Pierrot le fou (1965)

IMDb Listing
To date, Pierrot le fou is the last Godard film that I’ve seen and actually liked. It’s definitely a testament to Godard’s interest in mixing and subverting genres, and in some ways this film feels like a remake of his own Breathless, only with a wider scope and more overtly political edge (there are also moments, especially in the use of music, that reminded me of Contempt). As in that film, Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as a man on the run from the law with his girlfriend, here played by Anna Karina, as the two engage in random criminal mischief (stealing cars, robbing tourists, etc.). The difference between this movie and some of the later ones that I dislike is that the story is still cohesive and not as subject to Godard’s scorn for narrative and character as, say, his Week End, which came two years later. Plus, it’s simply difficult for me to dislike anything too strongly when it stars Belmondo and Karina, two performers that both keep the film grounded and provide it with incredible charm despite Godard’s occasional efforts to irritate; I especially love Karina’s two musical numbers. The film feels like a bridge between two different movements in Godard’s career, between the playful cinematic mischief of his earlier works and the more strident, antagonistic films that would follow. 8/10