Jean-Luc Godard, the maverick French-Swiss director who revolutionised post-war cinema in Europe, died by assisted dying, his lawyer has confirmed.said he had chosen to end his life. He “had recourse to legal assistance in Switzerland for a voluntary departure” because he was “stricken with ‘multiple incapacitating illnesses’”, Godard’s legal council, Patrick Jeanneret, told AFP.
Godard, who was born in Paris in 1930 to a Franco-Swiss family, had lived as a virtual recluse in the Swiss village of Rolle for decades.quoted an unnamed source close to the family who said: “He was not sick, he was simply exhausted. So he had made the decision to end it. It was his decision and it was important for him that it be known.”
Libération quoted Godard’s 2014, appearance on Swiss TV at that year’s Cannes festival, when had been asked his views on dying. He said he didn’t foresee wanting to continue living at any cost. “If I’m too ill, I don’t have any desire to be lugged around in a wheelbarrow ... not at all,” he said. Asked whether he could imagine resorting to assisted dying, he said: “yes”, but added “for now”, saying that the choice was “still very difficult.