Sadomasochists rejoice! Not one, but two, earlier Jean-Luc Godard films are winging their way to video. Weekend, the less accessible of the two, is a mishmash of non-narrative excesses that are a trademark of the enfant terrible's self-indulgent desire to shock audiences. The barely discernible plot has a greedy bickering bourgeois Parisian couple taking a weekend trip to mother's. Along the way the couple (and the audience) encounter a host of bizarre and obnoxious barriers: traffic jams, cannibalistic revolutionaries, a pianist playing Mozart on the dirt road of a one-horse village, and a meeting with Emily Bronte. Constantly interrupted by full-screen cue cards and punctuated by the sound of gunshots (Godard has a fancy for American gangster films), Weekend is neither as confusing nor as shocking as Godard obviously intended the film to be. It is mostly just tiresome. With the exception of the onscreen slaughter of a pig (which is both pointless and truly offensive), Weekend mostly offers refried Marx filtered through Godard's mind (proof positive that a little knowledge can be a dangerous, not to mention utterly boring, thing). Masculin Feminin, on the other hand, though offering nothing so basic as an intelligible film, at least has the benefit of a pair of disarmingly pleasant performances by Jean-Pierre Leaud and Chantal Goya as the lovers Paul and Madeleine. Ostensibly, a film in 15 acts (some of which appear to be missing), the love story between Paul, the would-be revolutionary and Madeleine, the would-be pop singer, is often lost amidst the scenes devoted to Godard's more pressing concerns (lechery, violence, and Dick-and-Jane level revolutionary politics). Sometimes clever, and occasionally even intelligent, Masculin Feminin is, nevertheless, too artsy to appeal to much more than a handful of film snobs. Ironically, the video medium is virtual anathema to Godard's purposes since it allows the viewer some control of the proceedings. Godard's five minute tracking shots and sudden bursts of long cacophonous audio are cut down to size pretty quick with a "fast forward" button and the volume control ( an option which columnists, unfortunately, can't take advantage of). Unlike film, on video Godard can only be as annoying as we allow him to be. If time is the true test of art, then both Weekend and Masculin Feminin fail the test. Ten years from now, I suspect that Godard's Hail Mary will be given a similar assessment. Today, there is little new work appearing from this giant of the New Wave movement in cinema. Having exhausted sex, religion, and politics, perhaps Godard has simply run out of boundaries to cross. Neither Weekend nor Masculin Feminin is recommended. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review—Sept. 6, 2005—New Yorker, 105 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1967’s Weekend sports a nice-looking transfer with good sound. DVD extras include audio commentary by film critic David Sterritt, a featurette with filmmaker Mike Figgis (23 min.), an interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard (19 min.), and trailers. Also newly available on DVD is Godard’s For Ever Mozart. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a key film in the New Wave movement—even if Godard is an acquired taste that many of us have yet to acquire.] [DVD Review—Sept. 20, 2005—Criterion, 105 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1966's Masculin Féminin sports a nice transfer with Dolby Digital mono sound. DVD extras include new and improved English subtitle translation, a video discussion of the film between French film scholars Freddy Buache and Dominique Paїni (25 min.), a 2005 interview with Godard collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin (16 min.), a 2005 interview with star Chantal Goya (15 min.), an interview with cinematographer Willy Kurant (12 min.), an archival 1966 interview with Goya (5 min.), Swedish television footage of Godard directing the 'Film Within the Film' scene (4 min.), a 16-page booklet with a new essay by film critic Adrian Martin and a reprint of a report from the set by French journalist Philippe Labro, and trailers. Bottom line: a characteristically fine Criterion release of a film that will primarily appeal to Godard fans.] [Blu-ray Review—Nov. 20, 2012—Criterion, 104 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1967's Weekend features a stunning transfer and an LPCM mono soundtrack. Extras include the video essay 'Revolutions Per Second' by writer and filmmaker Kent Jones (25 min.), interviews with assistant director Claude Miller (25 min.) and cinematographer Raoul Coutard (19 min.), an excerpt from a French television show with on-set footage shot by filmmaker Philippe Garrel (8 min.), an interview with costars Mireille Darc and Jean Yanne (4 min.), trailers, and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Indiana, selections from author Alain Bergala's Godard au travail: Les années 60, and an excerpt from a 1969 interview with Godard. Bottom line: a welcome Blu-ray debut for this French New Wave classic that will appeal mostly to Godard fans.]
Masculin Feminin; Weekend
(1966) 103 min. In French w/English subtitles. $69.95. New Yorker Video. Library Journal
Masculin Feminin; Weekend
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