Skip to main content

Review: Pierrot le Fou (1965)

Pierrot le Fou (1965)

TLDR: Despite being a 'classic' and perhaps one of the quintessential European New Wave films, Godard's Pierrot le Fou is the antithesis to today's contemporary mainstream movie-going experience. It is an entertainingly goofy affair yet also baffling and often indecipherable. It is both an homage and also a commentary on the medium of film, and one that requires a good deal of contemplative afterthought to ponder what exactly it is you've just watched...

I will admit that Pierrot is the first film by the legendary Jean-Luc Godard that I have seen. While I knew his status as an auteur and as one of the best of his craft, I didn't quite know his 'style' going into this film. As anyone who has seen some of Godard's will know, within twenty minutes or so, I was taken for quite the turn - I quickly felt like I was part of Ferdinand and Marianne's chaotic joy ride through the European countryside filled with romance, crime, non-sensical anecdotes and jump cuts, and, of course, musical interludes. 

Yes, Pierrot le Fou does have a story. It is about Ferdinand, a married man and father who becomes disenfranchised with his bourgeois lifestyle in Paris who has a run-in with his babysitter/ex-girlfriend and the two decide to rekindle their affair and hit the road together for some serious shenaniganning (yes, that is now a word). What transpires plot-wise is much less important than the atmosphere and feeling that the images, audio and sequences seek to evoke in its audience. In fact, there are multiple times when the proverbial fourth-wall is broken cementing Godard's message - that he and his characters are very much aware of us the audience watching their story - and therein lies the fun. The result of this is a dreamlike adventure that, to me, often felt Lynchian but in a happy-go-lucky way. The film is rife with absurdities, colourful characters, Hollywood commentary and easter eggs, and lots and lots of 60's vibrancy and progressiveness (that is, other than one scene that is highly offensive/racist in today's world).

Anyone going fresh into this film needs to leave their expectations of a tight film at the door. If not, you will quickly give up on this one. It took me quite a while to understand how to watch this film (a phrase that I am sure many young movie-goers will groan or roll their eyes at), however, once you accept Godard's vision and settle in for the experience, there is a plethora to enjoy and contemplate on. No, not everything makes sense and, likely, not everything is intended to have 'a point'. However, at the end of the day film is a medium of art - that is a combination of audio and visual that serves to evoke emotion and sentiment in its viewer. And, in that, Pierrot le Fou is surely one of the most evocative films I have seen.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The New Mutants (2020)

The New Mutants (2020) TLDR: A sad, dismal final chapter in Fox's once-acclaimed X-Men saga. The New Mutants shows promise in fragments, but its poor script and plot and often awkward execution makes for a sickly overall package that is quite fitting for this equally-sickly year that it has finally been released in... The New Mutants were an alt-X-Men team created in the early 80's in an effort to revamp and re-contemporize a new team of teenage X-Men. The new series became a smash-hit with new star mutants like Magik, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and Mirage, all of whom continue to headline Marvel comics to this day. Josh Boone's The New Mutants, which was announced more than five years ago and shot in 2017, has finally seen the light of day in 2020... The film seeks to adapt the team's beloved 'Demon Bear' storyline, while introducing audiences to this fresh team of mutant superheroes. In doing so, Boone tries to create an omelet-homage from the likes of Ste...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: How to With John Wilson (Season 1)

How to With John Wilson (Season 1) TLDR: It's hard to describe exactly what How To is or why exactly it works, but there's a certain point in every episode when the comedy begins to click and then the human element - the surprising poignancy and the everyman/woman relatability - comes out in spades. This documentary series is unlike anything else out there and absolutely worth your time. Who exactly is John Wilson? That's the first question that comes to mind when HBO's new documentary series is recommended to a new viewer. The name is in the show's title, and yet John Wilson is rather a nobody in the grand scheme of things as well as in the entertainment industry (at least he was prior to the becoming a bonafide hit). However, not long ago, contemporary comedy icon Nathan Fielder discovered Wilson and, after seeing his work and style, decided to jump on board as a producer for a new series made by Wilson.  So, again, what exactly is this show? Well, each episode of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Soul (2020)

Soul (2020) TLDR: For a year where many may feel like they have lost a little piece of their own, Soul has arrived to remind us all what's most important in life. This is a Pixar film that is arguably more important for adults to watch than kids: it is beautiful - in both story and art, it is quirky, it is heartfelt and, as these trying times endlessly push on, it reminds us that there is still a lot of good in this world to enjoy and reflect upon.  Note: some spoilers below. It takes a little bit of time to ease into Disney/Pixar's Soul. Though the film starts out in a lush and beautifully rendered NYC filled with delightful jazz music as we follow Joe around his everyday boroughs, things very quickly run astray. Suddenly, we are thrown into an abstract world filled with Picasso-like wiry characters and massively heady existential concepts like 'where do we come from', 'the great beyond', and much more. If it's not immediately apparent, it soon becomes clea...
Post a Comment
Read more