Le Petit Soldat (1963)

During the Algerian War, a man and woman from opposing sides fall in love with one another.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard

Stars:

Anna Karina, Michel Subor, Henri-Jacques Huet

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Michel Subor	...	Bruno Forestier
Anna Karina	...	Veronica Dreyer
Henri-Jacques Huet	...	Jacques
Paul Beauvais	...	Paul
László Szabó	...	Laszlo

Storyline

During the Algerian war for independence from France, a young Frenchman living in Geneva who belongs to a right-wing terrorist group and a young woman who belongs to a left-wing terrorist group meet and fall in love. Complications ensue when the man is suspected by the members of his terrorist group of being a double agent.

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Plot Keywords:

algerian war | french soldier | french military | terrorist | love | 

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Genres:

War | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

25 January 1963 (France)

Also Known As:

Le Petit Soldat

Filming Locations:

Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland

Box Office

Budget:

$180,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,848, 10 March 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$24,296, 18 August 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Productions Georges de Beauregard,Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was actually completed in 1960, and was Jean-Luc Godard's second film after Breathless (1960). It was shelved for three years by the French censors.

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Quotes

Bruno Forestier: I don't know. Life says women are right. But gives death to men. Death is what's important. Van Gogh once said that death would take us to another star.

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Connections

Featured in Der Ausdruck der Hände (1997)

User Reviews

worthless

Godard is at his best when he playfully messes with social and filmmaking conventions, combining his whimsical nature with his vibrant social commentary.

The little soldier does not do that. He plays it serious here and it's a shame, because Godard can't do that. He can't create suspense; it's antithetical to his nature. Even a scene that is supposed to elicit emotion from the audience, presumably, like the torture sequence, goes on and on so slowly and at such a rambling pace, you eventually feel nothing, if that hasn't happened much earlier.

What could have been a great statement on the corruption of both sides of thought, left and right, and the lack of ideals in modern politics just becomes a tedious, overbearing, overlong mess.

Godard lovers, like all the commentators on this page, will defend Godard to the death even when he retches up something as awful as this. Don't listen to them. There's a reason this movie is impossible to find; no one wants to see it.