Monday, February 25, 2019

Romancefest 2019: Masculin Feminin

Written and Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud, Chantal Goya, Marlene Jobert and Michel Debord
France/Sweden, 1966

A literary dilettante chases romance with a rising pop star in 1960s France, against a backdrop of political upheaval, pop culture and sexual confusion. This is considered one of Jean-Luc Godard’s most important films from the equally important French New Wave movement.

I think if I had been 16 in 1966, I would have loved this. As it is, now I feel like I’m too old to care about the kind of endless politics/sex/whatever discussions that go on late into the night and loop back in on themselves that used to seem fascinating in high school and college. And, if I had seen this as a teenager in the 90s, I probably would have been too bored to enjoy it. So I think I missed the boat on it. Still, it’s easy to pick up on all the ground-breaking stuff in this movie, because Godard makes sure to put it right in your face, complete with gunshot sound effects.

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