Do you think there is chemistry between Anna Karina and Belmondo?

Pierrot le fou

I was asking myself this question because I do not quite think so. Belmondo and Jean Seberg felt much more natural together, and I must admit that I think that Anna Karina looks the best all by herself, so to say. To me, it feels like she is always standing alone in the camera, and this opinion might be colored by my knowledge of Godard’s and Anna Karina’s past relationship. It’s because her characters are always either torn between men (Bande à part) or unable to feel emotions (Alphaville) or a criminal woman who uses men (Pierrot le Fou). On top of that, she seems to be the only female character that Godard is portraying as mysterious, inexplicable while the others feel more exposed and simple to the public. He wants her for himself, I knew it, hahaha.
Well, perhaps I am over-interpreting this matter considering that I have not seen that much.

By the way, I really love the random title in German: “11 Uhr nachts”. It just doesn’t make any sense to me?

Oh God, I know why I have put Anna Karina onto my 20 favorite actresses list. Originally she was just in the list because I couldn’t think of anybody else, but she is truly great. (However, objectively, she is not as good as Giulietta Masina, hmm.) The simple look she gave Belmondo in the first scene was brilliant already. Even her hairstyle was great. All of Godard’s women talk the same, but she and Jean Seberg seem to be the ones who were able to incorporate this style the best. But seriously, this singing is disturbing XXXD

It is remarkable about this film that it’s another one of these films that I have disliked in its first 30 or so minutes, but then ended up adoring when I proceeded to its end. Even when I went back to see its beginning, I have come to appreciate it much more. Especially this tidbit of dialogue where Belmondo asks “What is cinema?” was great. The reply is probably the best summary of the film itself, heh.

After “Le mépris” (which stands out for me in many ways), this is my second color film by Godard. Considering how he seems to love his plays with striking colors, it makes me wonder why he didn’t make color films much more often. “Pierrot le Fou” is one of these films where every single color seems to be deliberate and ‘in place’. Everything seems to have a certain meaning, it’s just me who is unable to decipher them. Not to mention that these colors gives the film some pleasant and interesting visuals, which seem. Every single nouvelle vague I have seen so far is with style, and “Pierrot le Fou” is no exception.

Between the first 30 minutes and the rest, I have ignored the film for a few weeks until one day, I was craving for a nouvelle vague for some reason. And one the finest example of the nouvelle vague was what I got. Very much unlike Truffaut, Godard’s film feel like a puzzle of seemingly random pieces. The story of man who runs away from Death, Marianne reminiscing about the mad but conventional love of her parents, the absolutely brilliant hair style of Anna Karina at her first appearance in the film – there are countless such moments that make this film so immensely Godard-ish and so wonderful.

Although Godard seems so immensely popular, I still think that he is a little like Goethe: Everyone loves him, but this is because it’s expected from you to do so. When you dig deeper, you would see that most people barely know anything about Godard or Goethe respectively. Someone I know even used to say something like “Yeah, Le Mépris was good, but most of Godard’s films are just random, artsy shit.” I can totally see how this can be what a lot of film buffs are secretly thinking.
I think It’s just important to know that his films have no “story” and one should expect a certain degree of weirdness and pointlessness, but if you do that, you would see the meaning behind it. The characters are vain and egoistic, the story seems completely random, their relationships and feelings give off the impression of being very instable, but that is what makes it possible for Godard to show these people’s human side.

I think it’s adequate to present my first Godard ranking
1. À bout de souffle
2. Le Mépris
3. Masculin Féminin
4. Pierrot le Fou
5. Bande à part
6. Alphaville
I definitely am planning on seeing more, even though I feel bad that I have never bothered to see more than Godard’s and Truffaut’s films. Chabrol, Lelouch, etc. I have never even touched them yet.