Knowing Godard's instant classic 'Breathless', a revolution in cinematic technique in its time, I was reluctant to discover this one. Turns out to be that 'Crazy Pierrot', is undoubtedly one of the french director's best but also an interesting piece of work of the 'Nouvelle Vague's era.
It seems to me that here, Godard achieves to produce something very approximate to some sort of a cinematic miracle. He is able to synthesize his movie into a parody of almost everything possible, folding and unfolding, destroying and rebuilding topics and clichés renowned in his time. From french and international literature (much in the line of the french 'new novel'), to cinema itself (notice that almost every genre is present), but also political subjects like the war in Vietnam, this film is filled with passed as well as contemporary references. During its 110 minutes of content, the director creates an absurd universe very influenced by the leading characters themselves. However, this is a just a tool to distract the viewer. Whenever in the movie Marianne starts singing, for example, it's a technique for Godard to criticize and meditate on the absurdity of everything. Behind all this very burlesque world, don't be fooled, a plot still exists.
This movie is a perfect contradiction. Even if there's a story during the entire movie, since we follow Ferdinand and Marianne's delinquent route to the South, I would approach this movie to the genre of the Theatre of the Absurd, developed by Ionesco and Beckett. Something close to an essay of absurdity itself - 8/10.
It seems to me that here, Godard achieves to produce something very approximate to some sort of a cinematic miracle. He is able to synthesize his movie into a parody of almost everything possible, folding and unfolding, destroying and rebuilding topics and clichés renowned in his time. From french and international literature (much in the line of the french 'new novel'), to cinema itself (notice that almost every genre is present), but also political subjects like the war in Vietnam, this film is filled with passed as well as contemporary references. During its 110 minutes of content, the director creates an absurd universe very influenced by the leading characters themselves. However, this is a just a tool to distract the viewer. Whenever in the movie Marianne starts singing, for example, it's a technique for Godard to criticize and meditate on the absurdity of everything. Behind all this very burlesque world, don't be fooled, a plot still exists.
This movie is a perfect contradiction. Even if there's a story during the entire movie, since we follow Ferdinand and Marianne's delinquent route to the South, I would approach this movie to the genre of the Theatre of the Absurd, developed by Ionesco and Beckett. Something close to an essay of absurdity itself - 8/10.