Movie #198 Alphaville *1965*

What can I say about Alphaville?  Three things:

Reason 1.  The beautiful Anna Karina and the hard boiled Eddie Constantine.

Reason 2.  Jean-Luc Godard directs a Science Fiction / noir film that completely rejects the conventions of both type of genres.


Reason 3.  Gurggling robotic voice of "God".

I give Alphaville ★★1/2.

Movie #129 Pierrot le Fou *1965*

Jean-Paul Belmondo - Pierrot / Ferdinand
Anna Karina - Marianne Renoir
Jean-luc Godard (Director)

I have heard that Godard's movies are more fun to talk about than they are to watch.  I disagree with that theory.  Now at times I did catch myself looking down at my watch during Pierrot, but just because a movie drags in a few places doesn't make it boring or not interesting to watch.  Honestly, even when Godard's films get boring they are still fun to watch.

Pierrot le Fou is about a cool hipster husband that runs of with the even more cool babysitter.  They shack up in her place for the evening.  Once morning comes around it is shown that there is a dead body in the room, but no one seems to either notice or care.  Eventually they have to flee Paris and the gangsters that are after them. At this point it becomes a road trip romance, but without a drop of sentimentality.

I love the way in which Godard deals with plot.  He discards it.  He is substance through style.  The style is almost a character in the film. The use of vivid color and irrelevant dialogue are staples of Godard's later work.  He was a staple of the French New Wave and this is another crowning achievement in that movement.

The movie has reflections on tons of other films and genre's.  I bet that Shawn of the Dead director Edgar Wright loves Godard.  I can see the influence in his approach to film making.  It references old MGM gangster movies, American Musicals, Bogart pictures, and so forth.

The performances are hard to gauge because it is difficult for me to understand what they are getting at because so much of what they are saying is tongue in cheek or irrelevant to the already thin story line.  I will say this about the performances.  Belmondo is f'ing cool and there is no two ways about it.  You want "cool" personified?  Belmondo, Alain Delon and Peter Fonda is a pretty good place to start.  Then there is Anna Karina.  What a beauty.  She is absolutely breath taking in this movie. She was good in Bande, but she may be the first manic pixie dream girl in cinema history.

I enjoyed watching this movie a lot and I am having a very difficult time describing why.  Maybe because I haven't slept much in the past 24 hours, or maybe that old adage about Godard's film is flat wrong.  I give Pierrot le Fou ★★★1/2.  This movie is available on Netflix Watch Instant and on Blu Ray through the Criterion Collection.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.

Movie #114 Bande a Part *1964*

Anna Karina - Odile
Claude Brasseur - Arthur
Sami Frey - Franz
Jean-Luc Godard (Director)


Bande a Part or Band of Outsiders is a mainstay of the French New Wave movement.  I first saw this film when I was going crazy for everything Tarintino.  He loved this movie so much he named his production company after it.  The first time I rented this movie it was from the Circus Video store here in town.  They had a foreign and college video section. 

The movie is about two young wanna be crooks who seduce a young woman Odile into helping them rob her Aunt.  The plot of the movie is really not the main focus of the film.  It is a style over substance film.  This was not an uncommon practice in the French New Wave.  One of the mandates is that all the "rules" of film making had to be discarded.  One of the rules was films had to be narratively driven. 

This film is famous for a few scenes.  First there is the impromptu dance sequence (that Tarintino admittedly ripped off for Pulp Fiction).  Then there is the minute of silence (also referenced at the Jack Rabbit Slims scene in Pulp).  There is also a great opening credit sequence and a few other shots that are near iconic.

This the the second film in so many days that has been totally shot on location.  I think The Naked City did a much better job of showcasing New York than Bande a Part did of Paris, but they are comparable. 

There is one other thing that really stands out in this movie for me and that is Anna Karina.  She is a beauty and a fresh breath of an actress.  I think she is extraordinarily natural.  I ended up getting lucky when it came to naming my second daughter.  I was thinking of naming her Anna after Mrs Karina, and sorta got my wish.  Also Sami Frey as Franz was good and reminded me a little of Alain Delon.  If you don't know Delon he was like a French George Clooney and Steve McQueen rolled into one.  

Over all this is a solid element of the French New Wave.  I still prefer Godard's Breathless and Pierrot le Fou over this film, but I will give it a 3.5/5 stars.  If you are a new comer to the movement, this isn't the best place to start but it certainly captures all the concepts. This film is available through the Criterion Collection.