Friday, December 4, 2009

Pierrot le fou


"Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot Le Fou, being screened in the city this fortnight, is a perverse film, a story of overwhelming passion told dispassionately. It uses the plot of a pulp novel, but overturns established conventions of action, character and narrative development. Where you’d expect a build-up of suspense, you get farce; where tenderness might seem appropriate, conversation turns staccato; and where explication appears necessary, a new sequence transports you to a different time and location."
Read the rest of my article, published in the current issue of Time Out, here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jeez, your blog is getting addictive . Though I like Goddard's films , I don't find him in the class of Fellini of Bunuel.

As a budding film maker in India, I feel a lot jealous about the freedom enjoyed by the french or mostly European film makers. I will really look forward to the day when this freedom arrives in India. Anyway , have you seen " The exterminating angel ", what are your thoughts on that?....Srikanth

Girish Shahane said...

I've seen The Exterminating Angel, Srikanth, but it was too long ago to say anything about it beyond, "I liked it a lot", which is like saying nothing.
Even with Pierrot le fou, which I've watched twice in the past, I needed to refresh my memory before writing about it.
If I remember correctly, Exterminating Angel is like the opposite of Bunuel's later The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. In the first film, guests can't leave a dinner, in the second they can't seem to get together without interruption :)

adrian.mckinty said...

Call me simple but I dont think he's ever surpassed A bout de souffle.

Girish Shahane said...

Great film for sure.