Book excerpt: Jean-Luc Godard, like many of his European contemporaries, came to film-making through film criticism. This collection of essays and interviews, ranging from his early efforts for La Gazette du Cinema to his later writings for Cahiers du Cinema, reflects his dazzling intelligence, biting wit, maddening judgments, and complete unpredictability. This book offers evidence that he may be even more original as a thinker about film than as a director. Here is an outrageous self-portrait by a director who, even now, continues to amaze and bedevil, and to chart new directions for cinema and for critical thought about its history.