Pierrot le fou (1965)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard (writer)

Release Date:

8 January 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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:

Party | Mediterranean Sea | On The Run | Babysitter | Beach

Awards:

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

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)
Crazy Pete
Il bandito delle 11 (Italy) (alternative spelling)
Il bandito delle ore undici (Italy)
Il bandito delle undici (Italy)
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:

Films Georges de Beauregard

Trivia:

Director Jean-Luc Godard allegedly shot the film without a script. See also À bout de souffle (1960).

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Ferdinard: My name's Ferdinand.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sin City (2005)

Soundtrack:

Ma Ligne de Chance

Go Crazy with Pierrot

Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le Fou begins with a montage that features some of the most beautiful images ever caught on film. (Tellingly, the only other '60s film to feature such lush photography was Godard's Contempt). But even before these images appear, we've been captured by the soundtrack. Some of the most creative exposition ever follows and things only get better from there on in.

To summarize Pierrot is to betray its essence -- it's as much about its own making as any story -- but here goes nothing: Pierrot, a bored man stuck in a bourgeois marriage, runs off with his children's babysitter, Marianne, herself hiding from gangsters. Bizarre musical numbers and hilarious conversations with no relevance to the plot sometimes break up the story. Characters talk to the camera, and Pierrot yells "Mais, je m'appele Ferdinand!" ("But I'm named Ferdinand!")

Still, plot hardly seems to matter while watching the film. Godard is often called elitist or inaccessible. That's not true, however, and Pierrot is, above all, wild, anarchic fun. Try not to laugh during the absurd bits featuring a sailor who complains that he's had a song stuck in his head for several decades. Try not to grin when Pierrot and Marianne "reenact Vietnam" for a group of American tourists.

Pierrot is one of cinema's essential films, perhaps because it came at the precise moment when Godard hit his all-time peak. Made in 1965, it came during the eight-year period ('59-'67) during which the man made a jaw-dropping fifteen films. Some of them work better than others -- no wonder, for he was experimenting with all of cinema's possibilities -- but many are masterpieces, and Pierrot is the crown jewel.

In many respects, Pierrot is flawless. In all others, it remains great art.