Film Facts: This film is the most straight forward and comprehensible of all of Jean Luc Godard’s films. This is also the only film that Godard directed but did not write (it was written by Francois Truffaut, another pioneer of the New Wave style). Keep an eye out for Godard making an appearance in the film as an informer.
Screening Questions:
1. Look for the use of: jump cuts, quick cuts, long takes, sudden changes in camera distance, graphic discontinuities (particularly the lighting). What is their effect on you?
2. What about the film’s conclusion? What happens and what does it all mean? How or why does this ending feel artificial or unsatisfying?
3. Look for references to painting, novels, philosophy, poetry and other films.
4. What is the “plot” of this film? Is it motivated by cause and effect? If not, what drives the film forward?
5. Look for scenes in which important parts of the plot seem to be rushed or cut out?. What is the effect of this? How are these scenes edited?
6. What kind of character is Patricia? What kind of character is Michel? How or why are they different from the characters we encounter in Classical Hollywood films?
7. What scenes take up a lot of the film and yet do not serve to move the narrative forward? How does it feel to watch these scenes?
8. What moments, actions, or themes are repeated in the film (especially in relation to Michel’s behavior)?
9. How or why is this film like film noir? How or why is it like an American gangster film?
10. What exactly is this film about? What is the “point”?
1. Look for the use of: jump cuts, quick cuts, long takes, sudden changes in camera distance, graphic discontinuities (particularly the lighting). What is their effect on you?
2. What about the film’s conclusion? What happens and what does it all mean? How or why does this ending feel artificial or unsatisfying?
3. Look for references to painting, novels, philosophy, poetry and other films.
4. What is the “plot” of this film? Is it motivated by cause and effect? If not, what drives the film forward?
5. Look for scenes in which important parts of the plot seem to be rushed or cut out?. What is the effect of this? How are these scenes edited?
6. What kind of character is Patricia? What kind of character is Michel? How or why are they different from the characters we encounter in Classical Hollywood films?
7. What scenes take up a lot of the film and yet do not serve to move the narrative forward? How does it feel to watch these scenes?
8. What moments, actions, or themes are repeated in the film (especially in relation to Michel’s behavior)?
9. How or why is this film like film noir? How or why is it like an American gangster film?
10. What exactly is this film about? What is the “point”?
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