Godard Films

I suppose the single worst influence on French Film - as indeed on all film, but felt more strongly in France - is Jean-Luc Godard. Sometimes openly, sometimes more insidiously his contempt for plot, characterization, scrutable sequence, and finally humanity itself has infected any number of filmmakers. Godard either will not, or can not tell a story, either way it comes out the same way. In his work there is no affection that does not reek of affectation; no jest that is not just a rude gesture; no movement that has motivation as well as motion to it. Godard's rebellion is just for the sake of infantile self-indulgence. -John Simon on Godard.

12. Breathless (1960) Godard A young car thief kills a policeman and tries to persuade a girl to hide in Italy with him. An extremely energetic movie with a simple plot, simple characters, and a fast run-time of 91 minutes. I enjoyed the movie for its atmosphere/style and Seberg and Belmondo are perfectly cast.Summary: A stylish and energetic movie that deliberately violated the Hollywood's "rules. Weak on plot and character (they're almost subhuman) - but interesting. Rating ***

13. My Life to Live (1962) - Goddard. Anna Karina stars as a young women who comes to Paris to act but falls into prostitution. A simple. joyless. story stylishly photographed. Karina is excellent as "Nana" the whore, but the story is predictable and the characters underdeveloped. As usual with Godard, the story grinds to halt for 10 minutes while the characters mouth some coffee-house philosophy. Summary: If you want a joyless story about Parisian Prostitutes, with some college sophomore philosophy and new wave photography on the side - this movie's for you. Rating *

14. Contempt (1963) Godard. A French writer is hired to make a commercial script for film to be directed by Fritz Lang while he alienates his wife (Bardot) by his behavior toward her and the films American producer (Jack Palance). An interesting movie about making a movie - and a satirical attack on Hollywood. An atypical Godard movie - the production values are relatively high and the color photography of Bardot and Capri is beautiful. Flaws: Story is repetitious at times and the characters are unlikable Summary: Better written and with more character development than your typical Godard film. The satire and Bardot makes it worth seeing. Rating ***

15. Le Petite Sodat (1963) Godard A French deserter in Switzerland gets mixed up with both Arab and French revolutionary groups and tries to commit murder to avoid being sent back to France. Switching gears after "Breathless" Godard made this serious, political, movie about the Algerian war. I found it rambling, pointless, disjointed, and lacking any suspense. Like most Godard films the characters aren't particularly engaging, likable or interesting. The film's politics are simple-simon - both sides are bad. A few good scenes such as - a hitman is frustrated by random events, and a matter-of-fact torture scene. Summary - For Godard fans only. Godard tries to be serous/straightforward and fails. Rating *

16. Band of Outsiders (1964) - Goddard. Story of 2 young Parisian small time crooks and a young girl who decide to the rob her adoptive Aunt, It ends badly, but along the way the three dance "the Madison", run through the Louvre in less than 10 minutes, talk, philosophize, and hang out together. A long 97 minutes. Some brilliant scenes that have become famous - including the famous dance in the cafe - but the story is too slight for its run time. According to Godard he wrote the dialogue at the last moment to give the actor less time to think. No doubt, this accounts for the impressionist, almost plot-less nature of the film. The actors are no more than adequate, and I didn't find their characters particularly engaging or interesting. Rating **1/2

17. Alphaville (1965) - Goddard. Odd mixture of SF and parody of private eye stories. Starts out as interesting parody of a Private Eye/Spy story but then after 15-20 minutes makes a U-turn and becomes a serious movie about a Computer controlled society. Some great images and I enjoyed the parody at first but the movie soon bogged down and went nowhere. The SF part is hurt by obvious 1960s sets and settings. Hard to imagine to you're in a futuristic society when it all looks like Paris. Eddie Constantine is great as the lead man but Anna Karina is barely adequate. Rating **

18. Pierrot le Fou (1965) Godard. Pierrot leaves Paris and his boring marriage and takes off with his babysitter/ex-lover (Anna Karina) for the Mediterranean. Not very interesting & full of the same old Godard riffs, games without meaning, attacks on colonialism, consumerism, and the USA. But some striking images and clever scenes, driving the convertible into the Lake was fun. Summary: Godard filmed it in a month with no script - and it shows. A tired rehashing of themes from other Godard films. But Karina & the bright colors are nice to look at. Rating **

19. Masculin and Feminine (1965) Godard. A young Parisian would be intellectual pursues a young French Singer and hangs out in Paris talking and philosophizing. Almost a plot-less movie, a series of conversations and location shots of Paris, divided into 15 segment, each segment being introduced by a phrase like “Les Enfants de Marx de Coca-Cola”. A movie of its time and place, intended as a reportage and satire of 1960s youth culture. PROS: The expected Goddard cleverness and interesting camera work, soundtrack, the two female leads Goya and Jobert, Location shots of 1960s Paris. CONS Not much happens, endless talk about dated politics, random, pointless acts of violence, underdeveloped characters. Male lead (Leaud) isn’t particularly likable or interesting. Summary Lesser Godard. The famous director's name keeps the DVD in print. Rating **

20. Weekend (1967) Godard. A controversial, experimental film about a nasty, greedy couple out to visit her parents in the country. Along the way the couple meet traffic jams, cannibalistic Marxists, endless auto accidents, Emily Bronte and Saint-Just. The movie has no real plot and is full of black humor, satire, and surrealism. Godard even pays homage to Bunuel - and reminds us throughout that we are watching a film. PROS: The 10 minute traffic jam shot, the piano in the courtyard segment, Connie's sexy true or dream sequence, and the first fight over the dented fender. The acting is excellent and the two leads play their characters (caricatures) well. There are some additional striking images, and a few puns and instances of black humor worthy of Monty Python.Cons Weekend has 20 minutes of didactic Marxist speeches - where someone talks into the camera - one lasts for 10 minutes (!). Some segments are repetitive (a of lot burned and wrecked cars, and fights over cars). Others are boring and pointless (the Emily Bronte segment - the shootout at the end - killing a pig and 2 ducks). No character is likable and most are viewed from a distance. Finally, Godard often drags the scenes out too long or slows the pace.SUMMARY "Weekend" is nothing like "Breathless" or "Contempt." Its a black humor fantasy with shocking images and boring political speeches. Its completely unconventional. Nothing wrong with that, except Godard's execution is often slack & lazy. He throws everything into the pot and only some of it works 30 minutes are brilliant, 35 minutes are OK, and the rest - 40 minutes - had us pushing the FF button. If you're not a communist, French Film student or Godard fan - I'd skip it. BTW, I'm shocked at how seriously some take this film - they need to read more and watch less film Rating **

21. La Chinoise (1967) Godard. Sometimes inventive - yet boring and dated - political film about 4 French university students studying Mao. Some humor and interesting photography but basically 90 minutes of talk about Communism and 1960s French Politics. Godard ridicules the students at times- but overall sympathizes with their Marxist-Maoism. Not surprising since Godard was a self-proclaimed communist (Maoist). Note: I was how amazed how controversial and important this move was considered when released. John Simon, whose review were normally 1-3 pages, wrote an 11 page (!) review the film. Kael and Sarris wrote similarly long review hysterically praising it. How times change.Summary For Godard fans and communists only. Rating *