Pierrot le fou (1965)
Cinematic trolling at the peak of the French New Wave.
Presentation:
One of Godard’s greatest legacies is a film that breaks every rule in cinema. This chaotic film starts out conventionally before contrasting with the quirkiness of the French New Wave once the hitmen start appearing. At first the juxtaposition has marvelous charm, then it persists like a never ending joke. You know what they say about guests that overstay their welcome and 2 day fish…the absurd humor goes on far too long at which point I actually think this film can be classified as a comedy (and a pretty good one). The presentation has colored lights, jarring music, jump cuts, bizarre editing and lazy continuity to emphasize French pointlessness. It’s the style of The French New Wave dialed to the max. But the banality of it all was too much and too pretentious even if they did include a few jabs at Hollywood and their own. There’s less subjective handheld camera work compared to Breathless, whose formal presentation ends up pairing well with the ironic tone.
Conclusion:
In some ways, I think this absurd duo on the run is more Lanthimos than Lanthimos. It’s the absurdity of cinema, deconstructing many notions we have about filmmaking, Hollywood, and action scenes. It’s a great joke that begins to get sour over time, but its influence of absurdist cinema cannot be overstated. This may be one of the most unhinged respectable films even today, and should definitely be witnessed for historians of cinema.
Recommendations
The French do animation exactly as you’d imagine they would.