5 Jean-Luc Godard Films That Dramatically Influenced Set Design

Jean-Luc Godard died this week at the age of 91, leaving a legacy as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. As a pioneer of the French New Wave, he shook up conventional cinematic style, playing with narrative, camera techniques, editing, and setting in ways that wrenched movies into the modern age. One of his most lasting contributions to cinema was his use of design—to set a theme, land a point, or just create an intoxicating atmosphere, as he did peerlessly in these five films.

Alphaville (1965)

Godard’s sci-fi detective noir, set in a futuristic dystopian city run by a massive computer, took place in various buildings that were new to Paris at the time and represented an ominous future to some. The steely glass of modernism and raw concrete of brutalism communicated a chilly, depersonalized world, as did Godard’s decision to shoot his flash-forward portrait in black-and-white. In the ensuing decades, Alphaville’s striking use of design has inspired generations of classic movies (see Blade Runner and The Matrix, to start) and influenced style icons of various stripes. (Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie bought the rights and unsuccessfully tried to mount a remake starring Harry in the early 1980s).

Contempt (1963)