91-year-old director Jean-Luc Godard, who died today in Switzerland at the age of 91, has chosen to leave this world with assisted suicide. This was announced by the family’s legal advisor, Patrick Genre, quoted by AFP and Le Monde.
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Macron: With Godard’s death, we have lost a national treasure
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Godard had sought help in Switzerland for euthanasia due to “serious debilitating diseases,” according to medical records, Genre explained, confirming information first published by the Liberation newspaper.
There are various forms of assisted death in Switzerland, including passive euthanasia and suicide. They are allowed under certain conditions. Whoever “motivated by selfish motives” witnesses suicide – for example by supplying a lethal substance – is punished with imprisonment of up to five years or a fine.
The possibility of assisted suicide is established by codes of medical ethics and supported by organizations, mainly “Exit”, which in 2021 assisted nearly 1,400 people to take their own lives.
Assisted suicides have been on the rise in Switzerland in recent years, from 187 cases per year in 2003 to 965 in 2015, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office. After a slight decline in 2016, they are starting to grow again.
The French director’s family has announced that there will be no funeral or official burials. Jean-Luc Godard will be cremated and his relatives will greet him in a private ceremony.
However, there are organizations that offer the possibility of assisted suicide within the established rules, but on the condition that “no selfish motive” can be attributed, notes France Presse.
Godard was the creator who, in the 60s, forever changed the boundaries and the way of telling in the seventh art. He is known as the “bad boy” of the French New Wave.
Among his most famous films are “Until the last breath”, “A woman is a woman”, “Contempt”. In them, the Frenchman rejects the traditional aesthetic that existed up to that time in cinema. His films touch on many philosophical themes. He has worked with the biggest names in French cinema.
The creator has left over a hundred films created as part of his career, which spanned nearly six decades.
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