Pierrot le fou (1965)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard (writer)

Release Date:

8 January 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.

Plot Keywords:

Paris France | Breaking The Fourth Wall | Hit Man | Beautiful Woman | On The Run

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Ferdinand Griffon, 'Pierrot' (as Jean Paul Belmondo)
Anna Karina	...	Marianne Renoir
Graziella Galvani	...	La femme de Ferdinand

Also Known As:

Pierrot le fou (UK) (USA)
Bandito delle 11, Il (Italy) (alternative spelling)
Bandito delle ore undici, Il (Italy)
Bandito delle undici, Il (Italy)
Crazy Pete
Pierrot Goes Wild

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

De Laurentiis

Trivia:

Godard said of Pierrot Le Fou that "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."

Quotes:

Ferdinard: [quoting what he has written] "That is the basic problem... you're waiting for me... I'm not there... I arrive... I enter the room... that's when I really start to exist for you... But I existed before that... I had thoughts... I may have been suffering... So the problem is to show you alive, thinking of me,and at the same time, to see me alive by virtue of that very fact." Underlined.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sin City (2005)

Soundtrack:

Ma Ligne de Chance

Godard Clowns Around, Creates Masterpiece

Artists are often remembered more for their brasher, earlier work - films, novels, paintings, etc. that pushed the boundaries of their medium to create something bold and unique. Sometimes, though, we ignore the faults of those earlier works, while more mature, more perfect later works are ignored because they lack the visceral shock of the new inherent in the artist's first pieces.

Godard strikes me as an artist of which this occurrence is particularly true. His Breathless ushered in the Nouvelle Vague of French cinema and has long been held as not only a classic, but also his masterpiece. As wonderful and fun as Breathless is, I find it much slighter Godard's later work, most notably Vivre Sa Vie, Le Mepris, Bande A Part, Weekend, and, of course, Pierrot Le Fou.

Breathless represents more technical innovation than anything else. It is a terrific story, but one that lacks the thematic depth of those other films. Godard touches upon the ideologies that will concern him later, but he does not delve into the plight of woman, the pitiful nature of the bourgeoisie, or the nature of film as much as he would in a couple years.

For me, the greatest achievement of Godard is Pierrot Le Fou. In it, he combines comedy, the road picture, extreme pathos, a scathing indictment of Capitalism, and a critique of contemporary society in an unimaginable way. The film moves along, following Ferdinand and Marianne, but any semblance of a normal narrative gets lost along the way. This is, of course, welcome. You do not come to Godard expecting the ordinary.

Though it lacks the photographic beauty of Le Mepris, Pierrot nevertheless represents one of Godard's most brilliant uses of color. The use of color filters in an early scene, reminiscent of Ivan the Terrible II's final scenes, is quite arresting and the overall use of the eastmancolor pallet is gorgeous. This is a very, very colorful film, which is appropriate for such a playful narrative.

The acting is similarly brilliant. Belmondo gives a more nuanced and more demanding performance here than he did in Breathless, and Karina matches him. Like one of the great starlets of the 40s and 50s, she bestows a grace, beauty, and elegance to her scenes. It helps that Godard's camera absolutely adores her (not quite as much, though, as it adored Brigitte Bardot's rear in Le Mepris), but much of what she does in this film derives from her talent rather than Godard's.

Again, though, I must warn that Pierrot is not a film for everyone.

Yes, it's a funny, brilliantly acted, and beautiful film, but it's also Godard, one of the most acquired tastes in the history of cinema.

That said, if you've not seen this film and consider yourself a fan of this director, see it soon - you'll not be disappointed.