It's set in 1960 in Geneva, Switzerland, and follows a French journalist who leaves France to escape military service in Algiers. In Geneva, he is caught between French foreign intelligence operatives and activists for the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN).
Bruno Forestier (Michel Subor) is a photojournalist who flees to Geneva. He soon encounters Jacques (Henri-Jacques Huet) and Paul (Paul Beauvais), members of French Intelligence. They want him to assassinate a pro-Algerian broadcaster. In the process of this struggle, he falls in love with a pro-Algerian woman, Veronica Dreyer (Anna Karina). Eventually, he is kidnapped and tortured by two FLN agents (Paul Beauvais and László Szabó) but manages to escape. We finally learn what happens to both Bruno and Veronica.
This is a very introspective 1960s movie. It's Godard's second film, though it was not released until 1963 because of its torture scenes and anti-French policy tone. The editing is choppy, some of which is Godard's style, and some is bad editing. It's a courageous perspective on a hot political issue of the day but feels very dated in the present. Both Subor and Karina are striking in their roles. However, the acting sometimes seems stiff, probably also partly because of Godard's filming style.
Bruno Forestier (Michel Subor) is a photojournalist who flees to Geneva. He soon encounters Jacques (Henri-Jacques Huet) and Paul (Paul Beauvais), members of French Intelligence. They want him to assassinate a pro-Algerian broadcaster. In the process of this struggle, he falls in love with a pro-Algerian woman, Veronica Dreyer (Anna Karina). Eventually, he is kidnapped and tortured by two FLN agents (Paul Beauvais and László Szabó) but manages to escape. We finally learn what happens to both Bruno and Veronica.
This is a very introspective 1960s movie. It's Godard's second film, though it was not released until 1963 because of its torture scenes and anti-French policy tone. The editing is choppy, some of which is Godard's style, and some is bad editing. It's a courageous perspective on a hot political issue of the day but feels very dated in the present. Both Subor and Karina are striking in their roles. However, the acting sometimes seems stiff, probably also partly because of Godard's filming style.