I have heard so much about how this revolutionized filmmaking to be honest it's a bit annoying. Did it, really, or is that just something people say? Maybe I have to go back to 1959 to appreciate it. It does retain an energy thanks to the location shooting (not revolutionary at the time, surely?) but also two electric star performances. Jean-Paul Belmondo is one of the great anti heroes of all time: punched-face handsome, lean, borderline sociopathic, horny, Bogart obsessed.
He's beautifully matched by Jean Seberg, with her oh-so-iconic short hair and stripey top and no bra.
I've seen this movie a bunch of times and forget most of it - the opening gangster sequence, pretty much all the action, the dreadful press conference with the pretentious fat man in sun glasses, all the scenes of people having meals in cafes.
The memories I have are associated around the stars: Seberg calling out "New York Herald Tribune"; Belmondo wiping his hand across the lips; Belmondo's death; the long scene of the two of them in bed.
It's sexy and exciting but surely film critics have been over-impressed by the pop culture references: the Cahiers du Cinema in jokes, Godard's own past as a critic, the references to Monogram and Bogart. I liked it - I just hate having it shoved down my throat.
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