Bande A Part (aka Band Of Outsiders) (1964)
Two aimless young men (Claude Brasseur, Sami Frey) have romantic designs on a naive young girl (Anna Karina). They talk her into helping them rob the household she works in as a maid. Based on the novel FOOL'S GOLD by Dolores Hitchens and directed by Jean Luc Godard in a playful mood. This absurdist black comedy is a bit nutty but in a likable way. Its unfocused trio seem influenced by American gangster movies. The males act like thugs but they're pure amateurs and way over their head. As usual with Godard, he tosses in a few quirky moments as when the actors sit in silence for a minute and then spontaneously break out into dancing the Madison. Considered by many to be Godard's most accessible film and it's a good film to introduce Godard to someone who's never seen a Godard movie. With Louisa Colpeyn and Ernest Menzer.
Hello De Witt - Great review. If you were going to introduce someone to Godard would you choose this movie, Breathless, or Contempt (with Bardot) ? And by "someone", I mean an American, who's used to watching Mainstream Hollywood movies like GWTW or La La Land but not foreign films.
ReplyDeleteAll three are relatively accessible I think but Band Of Outsiders is more "fun" than the others which are darker so yeah, I'd use Bande A Part as an introduction to Godard. It's also less overtly political than most of his films.
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