Many of us want to do whatever we want. In fact every human in this mechanised world wants to break free. Freedom of expression. Freedom of choice. Freedom to lose control and get away. Particularly, when in love, there is a burning desire in almost everyone at times to jump from the sky, fall into the ocean, walk on a rope, enjoy every moment the way one wants.
“Pierrot le Fou” is a film in which you can find that kind of expression. This Jean-Luc Godard film (1965) embodies all the ideas that French New Wave cinema is all about. French New Wave was mostly inspired by the Italian Neorealism. This trend evolved from unconventional way of expressing the emotions through editing, colour correction, visual style etc. Pioneers of this style include François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Éric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol and Jacques Rivette. “Pierrot le Fou” was the 15th highest grossing film of 1965 with a total of 1,310,580 admissions in France.
It's a film about lovers -- Ferdinand Griffon (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina). The audience discovers that they know each other from the past but now they are separated. Ferdinand is married to a rich man's daughter and unemployed and Marianne has come to Ferdinand's home to take care of his daughter as a babysitter just for the night. Ferdinand is persuaded by his wife to go to a party at his in-laws, even though he is reluctant to move. He leaves the party shortly though, and comes home. He starts chatting with his former lover, Marianne, and they decide to elope. They have no money, no place to live, get embroiled in a murder, steal a car, and become fugitives. They take the audience on an adventure.
They read poems at the beach, have breakfast with a parrot, run in the woods and passionately demonstrate their love for each other -- without a care in the world. When you watch the film, you'd feel that sense of freedom and that carefree love the protagonists share despite facing thousands of hazards. The film has a fantastic twist but I won't spoil it for you by disclosing it.
“Pierrot le Fou” is a poetic, visual representation of various ideas and makes clear statements against wars around the world. The director has incorporated his views and the film manifests the characteristics of New Wave cinema beautifully. In the film, an American filmmaker explains what film is to the Americans, and the audience learns about Jean-Luc Godard's take on cinema: “A film is like a battleground; it is love, hate, action, violence, death -- in one word emotions.”
No comments:
Post a Comment