Goddard claimed that he only gradually attained his status as a pioneer. She said, “I’ve been thinking about it. “It’s true that there weren’t many women working when I started, but I didn’t realize that at the time. I judged for myself whether or not I could succeed. After some time, I started to feel like there was an exception—not a really noteworthy exception, just an exception.
Goddard claimed that she still maintains relationships with young women in her community, such as Ashley Connor, the cinematographer for the movie “Knives Out,” who she intended to meet when visiting New York. The challenge has changed, according to Goddard. “I believe that the distinction between the male and feminine gazes shouldn’t be so sharp. According to me, there is a distinct look that speaks to the uniqueness and complexity of the human being, which is determined by factors other than sexual identification. Is.
In many ways, Goddard has kept up with the times. He made the transition from film to digital with “Sister” and hasn’t looked back since. I must admit, I resisted it a little, she said. “The image was still compressed. The reduced scope made it a little more challenging to obstruct what you were trying to perform. Yet that is no longer the case. She was foolish, and I was acting callously. I became more interested in what was required. She eventually learned to value the adaptability of digital cameras. The Sony VENICE camera can be disassembled, making it more simpler to use, she claimed. We shoot a lot more than we did before.
One element of his method remained constant. Goddard keeps his attention on the activity in front of the camera despite the common presence of monitors on modern sets. She stated, “I prefer to stay quite close to the story.”
Goddard has continued to light his work similarly and improvise with camera movement despite his technical advancements. She was wary of flashy digital filmmaking in general, especially the common lengthy takes. It’s no longer exactly cinema, she remarked. “Real-time action is taking place. Something is made understandable by connecting shots and cutting between shots. It’s a unique type of labor. A specific effect is produced by one-take feature films. But, you either do it purely for the purpose of the performance or because you believe it would benefit the movie you are doing.
“let the Sunshine In”
To illustrate, Godard shot Juliette Binoche dancing in a bar with her boyfriend in the 2017 Dennis drama “Let the Sunshine In” to ease the romantic tension in the scenario. She explained, “I was attempting to add my beat to the camera and match the beat of their music.” “It adds a new rhythm to the scene’s existing rhythm. It is made up.
If Goddard lacks a distinctive style as a cameraman, it is on purpose. “With movies, there are so many possibilities to learn new things,” she remarked. To determine what is convenient for the director, a technician must be chameleonic.
Goddard expressed her worry about the prevalence of amateur videos in the digital age. Because the photographs are distributed in such a simplistic manner, she suggested that the DOP’s position might be under danger. “Yet, I believe that those that carry out this work are extremely uncommon globally. They are the guardians of image quality. Let’s hope that actual pictures will go back in time.
Strand Releasing’s “The Line” is now showing in a few cinemas.
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