This line spoken by one of the unfortunate actors being uncomfortably interrogated during the movie perfectly encapsulates my reaction to it's clumsy attempt at insight and philosophy.
This is less a film than it is an exercise in egoistic expression. There is no narrative and minimal concept of character. The people employed are props to attempt to capture the feeling of being in a deep philosophical conversation. That, in itself, isn't the problem. The problem is that is really no deep insight on display. Everything that Godard expresses is pretty obvious to a teenager. I would challenge any grown adult to identify a single thought expressed in this film that they didn't already think or believe. Godard inelegantly spoon feeds the audience musings that they already believe so that they can remark on how smart he must be.
His focus is really to generate the FEELING of being in a deep philosophical discussion rather than to actually have one. It ends up being forced and hollow. All style with no substance. For me, it evokes flashbacks of getting my degree in philosophy and having to sit through groan-inducing performative discourse between people trying desperately to look smart and seem deep and achieving neither.
This is less a film than it is an exercise in egoistic expression. There is no narrative and minimal concept of character. The people employed are props to attempt to capture the feeling of being in a deep philosophical conversation. That, in itself, isn't the problem. The problem is that is really no deep insight on display. Everything that Godard expresses is pretty obvious to a teenager. I would challenge any grown adult to identify a single thought expressed in this film that they didn't already think or believe. Godard inelegantly spoon feeds the audience musings that they already believe so that they can remark on how smart he must be.
His focus is really to generate the FEELING of being in a deep philosophical discussion rather than to actually have one. It ends up being forced and hollow. All style with no substance. For me, it evokes flashbacks of getting my degree in philosophy and having to sit through groan-inducing performative discourse between people trying desperately to look smart and seem deep and achieving neither.
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