Synopsis
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
1965 Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
狂人皮埃洛, Il bandito delle ore undici, Pierrot Goes Wild, Crazy Pete
As with all of Godard's movies I feel I'm only skimming the surface of a deep pond full of greater meaning than I'm capable of attaining without having seen all of the same movies, read all of the same books, heard all of the same songs, thought all of the same thoughts, or breathed all of the same breaths as Godard. I suppose that's what makes him a definitively personal filmmaker, his "fingerprints on every frame" as my Francophile film studies professor would repeat like a damn mantra. It can be alienating at times, but in Pierrot Le Fou I think the perfect balance is struck between Godard the ponderous semiotician, Godard the strident leftist, and Godard the movie dude.…
I guess it was only a matter of time before I was so impacted by a film that I wrote something in regards to my personal life as much as an actual review of a film. It's something that I've been wanting to talk about for the longest time but deep down, I always feared that something like this would only annoy people on top of contributing nothing to the discussion of the very films that make me feel this way. But then I remembered that letterboxd is explicitly designed to work like a diary, and what are diaries good for if you cant express yourself and your fears. I'm being weird and rambling and blaghhhh so I'm gonna move…
"Chapter Eight"
The fragmentary incoherence of the stories we tell about ourselves; the inherent contingency and inconsistency of both narrative and identity.
I’ve been trying to include more plot synopsis in my reviews, because I easily get carried away with a lot of nonsensical posturing, but Pierrot le fou makes that a rather difficult task. At its most basic, it’s a story about a man who runs away with a woman (the French New Wave’s two most beautiful people, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina), but it’s filled with so much structural experimentation and narrative ambiguity that such a summary sells the movie short by ignoring its most interesting elements. Godard confines himself to some extent to the formal constraints of…
I always come away from Godard films feeling like, though the experience of watching was pleasant, I didn't really gain anything from it. There's so much to like about the films; they ooze with cool. But I don't get from them the same euphoric sense of connection that I do from my favorite films, and that always seems to hold them back.
Then again, that might be their intention.
Anyway, Pierrot le Fou was no different, really. It's a strange post-modern sort of Bonnie and Clyde story with some fun moments, especially when the fourth wall is shattered or the editing starts to get crazy on us. But in the end, the depth of the film escapes me.
Jesus, did those two hours drag on... Stylistically, I fell in love but unfortunately style won't ever make up for a film's pretentiousness and corniness/lack of substance.
"ten minutes ago, i saw death everywhere. and now look, the sea, the waves, the sky. life may be sad, but it’s still beautiful. i suddenly feel free. we can do whatever we want when we want."
that quote right there puts how godard‘s films make me feel perfectly!!! he creates such refreshing and energising works of art that have completely stolen my heart!!! this film right here is no exception to that and is an absolute masterpiece full of adventure, colour, charm, life and the heartbreaks that come with it. the impact this man has had on cinema is so apparent and i will be forever thankful for his passion and creativity!
I love Jean-Paul Belmondo’s loose physicality in this, his awkward boxing, tripping, stumbling, running, and otherwise engaging the world around him with an impromptu style that most directors would overly choreograph or simply eliminate from their film. I also love how the film is all mixed up over which story to tell, Fernando’s of a bored married man going off to become truly alone and write poetry (with perhaps a little sex on the side), or Marianne’s, a kind of cryptic Bonnie and Clyde adventure, and instead of siding with either the film remains a mishmash that makes cinematically obvious the awkwardness of the combination and of the relationship itself.
Anna Karina’s Marianne is the epitome (and perhaps bookend?) of…
Like spending 2 hours with someone who has impeccable taste but a grating personality.
Another Godard, another pleasantly inviting, off-kilter trek with charismatic outlaws. Jumping from Breathless to Pierrot le Fou couldn't have been a more serendipitous selection, as their similarities are shocking. Not just in star Jean-Paul Belmondo, nor in the tale of two lovers on the wrong side of the law, but in the vibe and content - a strike against society and its inane, mundane commercialism. Here, instead of the law, Godard has Belmondo escaping from a drab life full of corporate sponsorship, empty philosophers, and family just as sick as he is, but too apathetic to change. Both Michel and Ferdinand craft fantasy personas for themselves; Michel a gangster, Ferdinand a poet. And both are in way over their heads;…