Masculin Féminin (1966) Masculin féminin (original title)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writers:

Jean-Luc Godard
Guy de Maupassant (stories)

Release Date:

22 March 1966 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Jean-Luc Godard's Swinging Look at Youth and Love in Paris Today!

Plot:

Paul is young, just demobbed from national service in the French Army, and dishillusioned with civilian life...

Plot Keywords:

Pop | Singer | Friend | Politics | Recording

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Paul - un jeune homme instable
Chantal Goya	...	Madeleine Zimmer - une petite chanteuse
Marlène Jobert	...	Elisabeth Choquet - la copine d'Elisabeth
Michel Debord	...	Robert Packard - un syndicaliste
Catherine-Isabelle Duport	...	Catherine-Isabelle
Evabritt Strandberg	...	Elle (la femme dans le film) (as Eva-Britt Strandberg)
Birger Malmsten	...	Lui (l'homme dans le film)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yves Afonso	...	L'homme qui se suicide (uncredited)
Henri Attal	...	L'autre lecteur du bouquin porno (uncredited)
Brigitte Bardot	...	Herself (uncredited)
Antoine Bourseiller	...	Le partenaire de Brigitte Bardot (uncredited)
Chantal Darget	...	La femme dans le métro (uncredited)
Françoise Hardy	...	La compagne de l'officier américain (uncredited)
Med Hondo	...	L'homme dans le métro (uncredited)
Elsa Leroy	...	Mlle 19 ans de 'Mademoiselle Age Tendre' (uncredited)
Dominique Zardi	...	Le lecteur du bouquin porno (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Guy de Maupassant		stories La Femme de Paul and Le Signe
Jean-Luc Godard

Produced by
Anatole Dauman	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean-Jacques Debout

Cinematography by
Willy Kurant

Film Editing by
Agnès Guillemot
Marguerite Renoir		(uncredited)

Production Management
Philippe Dussart	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Henri Barratier	....	assistant director (as Jacques Barratier)
Bernard Toublanc-Michel	....	assistant director

Sound Department
René Levert	....	sound

Other crew
Christine Brierre	....	press attache
Marlène Jobert	....	body double: Chantal Goya (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Anouchka Films
• Argos Films
• Sandrews
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Distributors

• Columbia Films (1966) (France) (theatrical)
• Royal Films International (1966) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• New Yorker Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Art Free (2005) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Ripley's Home Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• KinoVista (2007) (Russia) (TV)
• NEF Diffusion (????) (France) (theatrical) (new rights)
• Silver Screen Collection (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Masculin féminin" - France (original title)
"Masculine, Feminine: In 15 Acts" - International (English title) (complete title)

Runtime:

110 min | Argentina:103 min | Sweden:104 min | USA:103 min

Country:

France | Sweden

Language:

French | Swedish | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 (w) | Sweden:15 | Singapore:M18 | Iceland:L | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:M (TV rating) | Portugal:17 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Anouchka Films

Trivia:

The film contains references to various pop culture icons and political figures around that time, such as Charles de Gaulle and André Malraux to James Bond and Bob Dylan.

Quotes:

Robert:Ever notice there's the word "mask" in masculine? And also "ass"?
Paul:And in feminine?
Robert:Nothing.

Movie Connections:

References The 400 Blows (1959)

Soundtrack:

Sois gentil

Zero = pretentious ... Much Marx, much Pepsi ... and a spice of Yé -yé

There is a Godard that we cannot stand. He loves to talk about politics in his movies, but in much of them he talk with passion but without pity and let that the spectator forget about his voice and the message goes beyond redemption. Nothing of this happen in this masterpiece.

Here, Godard told us the story of a man (Leaud, in a very Antoine Doinel aura) and woman (Beautiful yé-yé singer Chantal Goya)in 15 scenes. And the experience is breathtaking. It incorporate the politics in the sex of each one, at the end, their souls and their bodies are fulfilled of this mentality. And we believe him, because we are men and women ... and we understand it.

And of course, our characters, love be young. Love to run, to sing, to have sex, love to love and to be loved. With the thing that made BANDE À PART a great experience, MASCULINE FEMENINE is in definitive one of Godard best work. The less pretentious, enjoyable and human. Criterion got an excellent copy of it.