Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Genre: Drama / Crime
Duration: 110 minuten
Alternative title: Crazy Pete
Country:
France / Italy
Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard
Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina and Graziella Galvani
IMDb score:
7,4 (39.912)
Releasedate: 5 November 1965
Pierrot le Fou plot
A married man says goodbye to his civil life and flees with a young girl to an island. Along the way, their plans are thwarted by a mob chasing them - or are the two just playing a game?
Actors and actresses
Ferdinand Griffon, 'Pierrot'
Marianne Renoir
Maria, la Femme de Ferdinand
Aicha Abadir (uncredited)
Le Premier Pompiste (uncredited)
Le Deuxième Frère (uncredited)
Le Troisième Pompiste (uncredited)
L'Homme du Port (uncredited)
Le Gangster (uncredited)
Samuel Fuller (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Dievegge
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- 3180 messages
- 8228 votes
At the base is a crime story by Lionel White with a beginning, a middle and an end. Godard regarded this merely as a peg on which to hang his artistic and political ideas. Like Velázquez, he wanted to represent the elusive. The viewer is repeatedly reminded that he is looking at a work of art, eg when Anna Karina breaks through the fourth wall or when extras introduce themselves. The weapons look fake; the blood is clearly a coat of paint. Knocking someone unconscious is far too easy. The narrators who change at illogical moments also create distance.
The two main characters have internal paradoxes. Ferdinand is against US intervention in Vietnam and against OAS terrorism, but he ends up becoming a murderer himself. He is nicknamed Pierrot, after the sad clown on the wall by Marianne Renoir. She bears the first name of the emblem of the French Revolution and the family name of a painter and a director. She radiates innocence and just wants to live, but at the same time she is a murderer and a thief. On the Mediterranean island under the azure sky, Ferdinand compares himself to a diary-writer Robinson Crusoe and his companion to Friday.
Bright primary colors contrast with each other. Anna Karina often wears red as a symbol of her passionate character. Belmondo wears the blue of the cool intellectual. There are abrupt transitions and unusual camera angles. Scissors for a wide-angle lens seem bigger than Anna Karina herself. You should look at this at least twice: once to get to know the story and a second time to pay attention to the style and underlying ideas.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Bobbejaantje
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- 2301 messages
- 2092 votes
This Godard seems (once again) an exercise in the existential, with a parodying loose ends gangster story as the favorite context. The characters of Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo share a past - see the name confusion Ferdinand/Pierrot eg. - but that is not disclosed further (again it makes a difference in the screenwriting). Poetic reflections on existence and semantics regularly pass by. A number of stylistic hobbyhorses from previous films also pass; the soundtrack that stops at unexpected moments, eager references to other films, a director's cameo (Samuel Fuller is the lucky one), hints at musicals, even recycled torture. New entry is the Vietnam War context that seeps into the characters' lives through radio and TV images, adding a layer of grimness.
The film also has a surreal feel about it, with some outright hilarious moments. eg. the little Japanese gangster with the mega walkie talkie, Belmondo's casual chat with a passerby in the garage. There are also shots that are difficult to place within a certain logic, although of course we could also be dealing with crazy Pierrot's point of view.
Pierrot Le Fou is also seen as a pessimistic film and that is of course related to the jet black - smurf blue - finale. A film that does not immediately draw me on board at first sight, as was the case with previous Godard films. Nevertheless, I find it fascinating enough to sit in front of it one more time, and experience it again just like that.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Hansiro
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- 168 messages
- 1689 votes
My first encounter with Godard and it went quite well! Beautiful use of color throughout the film and how I enjoyed Pierrot's facial expressions. Anna Karina has said enough about it, sweetie! Difficult to follow dialogues now and then, and it all looks a bit messy, but hey, c'est la vie!
Translated from Dutch · View original
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