‘Money is a public good’: Godard’s Film Socialisme (2010) and Bernard Maris

Abstract

Abstract This article is based around an interpretation of the opening line of Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme (2010), ‘money is a public good’. This line is spoken by the economist Bernard Maris (1946–2015), who was killed during the assassinations in Paris in January 2015. The article identifies the source of this line and explores its context in Maris’s writings in the magazine Charlie Hebdo at the time of the financial crisis of 2008. Examining the meaning and implications of the line in relation to Maris’s reading of the British economist John Maynard Keynes, the article situates Godard’s film in relation to the contemporary events to which the line is a response. Furthermore, the article considers the filmic uses to which Godard puts the figure of Maris and how this allows the viewer to understand Maris, including the position Godard puts him in in relation to other real-life figures appearing in the film, namely Bob Maloubier and Alain Badiou. The article concludes by considering how an understanding of the persona of Maris can help to situate the ‘socialism’ of the film’s title as well as what it tells us about Godard’s approach to the figure of the intellectual in this film.