First of all, this film includes the best definition of cinema I´ve ever heard: "Film is like a battleground. Love, hate, action, violence and death, in one word: emotions". Then, "Pierrot le fou" is the best realization I´ve seen of Godard´s ideas. Until now, I had enjoyed his interviews more than his films. His filmography seems to be reaching for an ideal he doesn´t quite ever fulfill. As Pierrot, sorry, Ferdinand says, "Film shouldn ´t be about the lives of people, it should be about life itself". Therefore, he tries to get rid of a traditional plot to focus only on space and movements; and emotions. Of course, that´s just too abstract and he constantly needs to come up with some kind of vague plot, even if it´s just a mere excuse. He isn´t attached to it, though, and changes it or completely forgets about it anytime he´s able to, which drives so many people mad.
The pointless plot always has to do with crime because that´s what americans do. Fellini said "I come from a country and a generation to which America and movies are almost the same thing". That is probably hard to imagine for an american but it´s true and back then it was even more true. From there comes the fascination with gangsters and outlaws present in so many french movies. It´s just an idea, like everything else in Godard´s films. That´s why there´s no need to take it too seriously and you should be ok with scenes like the one at the gas station (that is also why Godard kicks Melville´s ass any day). His films can be seen as a series of episodes rather than a whole. He goes from one thing to the next in a playful sequence of ideas. Despising structure allows him total freedom of expression. That´s a hit-or-miss risk and it obviously doesn´t work all the time but when it does it´s really special, not to mention how inspiring it can be.
"Pierrot le fou" starts a bit off and kind of lost me in the last act (with the exception of the "est-ce que vous m´aimez" monologue, which is absolute genius). I´m not a big fan of the ending either but everything in the middle might be the closest he ever got to his ideal of free cinema. It´s a masterful celebration of life, love, freedom and movies.
The pointless plot always has to do with crime because that´s what americans do. Fellini said "I come from a country and a generation to which America and movies are almost the same thing". That is probably hard to imagine for an american but it´s true and back then it was even more true. From there comes the fascination with gangsters and outlaws present in so many french movies. It´s just an idea, like everything else in Godard´s films. That´s why there´s no need to take it too seriously and you should be ok with scenes like the one at the gas station (that is also why Godard kicks Melville´s ass any day). His films can be seen as a series of episodes rather than a whole. He goes from one thing to the next in a playful sequence of ideas. Despising structure allows him total freedom of expression. That´s a hit-or-miss risk and it obviously doesn´t work all the time but when it does it´s really special, not to mention how inspiring it can be.
"Pierrot le fou" starts a bit off and kind of lost me in the last act (with the exception of the "est-ce que vous m´aimez" monologue, which is absolute genius). I´m not a big fan of the ending either but everything in the middle might be the closest he ever got to his ideal of free cinema. It´s a masterful celebration of life, love, freedom and movies.