Lizzellotte's Talk

PIERROT LE FOU (1965)
directed by Jean-Luc Godard
starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani

She keeps calling him Pierrot but he says his name his Ferdinand. Maybe he isnt who she thinks he is or maybe he isnt who he hopes to be. Pierrot le fou is very much similar to Jean-Luc Godard's own À bout de souffle. Its about two lovers on the run. On the run from what ? We dont really know until later in the film. The film noir plot is secondary here as the film, like it often is with Godard, looks more like an essay, this one about love and life. Of this film Godard said: «It is not really a film, it's an attempt at cinema. Life is the subject, with [Cinema]Scope and color as its attributes... In short, life filling the screen as a tap fills bathtub that is simultaneously emptying at the same rate.» That is very much the filling we get watching the film.

Again Godard likes to experiment with the way he edits his film. He puts in music to stop it abruptly sometimes without warning. At one point Jean-Paul Belmondo says something and Anna Karina asks him what he is talking about, he says he is doing that for the viewers. Later, when she has to answer a question, Anna Karina looks in the lense, she looks at us, as if we were witnessing her lie to come.

Belmondo is great, very natural, mimicking the old film noir actors, using the same kind of voice we use when we are kids playing games. He is close to being a parody but he is in control of his performance and it stays only satirical. Anna Karina, a young Danish girl at the time, very pretty is absolutely amazing. Very natural in the way she acts.

Jean-Luc Godard is probably the most influencial director of the French New Wave. Here is one shot from the film.

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Anna Karina's look obvisouly inspired Quentin Tarantino for the Mia Wallace character played by Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Thats no secret, Tarantino was higly influenced by Godard anyways.

Pierrot le fou is not Godard's best, not even close cause its a bit too similar to À bout souffle and it doesnt feel as fresh. Its defiantely an interesting film though, with good moments, some fun humor bits and great dialogues. Not bad.