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films · literature ·
Revolution on the Cover: Film Quarterly’s Debut with Godard’s ‘La Chinoise’
A revolutionary magazine cover meets a revolutionary film.
August 27, 2025
By: mesh. magazine
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When the Japanese magazine Film Quarterly (季刊フィルム) released its first issue in October 1968, it chose to feature a still from Jean-Luc Godard’s radical film La Chinoise (1967). The cover was more than a design choice: it was a statement.
Godard’s La Chinoise, starring Anne Wiazemsky and Jean-Pierre Léaud, explores a group of young Parisian students experimenting with Maoist ideology in the months leading up to May ’68. With its bold use of color, fragmented dialogue, and revolutionary themes, the film embodies the spirit of the French New Wave while anticipating the political unrest that would soon erupt in France.
For Film Quarterly, aligning its very first issue with La Chinoise established the magazine as a publication unafraid to confront cinema’s intersection with politics, ideology, and youth culture. This synergy between avant-garde film and editorial vision still resonates today, reminding us of cinema’s power to mirror the hopes—and disillusionments—of an entire generation.
Echoes in the Present
For Film Quarterly, aligning its very first issue with La Chinoise established the magazine as a publication unafraid to confront cinema’s intersection with politics, ideology, and youth culture. This synergy between avant-garde film and editorial vision still resonates today, reminding us of cinema’s power to mirror the hopes—and disillusionments—of an entire generation.
Watch Now
Experience Jean-Luc Godard’s La Chinoise on streaming: