Pierrot Le Fou (Crazy Pete) [1965]

Contemporary Bengali humorist, satirist, songwriter and cinephile Chandril Bhattacharya composed a tribute song on Jean-Luc Godard a few years back, and Pierrot Le Fou, along with its lead actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina featured prominently in it – such is the movie’s popularity among Godard aficionados. It is a loose (and perhaps a deliberate) companion piece to his groundbreaking first feature Breathless. However, though it still was a pastiche to American B-movies and film noirs, and the basic plot may be quickly encapsulated with the phrase ‘love on the run’, in place of the lighthearted and freewheeling dynamism of Breathless and even his Band a Part, the structure here was far more complex and cerebral. Filled with references that range from literary to pop culture to political, this was less about its plot (hell, Godard didn’t even have a script to start with while filming this movie), and more about the French iconoclast’s opinionated musings. And the chemistry that Belmondo shared with Karina might not be as crackling as the one with Jean Seberg, but was no less irreverent and breezy. Interestingly, the movie has two lovely impromptu songs and a memorable cameo by iconic American director Samuel Fuller.

Note: My recent review of this film can be found here.







Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Genre: Romantic Drama/Road Movie/Avant-Garde/Experimental
Language: French
Country: France