Tout va bien (1972)

Directors:

Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Pierre Gorin

Writers:

Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Pierre Gorin

Release Date:

16 February 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Godard examines the structure of movies, relationships and revolutions through the life of a couple in Paris.

Plot Keywords:

Revolution | Supermarket | Factory | Riot | Communist

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Yves Montand	...	Him, Jacques
Jane Fonda	...	Her, Suzanne
Vittorio Caprioli	...	Factory Manager
Elizabeth Chauvin	...	Genevieve
Castel Casti	...	Jacques
Éric Chartier	...	Lucien
Louis Bugette		(as Bugette)
Yves Gabrielli	...	Léon (as Yves Gabrieli)
Pierre Oudrey	...	Frederic
Jean Pignol	...	Delegate
Anne Wiazemsky	...	Leftist woman
Marcel Gassouk
Didier Gaudron	...	Germain
Michel Marot
Hugette Mieville	...	Georgette
Luce Marneux
Natalie Simon
Cristiana Tullio-Altan		(as Chris Tullio)
Ibrahim Seck
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eric Charden	...	Himself
Guy Lelarge	...	Jaques

Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Pierre Gorin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Pierre Gorin

Produced by
Jacques Dorfmann	....	associate producer
Jean-Pierre Rassam	....	executive producer
Jean-Pierre Rassam	....	producer

Cinematography by
Armand Marco

Film Editing by
Claudine Merlin
Kenout Peltier

Production Design by
Jacques Dugied

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Isabelle Pons	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Antoine Bonfanti	....	sound
Bernard Ortion	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Yves Agostini	....	first assistant camera
Anne-Marie Miéville	....	still photographer

Music Department
Jean-Michel Rivat	....	musician

Production Companies

• Anouchka Films
• Vieco Films
• Empire Films (co-production)

Distributors

• Gaumont (1972) (France) (theatrical)
• New Yorker Films (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Studio Films (Australia) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Arrow Films (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Silver Screen (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• The Other Cinema (UK)

Also Known As:

"Everything's All Right" - USA (informal literal English title)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | Hong Kong:III | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Anouchka Films

Movie Connections:

References The Ladies Man (1961)

Soundtrack:

Il y'a du soleil sur la France

An Entirely Different Structure

Godard builds his films from scratch. It's not that he shows up on the first day of shooting with no script or idea of what he wants. He simply works from an entirely different angle than most other directors. In an inventive, cerebral, pretentious manor, Godard and his co- director here, Jean-Pierre Gorin, shows us scene after scene. After each one, we naturally ask ourselves questions pertaining to the characters and the story. The story, or should I say the film, unravels further. We then not only ask ourselves the expected question, "What does this movie mean?" We also ask ourselves, "What is this movie about?" Godard drops characters and settings into a stirring pot, sprinkling it with title cards and captions, then pours them all into the oddly shape bowl of a film structure that he has fashioned himself. His cinematic expression is less a communication to and more a confrontation with the audience. He does not make his film easy on you. Still, his cinematography is interesting, and I admire some of his ideas.

Have I made it unclear where Tout Va Bien stands in my opinion? OK. Well, let me tell you that it is quite an interesting film, an especially unpredictable one, yet Godard and Gorin, as the occasional European filmmaker will do, just as Haneke does, enjoy the feeling of being beyond the audience. What is said with Tout Van Bien, politically, socially, sexually, is expressed as if we, the audience, are the ignorant ones he is in disagreement with.

The high points of this film are the presence of Jane Fonda and a very very long sideways steadicam shot that slowly moves from left to right repeatedly across several check-out lines in a grocery store as tension and rage slowly builds.