After reports surfaced last week that Jean-Luc Godard had declined an invitation to the Academy’s annual Governors Awards to receive an honorary Oscar (alongside Kevin Brownlow, Francis Ford Coppola, and Eli Wallach), it seemed that l’enfant terrible of French cinema was at it again. Afterall, this was coming from the same famously anti-Hollywood director who had once pointed out that he pitied French cinema because it had no money while pitying “the American Cinema because it has no ideas.” Not exactly Steven Spielberg turning down the Academy.
However, it now appears that Godard is considering attending the November ceremony. Sort of. In a statement released yesterday, Academy spokesperson Leslie Unger notes that “[i]n response to Academy President Tom Sherak’s letter informing him that the Board of Governors had voted him an Honorary Oscar,” Godard sent “a cordial hand-written note back to Sherak” in which the director “thanked the organization for the honor and referred to himself as ‘the fourth musketeer,’ in acknowledgment of the fact that three others (Brownlow, Coppola, and Wallach) are among the year’s honorees. His note, relayed to the Academy late last week via an assistant to Godard, indicated that, schedule permitting, he would come to Los Angeles for the November 13 Governors Awards event.” So basically, if Godard has nothing better to do he’ll fly to Los Angeles to eat some overcooked chicken, get a hunk of metal and some acknowledgment from an industry who politely ignored him for the last few decades.
It’s unclear what spurred the change of heart or if there was a change of heart in the first place, but it does appear Godard will accept the honor, whether in person or not, that eluded some of his American cinematic heroes: Samuel Fuller (who appears in Godard’s “Pierrot le Fou”) and Nicholas Ray.
However, those hoping to possibly catch him during the Oscars telecast (perhaps receiving the rousing ovation a certain reclusive New York filmmaker received upon coming on stage) are likely in for a disappointment; the Academy last year decided to split the Governors Awards from the Oscar telecast, and while the awards will be filmed, they will not be televised. Last year, Governor Awards were given out to Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis, and Roger Corman and the actual 2009 Oscar show only reserved a few minutes for the trio to stand up and wave without even an invitation to appear on stage. Here’s hoping Godard escapes the trio’s ignominious fate through a change to the telecast or by skipping the event all together.
The 2010 Governors Awards will be held November 13th at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center. – Tan Nguyen
