Letter to Jane

An essay film in the most minimalistic of ways, Letter to Jane features Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin taking turns to dissect, in voiceover, a single photo of their Tout va bien star Jane Fonda meeting Viet Cong soldiers in North Vietnam. A sardonic diatribe against how intellectuals should (and should not) take part in other people’s revolutions, Letter to Jane is remarkable in demystifying the Hollywood halo, but troublingly embittered in its attack on Fonda’s integrity. A perfect example of how an image should (and should not) be read or understood.