In the middle of May 50 years ago, Jean-Luc Godard helped to shut down the Cannes film festival in an act of solidarity with student demonstrators across France.
Asked about his memories from half a century ago, Godard said: “I have many, many memories of ’68 and of people who are now departed.”
This spring the French-Swiss film director’s subversive spirit has once more been at the controversial heart of the festival’s opening weekend.
But at least Godard, a quavering voice yesterday speaking via mobile phone, was able to convey something of the revolutionary glamour of 1968, concluding: “When we were young we fed our audiences hope.”