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

1 nomination.

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

Referenced in Godard, l'amour, la poésie (2007)

User Reviews

An irritating anti-war fable...

Similar to Ingmar Bergman's 'Shame' is Godard's powerful parable of war, 'The Riflemen.'

Godard has stated that 'In dealing with war, I followed a very simple rule. I assumed I had to explain to children not only what war is, but what all wars have been from the barbarian invasions to Korean and Algeria, by way of Fontenoy, Trafalgar, and Gettysburg.'

Michelange and Ulysse leave the women when the king's officers come enlist them... They are offered everything... 'Can we loot, burn, rape etc. etc… 'Yes. You can do anything you want,' they are assured... So with rifles on their backs they are off to war...

Like Bergman's film there is no enemy... Both sides wear the same uniform, talk the same language and have the same objectives... Nothing is left out of the film, the hate, the humiliation, the rape, but above all we are impressed by the unending and unrelieved scenery of destruction... There is nothing that is natural or alive in the world of rubble...