Hélas pour moi

Hélas pour moi is the story of journalist Abraham Klimt (Bernard Verley)'s investigation of a case of divine possession. In 1989 God enters the body of filmmaker Simon Donnadieu (Gérard Depardieu). When Simon returns home, his wife Rachel (Laurence Masliah) realizes something is amiss but sticks by her newly divine husband. As in much of his later work Jean-Luc Godard uses a team of cinematographers to create breathtaking images. The theology-filled dialogue makes frequent references to light and illumination, which are in turn reflected in the sun-suffused images. Light comes bouncing off Lake Geneva or streams in from widows behind the characters who stand in shadowy interiors. Multiple narrators provide differing views of the same events, and an intricate web of flashbacks creates an almost impenetrably knotty chronology. Meanwhile, title screens periodically interrupt the action, and the characters introduce lengthy digressions on philosophical, literary and spiritual questions. The result is a beautiful but extremely difficult film, even for those familiar with Godard. This film drew strong protests from the Catholic Church.