本書是法國導演高達於1978年在加拿大蒙特婁電影藝術學院所作的演講紀錄，他的演講內容深具當代西方知識分子的特色，包含大量的文化關懷和時事常識，在這本書中他探討了電影創作，製作與種種電影理念，且融合了他個人的心路歷程、挫折情結與反省檢討，在他奇異而特殊的思維之中，把電影鋪展成一個有機的宇宙，牽絲扯蔓縱橫無際，而高達在片中表現出的機智、風趣、坦誠和親切的態度、與他在電影中予人一貫的艱澀乖離有天壤之別，可幫助讀者對他的電影有更深一層的認識與了解，進而啟發對電影本身拮取新的賞析角度。

This is a major event in film studies: we hear as if for the first time the live pulse of Godard’s lectures and discussions in Montreal in 1978—a series of fourteen meetings that pave the way for the eight chapters of his Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988–1998). Timothy Barnard conveys brilliantly Godard’s mercurial thought in action, even at its most hesitant, contradictory and ambivalent. This wonderfully accessible and superbly edited translation restores missing material and conversations that were not transcribed in the original 1980 French edition, the illustrations of which are reproduced here with translated captions. Michael Witt’s magisterial introductory essay to the volume on the dense archaeology of Histoire(s) complements the translation perfectly in its intellectual commitment and rigour. Previously unavailable to the Anglo-Saxon reader, this now fully complete volume will prove indispensable to anyone seriously interested in the history and philosophy of film.
— James Williams, Royal Holloway, University of London

Introduction, afterword and footnotes by Cyril Béghin. Translation by Nicholas Elliott.
Three dialogues between Marguerite Duras and Jean-Luc Godard from 1979, 1980 and 1987.
“The two demonstrate a profound shared passion, a way of literally being one with a medium and speaking about it with a dazzling lyricism interspersed with dryly ironic remarks, fueled by a conviction that inspires them to traverse history. Their point of intersection is obvious. Duras, a writer, is also a filmmaker, and Godard, a filmmaker, has maintained a distinctive relationship with literature, writing and speech.”—Cyril Béghin