Having thoroughly enjoyed Breathless as a boundless, energy-filled work of cinematic art, I was looking forward to Jean-Luc Godard's next work about a hit-man in the midst of the Algerian War questioning his beliefs. It ended and I was rather awestruck at how much it felt that Godard tried to keep the audience from being interested in the story. Sometimes, it feels as if there isn't one. We follow Bruno the hit-man as he wonders whether or not he should perform this next target, and then gets involved with Veronica, a beautiful foreigner who turns out to be something she is not. What I essentially took from this was that Godard was continuing his creative vein in which he attempted to go even farther than Breathless, which may have been too far as the story is kind of jagged around the edges and uneven. The best thing about it is Anna Karina, who as Veronica brings a beauty and mysterious presence lacking everywhere else. Indeed, she would go on to marry Godard and work in 7 other films with him. Those would be great accomplishments, but here it is just about getting the feet wet.
Review of The Little Soldier
