Jean-Luc Godard‘s films belong to a category of movies that are more interesting to talk about than to see. I do not want this statement to sound too pejorative, that’s not the intention, especially because I love the discussions about movies. In addition, actually, ‘Bande à part‘ is a movie that offers many reasons for being enjoyed by viewers with different preferences, even if it is loaded by innovative and sometimes eccentric cinematic features, as were all Godard‘s films in the 1960s.
Godard brings to screen a novel of the American writer Dolores Hitchens about the planning of a robbery. I did not read the book, but I guess it’s a fairly free adaptation, because the action in the film takes place in France, on the streets of Paris and in a neighborhood close to the French capital. Two looters (Franz – acted by Sami Frey and Arthur – Claude Brasseur) plan to rob a villa from the suburbs, involving the young Odile (Anna Karina) whom they meet at English lessons. The planning is as unprofessional as it can be, because of the characters of the heroes, but especially because the film director does not seem to be interested in the robbery intrigue, but rather the flirting relationships between the three youngsters, who form a romantic triangle typical to the French Nouvelle Vague.
Director Jean-Luc Godard intended his presence to be visible throughout the film. The result is a very mediocre action film, a nice love story between young people which we like especially because of the the actors, and above all a Godard movie. This is so clear from the initial credits where his name is written name as ‘Jean-Luc Cinema Godard’, through creating scenes of anthology quoted in many other films later (it’s here that Tarantino found inspiration for his famous dance scene in “Pulp Fiction“) and heavy use of off-screen comments to describe the moods of the heroes, and to the extreme trick of cutting completely the soundtrack in a scene in which the heroes are keeping ‘a minute of silence’. Directional indications for the three actors in the main roles must have included a minimum of emotional expression. Retained and timidity specific to their age? Maybe. But the three actors, and especially Anna Karina radiate youthfulness and expressiveness, and manage to convey emotion as though despite the directorial direction. Michel Legrand ‘s music is memorable, the black and white cinema (was it still cheaper than the color film?) also fits well. 55 years after its making, ‘Bande à part‘ has chances to be enjoyed by both amateur filmmakers and a broader audience in search of emotions and entertainment, even if the art and entertainment parts do not bind perfectly one with the other.