Les Carabiniers (1963)

During a war in an imaginary country, unscrupulous soldiers recruit poor farmers with promises of an easy and happy life. Two of these farmers write to their wives of their exploits.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writers:

Beniamino Joppolo (play), Jean-Luc Godard (adaptation)

Stars:

Patrice Moullet, Marino Masé, Geneviève Galéa

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marino Masé	...	Ulysses (as Marino Mase)
Patrice Moullet	...	Michel-Ange (as Albert Juross)
Geneviève Galéa	...	Venus
Catherine Ribeiro	...	Cleopatre
Barbet Schroeder	...	Car salesman
Jean-Louis Comolli	...	Soldier with fish
Gérard Poirot	...	Carabinier #1
Jean Brassat	...	Carabinier #2
Alvaro Gheri	...	Carabinier #3
Odile Geoffroy	...	Young Communist girl

Storyline

During a war, the poor and ignorant brothers Ulysses and Michel-Ange are lured and recruited by two soldiers that promise wealth to them in the name of their King. The greedy wife of Ulysses Cleopatre and her daughter Venus ask them to enlist to pursue fortune. They travel to Italy and become unscrupulous criminals of war. When Ulysses is wounded in one eye, he returns home with Michel-Ange and a small bag full of postcards of famous locations and the promise that they would be entitled of the properties in the end of the war. However, when the King signs the peace treaty with their enemy, they find that the agreement was actually surrender and they have a prize to pay for their actions.

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Plot Keywords:

nouvelle vague | french new wave | cult film | cynicism | sardonic | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

27 September 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les Carabiniers

Filming Locations:

Rungis, Val-de-Marne, France

Box Office

Budget:

$140,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cocinor, Les Films Marceau, Rome Paris Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[last lines]
Narrator: Henceforth the two brothers slept for an eternity, believing the brain, in decay, functioned beyond death, and its dreams are what constitute Paradise.

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Connections

Edited into Prières pour Refusniks (2004)

User Reviews

Why ?

I don't understand how or why this movie was so much criticized. I just saw it on DVD and found it excellent. It's completely different of what Godard usually does : I tend to be a little disturbed by his systematic use of quotations (a good example is the recent "Eloge de l'amour"), and there is no such thing in "Les Carabiniers". The dialogs are completely pure, and there is a very clever use of enumerations, which seldom happens in a movie. Great scenes, like when the girl demands to tell a poem before she's executed, when Michel-Ange discovers the cinema, when Ulysse and Michel-Ange show Cléopâtre and Vénus the treasures they brought back from war... It's simple and beautiful.