Bande à part (1964)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Dolores Hitchens (novel)

Release Date:

5 August 1964 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper Headline | Trio | Dance | Louvre Museum | Alienation

Cast

Anna Karina	...	Odile
Danièle Girard	...	English Teacher
Louisa Colpeyn	...	Madame Victoria
Chantal Darget	...	Arthur's Aunt
Sami Frey	...	Franz
Claude Brasseur	...	Arthur
Georges Staquet	...	Le légionnaire
Ernest Menzer	...	Arthur's Uncle
Jean-Claude Rémoleux	...	L'élève buveur d'alcool
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michel Delahaye	...	Le portier
Jean-Luc Godard	...	Le narrateur
Monsieur Jojot
Claude Makovski	...	Pupil
Michèle Seghers	...	Student in English Class

Also Known As:

Band of Outsiders (USA)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chateau d'Eau, Porte des Lilas, Le Métro, Paris, France

Company:

Columbia Films

Trivia:

The story Franz refers to in the café scene, about something being best hidden in the most obvious place, is "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allen Poe.

Goofs:

Continuity: When assaulted by his uncle, Arthur's position changes between shots.

Quotes:

Madame Victoria: I hope you go to class and not to the movies.
Odile: I hate movies.

Movie Connections:

References Le mépris (1963)

Soundtrack:

Les parapluies de Cherbourg

Jean-Luc "Cinema" Godard

With this film Godard returned to the (petty) crime genre and his fascination with American pop culture. Odile (Karina), Arthur (Brasseur) and Franz (Frey) meet in an English language class and become friends. When naive Odile tells them she lives in a house where a large amount of money is cached, their imagination runs wild. Fantasizing and discussing Hollywood B-movies and pulp literature, they decide to rob the house with the help of Odile.

Godard goes to even further extremes in "violating" traditional storytelling with his voice-over narration, giving the viewer information during the action and letting his characters talk to the camera. It might not be Godard's most innovative release, compared to let's say BREATHLESS, CONTEMPT and TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER, but is probably more entertaining and accessible to modern audiences than almost any other pre-1970 film he made (his later work is difficult to grasp for any audience). In the case of CONTEMPT audiences might have flocked to the cinemas because of Brigitte Bardot's presence, but besides BB-devotees, that's hardly a recommendation now. But this one generally is an entertaining and insightful film, with the dancing sequence in the bar justly memorable, as is the 9-minute tour of the Louvre.

Still, essential for movie buffs. Godard even credited himself as Jean-Luc "Cinema" Godard. Quentin Tarantino paid tribute to this film naming his production company A Band Apart.