"Is Godard the prostitute or the pimp?" - Jesse Cataldo

Even in the same year as Raging Bull, Melvin and Howard, Dressed to Kill and The Long Riders it was still the freshest, most thrilling movie to behold.

I could tell you what happens in this movie, but I couldn't tell you what it's about... and I'm not certain Godard could, either. At least he keeps the political polemic out of this one, for the most part, and doesn't have quite so many scenes of people reading straight out of a text (the worst way to make a point, in my opinion). It's not as cold and clinical as a lot of his post-1965 work, and if the moments don't seem to form any coherent whole, at least they're mostly interesting moments.

#612

In terms of cinematography and visual aesthetics, this is a masterpiece from Godard at a time where he was a master director, especially with the slow motion sequences. The content itself - which if viewed less as a conventional narrative work than a series of ideas and concepts wrapped around one cohesive theme will be more rewarding - isn't up to Godard's best in his short work and his statements in interviews, but is still rewarding if you give it the patience.

I can't really say this was a bad film because there's clearly talent here, it has interesting style and Godard is trying to say something. Unfortunately I didn't really get what he was trying to say and the film just kind of fluttered by. The moments were interesting but ultimately fleeting and unrewarding.

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