Band of Outsiders (1964)

Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard (as Cinéma)

Writer:

Dolores Hitchens (novel)

Stars:

Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Danièle Girard

Cast

Credited cast:
Anna Karina	...	Odile
Danièle Girard	...	English Teacher
Louisa Colpeyn	...	Madame Victoria
Chantal Darget	...	Arthur's Aunt
Sami Frey	...	Franz
Claude Brasseur	...	Arthur
Georges Staquet	...	Legionary
Ernest Menzer	...	Arthur's Uncle
Jean-Claude Rémoleux	...	L'élève buveur d'alcool
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michel Delahaye	...	Le portier
Louis Jojot	...	(as Monsieur Jojot)
Claude Makovski	...	Pupil
Michèle Seghers	...	Student in English Class

Storyline

A triangle: Franz, Arthur, and Odile. Franz, a young man with Alain Delon good looks, has met Odile in an English class. She lives in Joinville with wealthy benefactors and has mentioned to Franz that Mr. Stolz keeps a pile of 10,000 franc notes unlocked in his room. Franz tells his friend Arthur, a swarthy guy whose shady uncle is pressing him for money. Arthur and Franz, who mimic American movie tough guys, case Odile's house, pressure her to assist them with a burglary, and make passes at her as well. She's alternately compliant and distressed. Will they pull off the heist?

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Plot Keywords:

burglary | the madison dance | english class | student | musical sequence in non musical work | 

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Taglines:

A Who-Dunit, Who's Got-It, Where-Is-It-Now Wild One From That "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

BFI (distributor) [UK]

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

5 August 1964 (France)

Also Known As:

Band of Outsiders

Filming Locations:

Chateau d'Eau, Porte des Lilas, Le Métro, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$120,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,656, 19 August 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$37,651, 7 August 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Films,Anouchka Films,Orsay Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story Franz refers to in the café scene, about something being best hidden in the most obvious place, is "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allen Poe.

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Goofs

At the start of the movie when Franz and Arthur get out of the car, Franz shuts his door and points to the house - and again after the cut.

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Quotes

Le narrateur: A few clues for latecomers: Several weeks ago... A pile of money... An English class... A house by the river... A romantic young girl...

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Crazy Credits

For the last time (?) on the screen Music by Michel Legrand

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Connections

Referenced in Kleingeistganoven (2016)

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Soundtracks

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
(uncredited)
Music by Michel Legrand

User Reviews

Is An Alternate View of These Vapid Characters Permitted?

For anyone interested in the history of film, this is a must-see, in the same way Birth Of A Nation or GWTW are must-sees; One can see the brilliance D.W. Griffith brought to early cinema in his epic recreation of his own Southern version of the American Civil War without admiring the sketchy politics that lie at it's roots, without rooting for the Ku Klux Klan to rescue Lillian Gish from the freed slaves. In the same way, I give Godard's film a high historical rating although I personally find the characters a drag, and their aimless lives less than fascinating.

Regardless of the brilliant avant-garde cinematic techniques that pepper the Band of Outsiders, one is also stuck with the characters, an aimless lot without a lot of talent, charm or magnetism, rootless folks who ignore others completely as long as they can run about and steal and make noise and act like unruly children. Late in life they have discovered they can be naughty--but without talent or insight or much else than self-indulgence, after a while watching them get's to be a drag. So you can run screaming through the Louvre and feel free and make noise and annoy the other patrons and guards? If you missed your adolescent years, it's a shame, but rootless behavior in and of itself doesn't create much of anything save a picture of self-indulgence.

One can appreciate the new vision of cinematography that frees the narrative from ancient strictures--but one also gets tired of a supposedly "free spirit," Arthur, setting up Odile for failure, using her body for his own instant gratification without any eye for consequences; simply put, he's a loser, and why do I want to spend two hours with him? I recognize Godard's contribution to the New Wave, but also find his characters tiresome in their attitudinal posing and aimless vapidity.