In this occasional series, every once in a while we will view and re-view the films of Jean-Luc Godard, who died in September 2022. Today, we go back to the '60s. (Historical note: These are the last two DVDs I got by mail from Netflix before the service disappeared.)
MADE IN U.S.A. (1966) (B) - Crime is played for grins in this send-up of mindless American shoot-'em-ups. Anna Karina, with her bouffant 'do, does a star turn in a role that runs simpatico with Barbara Feldon and Diana Rigg, the gals with guns from the era.
Karina plays journalist Paula Nelson, who travels to fictional Atlantic-Cite to investigate the death of her communist boyfriend Paul P (his last name is always drowned out by random noises, Godard's cheeky way of granting him mystery and anonymity). We hear his voice on tapes spouting his radical philosophy. Godard displays an ear for a durable political diatribe when he notes a "penchant for sublime parry being used by the Right today which gives the masses the facile emotion of courage without the risk and pride without sacrifice." Touche.
Godard mixes precise references to influences (the novel Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye) with cartoon violence that evokes a blood-stained Disney, a couple of daft Keystone Kops, and random whims, like including singer Marianne Faithfull for no good reason. He loves his colorful splashes; he evolves noir into neon. The plot, however, gets needlessly complicated in the final reel, buoyed by cliched double-crosses.
Karina rocks moddish yellow-and-orange outfits. Godard's camera glides through a gym where models exercise. Godard's sneer at America's culture (except for certain hallowed filmmakers and writers) might make you crave a side order of Freedom Fries. At this point in his career, his observations are pretty sharp, and he doesn't assault you with several ideas at once or a firehose of polemics, like he would start doing by the '70s. This one is a bit of a mess, but it's always entertaining.
LE PETIT SOLDAT (1963) (B-minus) - Shot in 1960 but withheld from release for three years because of its controversial take on the Algerian war, this early black-and-white film is too dense and flat to be effective. Anna Karina, working for the first time with Godard, pairs with newcomer Michael Subor as a cool couple negotiating tightropes among the factions for and against Algerian independence.
Subor's Bruno is a deserter from the French army posing as a journalist while working with a French terrorist organization. He is ordered to kill a rival activist to prove that he is not a double agent, but he refuses. Things turn grim in the second half. A scene of Bruno being tortured is pretty sadistic and is dragged out too long for comfort.
Karina's Veronica is two-dimensional, and she stands around a lot brooding like a bored femme fatale. Subor is too wooden as the hardened, intellectual revolutionary. More twists toward the end turn this darker and darker.There are some good ideas here, but it's all too dense to be effective. This is Godard finding his way. He shot this the same year as "Breathless," and it was released just before "Contempt" (in color with Brigitte Bardot), which made Godard an international sensation.
BONUS TRACKS
Previous takes on Godard's oeuvre:
- Contempt
- Band of Outsiders
- Masculin Feminin
- 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
- Goodbye to Language
- Film Socialisme
- The Image Book
- Hail Mary
- Histoire(s) du Cinema
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