Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland/France, 2004, 80 min
Three Dante-inspired chapters—“Hell,” “Purgatory,” and “Paradise”—divide Godard’s scathing portrait of the 20th century afire in this woefully underseen 2004 masterwork. War, political violence, and cinema’s role in relation to them have preoccupied Godard throughout his career. In the searing Notre musique, the auteur provides perhaps his most honest and profound articulation of these ideas, using a montage of war footage and a narrative about a Sarajevo symposium (with Godard himself as one of the speakers) to address the occupation of Palestine, the long arm of colonialism, and the state of American imperialism, all within the context of film art. Its relevance at this moment is staggering.