443. Pierrot le Fou/Pierrot Goes Wild (1965)

Running Time: 110 minutes
Directed By: Jean-Luc Godard
Written By: Jean-Luc Godard
Main Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Dirk Sanders, Jimmy Karoubi
Click here to view the trailer

GODARD WEEK: PART FIVE

Despite my low rating of "Alphaville", I was still able to admit that it wasn't ALL bad and that there were definitely flecks of brilliance in there that were simply lost on me. "Pierrot le Fou", on the other hand, is an entirely different story, as "Godard Week" turns in it's most disappointing effort thus far.

The film gets underway by introducing us to Ferdinand and slipping in a little poetry/literature recital from our main character, Ferdinand (Belmondo). Ferdinand is then forced to a party by his wife Maria (Galvani) and while there, he blunders around aimlessly, trying his best to find a worthwhile conversation to get into. He meets Samuel Fuller, before dousing a woman with cake and leaving the party. When he arrives home, he shares some chit-chat with the hired babysitter, Marianne (Karina), who is apparently an old flame and the two make the decision to run away together, with Ferdinand unable to tolerate his wife any longer. The two spend the night at her apartment and in the morning it becomes clear that Marianne has a little history. She is apparently being chased by a band of gangsters and she and Ferdinand (whom she calls "Pierrot) decide to go on the lam, driving a bevy of different cars, in hopes of ditching the crooks chasing them. Eventually they settle in the French Riviera, where their relationship starts to sour and Ferdinand sets his sights on writing poetry and keeping a journal. Meanwhile, Marianne craves a life of adventure and is tired of living in poverty.

But then again, who the hell knows what was really going on here. I've gotta' say I was really lost in this one, big time. The story doesn't flow into anything that resembles a linear path and really just seems to be a vehicle for carrying Godard's complaints with the world and an exercise in poetry set to film. The cast did a fine job and Anna Karina was exceptional, bouncing around the screen and being extra cute in the process. Belmondo kind of reminded me of his own role in "Breathless", except he was a little more "emo" here, sulking over Marianne and narrating his feelings and emotions. In fact, he was nothing like the "Breathless" character, now that I think of it, but still managed to remind me of Michel Poiccard. The film was beautifully shot, but even that was lost in this film where the script seemed to be non-existent. In fact, I read somewhere that Godard shot this film, for the most part, sans script, which would account for the erratic nature and all around puzzlement of yours truly.

Godard has always come off to me as a very self indulgent filmmaker, I mean, that's one of the things he's famous for. He puts things in that I think only make complete sense to him and the rest of us are left to rack our brains trying to fit all the pieces of Godard's puzzles together. What's with the different colored lighting during the party scene? Was it necessary? Was it relevant? He did the same thing in "Contempt", during the early scene between Paul and Camille, but that film was so good, it was easy to overlook the few things that didn't quite fit. "Pierrot le Fou" reeks of a film that was made by a man who clearly had a lot to say and said it, but didn't do a good job making his statements into a film. Here, Godard uses literature and poetry and narration from Belmondo and Karina, which makes me think he would've been better off writing down his grievances with the world, instead of committing them to celluloid. I'll quit while I'm ahead, but in conclusion - worst Godard film thus far, by far.

RATING: 4/10 It gets a few tick marks for great photography and for Karina, but ultimately it's one to pass. Next up: "Masculine-Feminine".

MOVIES WATCHED: 388
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 613

January 6, 2012 4:57pm