Contemporary Bengali humorist, satirist, songwriter and cinephile Chandril Bhattacharya composed a tribute song on Jean-Luc Godard a couple of 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 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 is far more complex and intellectual. Filled with references that range from literary to pop culture to political, this is less about its plot (hell, Godard didn’t even have a script to start with), and more about the French iconoclast’s opinionated musings. And the chemistry that Belmondo shares with Karina might not be as crackling as the one with Jean Seberg, but is no less irreverent and breezy. Interestingly, the movie has two lovely impromptu songs and a memorable cameo by iconic American director Samuel Fuller.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Genre: Romantic Drama/Road Movie/Avante-Garde/Experimental
Language: French
Country: France
