masculin feminin (1966)
The French New Wave represents a high point in cinema history and Godard is its greatest voice. Though Truffaut and Resnais have probably made more of an impact on film at large, especially on narrative Hollywood filmmakers who came after them, it is Godard who became the out-of-left-field voice that continues to be unique in cinema to this day. At present, no one can imitate (frankly, few even attempt it) his self-made genre of cinematic essays that still use character, narrative and a host of cinematic and literary devices to tell what is basically a dissertation on life, the universe, politics and, of course, cinema itself. In the modern era, as remakes run rampant and talk runs wild of the eventual blasphemous Casablanca or Citizen Kane remakes, one thing is certain, you can't remake a Godard picture. Most have little plot or structure to speak of, which makes them the most purely cinematic experiences around. They can barely be described, they simply need to be seen. While screening them, a wave of understanding hits just as they are about to close, which evaporates as soon as you stop out of the theater, you only know that you were a different person when you walked in.