Tributes pour in for Jean-Luc Godard: 'Giant of cinema who ripped up the rule book'

Immediately after news of French New Wave icon JeanLuc Godards death broke on Tuesday September 13 tributes started pouring in from world leaders fellow filmmakers artistes and cinephiles around the world reports VarietyThe first off the block was French President Emmanuel Macron who described Godard as the most iconoclastic of New Wave filmmakers who had invented a resolutely modern intensely free art We are losing a national treasure a look of geniusGodard was also celebrated by Edgar Wright the writerdirector of Last Night in Soho who wrote on social media that Godard was one of the most influential iconoclastic filmmakers of them all Wright added that perhaps no other director inspired as many people to just pick up a camera and start shootingActor comedian director and writer Stephen Fry said he had watched Godards debut film Breathless for the umpteenth time again two weeks ago and found it as compelling as everIt still leaps off the screen like few movies Fry tweeted That scene between them in the hotel how many other directors could have managed that in so small a space and made it so captivatingOscarwinning Mexican director and author Guillermo Del Toro also paid homage to Godard on social media and kept retweeting tributes from others one of them being from the French cinephile Philippe Rouyer who wrote A last salute to JeanLucGodard immense filmmaker who has not stopped rethinking his art since Breathless 1960 Le Contempt and Pierrot le fou are masterpieces But until his last strokes of brilliance all his films question the making and the impact of imagesThe British Film Institute BFI called Godard a giant of cinema who ripped up the rule book A statement issued by it read From Breathless onwards he tested the limits of the mediumBFI Chief Executive Ben Roberts said in a statement issued to Variety JeanLuc Godards death is a huge loss to cinema The godfather of the French New Wave and one of the most influential and innovative filmmakers of the last century his work has resonated with generations of film lovers around the worldThe Cannes Film Festival released a retrospective of his career highlights on Twitter Since his first appearance at the Festival in Cleo de 5 a 7 in 1962 21 films by JeanLuc Godard have been screened at Cannes the festival sharedCameron Bailey chief of the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival tweeted JeanLuc Godard might have despised posthumous praise but here we are His staggering body of work over seven decades showed him to be a rare true genius in cinema It was playful and punishing It challenged every viewer and rewarded the persistentHe added Most of all Godard was merciless in his pursuit of what and how images mean For his every confrontation that expanded our art form we will be forever in his debtThe news of Godards passing was first reported in the French newspaper Liberation on Tuesday morning and later confirmed by the auteurs family in a statement which read There will not be any official ceremony JeanLuc Godard died peacefully in his home surrounded by his close ones He will be incineratedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever