While reading the other comments I learned that Godard is a "love him or hate him" kind of director, and I can see why this is true. If you are a film-school graduate or an aficionado of the bizarre, no doubt you will be in the former category. Almost everyone else is in the latter.
However, I will try to be objective and go down the middle.
Firstly, the cinematography is excellent. The black and white images are crisp and engrossing. The actors are interesting, not because of the quality of their acting, or what they are saying, but because the camera lingers on their features and makes use of the fact that people-watching is an activity of universal fascination. It certainly doesn't hurt that one of the people we get to watch is the adorable Chantal Goya.
I also felt some empathy for the Masculin character. He is such a pathetic twerp, trying to woo Feminin with his silly Marxist drivel, you can't help feeling a little sorry for him. She isn't any more interested in this stuff than we are. I imagine Katie Holmes must feel the same way about Tom Cruise when he drones on and on about Scientology.
On the downside are: the inane, pointless and pretentious dialogue, the juvenile sound effects and the disjointedness of the work as a whole. Imagine a feature-length black and white Monty Python film without any humour. Maybe I exaggerate. There is some humour...but it isn't funny.
In summary, if you turn off the subtitles and turn down the sound, you will enjoy most of the good parts of the film and avoid most of the bad. Of course, you could say the same about a Britney Spears video.
However, I will try to be objective and go down the middle.
Firstly, the cinematography is excellent. The black and white images are crisp and engrossing. The actors are interesting, not because of the quality of their acting, or what they are saying, but because the camera lingers on their features and makes use of the fact that people-watching is an activity of universal fascination. It certainly doesn't hurt that one of the people we get to watch is the adorable Chantal Goya.
I also felt some empathy for the Masculin character. He is such a pathetic twerp, trying to woo Feminin with his silly Marxist drivel, you can't help feeling a little sorry for him. She isn't any more interested in this stuff than we are. I imagine Katie Holmes must feel the same way about Tom Cruise when he drones on and on about Scientology.
On the downside are: the inane, pointless and pretentious dialogue, the juvenile sound effects and the disjointedness of the work as a whole. Imagine a feature-length black and white Monty Python film without any humour. Maybe I exaggerate. There is some humour...but it isn't funny.
In summary, if you turn off the subtitles and turn down the sound, you will enjoy most of the good parts of the film and avoid most of the bad. Of course, you could say the same about a Britney Spears video.