Pierrot Le Fou

Made at the cusp between Jean Luc-Godard's carefree experimental period and his political period, Pierrot le fou (1965) is an important work for both cinema and Godard's career. Like Godard's early experimental films, this work reads as a cluttered collage of moments with varying degrees of narrative glue to hold them together. At times this can be trying since there is certainly less narrative glue in this work then in prior works such as Une femme est une femme (1961) or Bande à part (1964). Even the crisp memorable moments that I identify with early Godard works aren't as potent in this effort. The politics of the film though were carefully intertwined and less in-yer-face then Godard's later works which I appreciated. A carefully line between politics and fun was walked in the film that I always feel is lacking in Godard's later uber-political films. Also as usual, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina gave performances that could be the dictionary definition of cool and helped the film keep moving . Overall, while I wasn't too keen on the film I do think it is an important work since it documents a large transition in Godard's work and therefore can be useful in informing us why and how Godard's work changed. I give this film a 6/10, because each of Godard's early works between 1960-66 is a unique lover. Somedays you are in the mood for rebellion, while other days you just want to lie in bed all day long. Without this film there would be a diminished range of "lovers" that Godard tried to capture and that would just be a tragedy.

6/10

PIERROT LE FOU TRAILER