Pierrot Le Fou (1965)

Posted on February 28, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard and starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina, this film is chock full of poetic musings, literary allusions, pop culture images, and so on. Belmondo is a Frenchman who is unhappy with his life and marriage. When a young woman he is already acquainted with comes to watch his child, they eventually elope together. Ferdinand goes with Marianne to her apartment only to find a corpse and they must flee the scene from two gangsters. Now on the run, the two lovebirds are intent on living life and making their own Hollywood inspired movie that they can both star in. Their aspirations lead them to live a wild life on the move, but finally they settle down for a awhile in the French Riviera. Ferdinand is content with a quiet life of philosophizing but Marianne is discontent with this life right out of a Robert Louis Stevenson novel. They finally move on and stop at a night club where they face one of their pursuers. After some mishaps Ferdinand and his girl get separated. Finally they are reunited only to have Marianne turn on “Pierrot” for her real boyfriend. The final moments are filled with gunfire, a suitcase full of money, blue paint, and dynamite. You could say that everything blew up in Ferdinand’s face, and you would be quite correct.

4/5 Stars

Band of Outsiders (1964)

Posted on February 27, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, this film follows a young woman who meets two crooks in an English language class. Through narration we learn that she told them about a cache of money she knows of and so they get her to help them swipe it. They both fight for her affection and ultimately the thug Arthur wins out. Despite Odile’s apprehension at taking the money from her aunt’s home, they continue to get the plan ready. Arthur’s uncle now wants in and then the plan changes again because the owner of the money is gone a day earlier. From this point everything begins to go wrong and after a horrible botched attempt the three culprits flee the scene with little to show for their caper. Arthur makes up an excuse to return and Odile and Franz drive off but they return when trouble seems imminent. Back at the house Arthur is confronted by his uncle and there is more bloodshed. Afterwards Odile and Franz again flee heading to South America while the narrator promises a sequel in the near future. This film unabashedly proclaims to be Nouvelle wave even going so far as having it printed on a store banner. Again, Godard combines his love of American pulp fiction and artistic experimentation to create yet another tragic tale. The film gives a nod to Hollywood crime films and also features several famous sequences. Some high points include the moment of silence, the spontaneous dance in the café, and of course the run through the Louvre. In my mind, Pulp Fiction owes at least something to Godard right here.

4/5 Stars

Contempt (1963)

Posted on February 26, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Jean Luc Godard and starring an international cast including Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, and Fritz Lang, this film within a film is Godard’s personal examination of the cinematic world. It opens with the shooting of a scene only to have the camera turn to face on the audience. Then begins a story where a screenwriter married to a beautiful woman is called upon to write a new screenplay for an adaption of the Odyssey. The producer is a vain and loud mouthed American who quickly has his eyes on the producer’s wife. Other members in this production are the real life legendary director Fritz Lang as well as the producer’s personal female assistant. Things begin to turn for the writer after he leaves his wife with the American playboy. She begins to become distant and she finally acknowledges that she no longer loves him. One of the famous extended sequences focuses on the argument they have inside their residence. In the course of the scene their relationship begins to crumble and finally goes beyond repair. This turn of events is very obviously paralleled in the Odyssey by Odysseus and Penelope. In the end the wife leaves with the producer and screenwriter is left in Italy to help finish up the film alone. Little does he know what has happened. Fellini’s 8 ½ may be a greater film about a filmmaker and his art, but I think “Contempt” is important because Godard focuses a great deal on the conflict between the commercial films of Hollywood and the art films of Europe. His film is more about each individual person who together make a film production possible, and he brings it to the screen with one of his best casts.

4.5/5 Stars

Vivre Sa Vie (1962)

Posted on February 25, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard and starring Anna Karina, this French film shot like a documentary begins up close and personal in the life of a 22 year old woman named Nana. In 12 separate scenes we slowly are given a view into her life. She goes from leaving her husband, trying to get into the movies, and then finally begins prostituting herself for easy money. All the while this beautiful young lady struggles with men. Here interactions sometimes leave her somber and other times light-hearted. Through it all she tries to live her life the way she sees fit. She might be playing pinball, working in a record shop, viewing a movie, or attempting to pick someone up. She is so alluring in a quiet sort of way and as observers we begin to feel pity for her more than anything. In the end tragedy strikes and all of a sudden it is no longer her life to live. This film had moments where it became talkie however the narrative divided into 12 sequences and the constantly swiveling camera were major attributes. Furthermore, this film appears as if it will be an in depth character study and yet by the time it abruptly ends we hardly know much of anything about Nana besides what is on the outside. In real life Anna Karina would be Godard’s wife for a time and he used her in many of his works.

4.5/5 Stars

Breathless (1960)

Posted on February 24, 2014 by 4 Star Films

The debut of Jean-Luc Godard and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo with Jean Seberg, this film was influential in helping to jump start the French New Wave. The story begins with a small-time thief named Michel stealing a car and then killing a policeman Quickly, he becomes a fugitive in need of money. This brings him in contact with an American journalism student he had met before. They spend time together with Michel professing his love and Patricia still feeling unsure whether or not she truly loves him back. In a final act of reassurance Patricia betrays Michel and he is chased down by the authorities. He is a far cry from the American movie stars and crime films he idolizes. With its jazzy score, bilingual dialogue, jump cuts, and Parisian scenery, this film is chic and cool. It paid homage to Hollywood but it also paved the way for a new era of films starting in the 60s. The film is perhaps not as impressive to today’s audiences but it certainly has a look that you have to appreciate. Godard was ahead of his time because he went against all conventions that had been set up for cinema and he thereby revolutionized the film world.