Pierrot le fou (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Pierrot le fou (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

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Editorial Reviews

Dissatisfied in marriage and life, Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes to the road with the babysitter, his ex-lover Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina), and leaves the bourgeoisie behind. Yet this is no normal road trip: genius auteur Jean-Luc Godard's tenth feature in six years is a stylish mash-up of consumerist satire, politics, and comic-book aesthetics, as well as a violent, zigzag tale of, as Godard called them, "the last romantic couple." With blissful color imagery by cinematographer Raoul Coutard and Belmondo and Karina at their most animated, Pierrot le fou is one of the high points of the French new wave, and one last frolic before Godard moved ever further into radical cinema.

Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a man who has married for money and is terribly disillusioned with his life. When forced to go to a dinner party he does not want to attend, he throws a temper tantrum and returns home early. When driving Marianne (Anna Karina), the babysitter, back home, they fall in love and decide to run away from Paris. They embark on a series of escapades that begins with running illegal arms for extra cash and runs the gamut: love, death, ennui, boat chases, murder, betrayal, revenge, lost cash, and almost anything else you can think of, and all with a sense of reality that is an interesting contrast to the typical American film. Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Alphaville) blends different genres with great success and achieves moments of cinematic poetry in this quasi-epic of modern malaise. Also a cameo by the Hollywood director Samuel Fuller is something to watch for. Be aware that Godard is for people seriously interested in cinematic art. --James McGrath

Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a man who has married for money and is terribly disillusioned with his life. When forced to go to a dinner party he does not want to attend, he throws a temper tantrum and returns home early. When driving Marianne (Anna Karina), the babysitter, back home, they fall in love and decide to run away from Paris. They embark on a series of escapades that begins with running illegal arms for extra cash and runs the gamut: love, death, ennui, boat chases, murder, betrayal, revenge, lost cash, and almost anything else you can think of, and all with a sense of reality that is an interesting contrast to the typical American film. Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Alphaville) blends different genres with great success and achieves moments of cinematic poetry in this quasi-epic of modern malaise. Also a cameo by the Hollywood director Samuel Fuller is something to watch for. Be aware that Godard is for people seriously interested in cinematic art. --James McGrath

Customer Reviews

Out of Print by end of March 2010!!

Reviewed by Roberto I. Quesada, 2010-02-07

According with Criterion Collection, this gem will be going OOP due to problems with renewing rights from Studio Canal, some DVD/BD titles are going to Lionsgate. I'm glad I've purchased CC's Pierrot Le fou on Blu-ray, this is pure cinema and pure Godard..

FYI. Some of the movies will be going OOP:
Alphaville
Le corbeau
The Orphic Trilogy
Peeping Tom
Pierrot le fou (DVD and Blu-ray editions)
The White Sheik

Blu-ray: Godard's "Pierrot le fou" is a masterpiece but should not be the 1st Godard film people should see

Reviewed by Dennis A. Amith (kndy), 2010-01-26

In 1964, Jean-Luc Godard went to work on his tenth film, a color film titled "Pierrot Le Fou" which would feature his ex-wife Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo (who worked on Godard's "A bout de Souffle" (Breathless) and "Une femme est une femme" (A Woman is a Woman).

The film is his most ambitious film yet, not only reuniting with two stars that he has worked with before but the fact that elements of his previous nine films shows up on "Pierrot Le Fou".

The film was released by Fox Lorber in the US back in 1998 and received The Criterion Collection treatment in February 2008. Over a year later, the film became the first Jean-Luc Godard film released by the Criterion Collection on Blu-ray.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Pierrot Le Fou" is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1 Aspect Ratio). The film is probably the most gorgeous film I have seen by Jean-Luc Godard to date. The film is full of colors, absolutely vibrant, reds and blues just pop. For fans of Godard's '60s work, "Pierrot Le Fou" is his most colorful film. It's important to note that the restored high-definition digital transfer was approved by cinematographer Raoul Coutard.

Accord to Criterion, the HD digital transfer was created on Spirit Datacine from the 35mm negative and color corrected on a Specter Virtual Datacine. Thousands of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixl Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

"Pierrot Le fou" is featured in its original French language and features a monaural soundtrack remastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm optical track print. Dialogue is clean and understandable and Anna Karina's singing voice is crystal clear in this film. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated audio workstation.

Subtitles are provided in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Pierrot Le Fou" comes with the following special features:

* Anna Karina - (14:55) A 2007 interview with Anna Karina at the Brasserie Lipp in Paris. Anna talks about working with her former husband and her role in "Pierrot Le Fou" as Marianne Renoir.
* A Pierrot Primer - (35:58) Commentary by filmmaker and educator Jean-Piere Gorin (Tout va bien, Letter to Jane, My Crasy Life) presents an introduction to "Pierrot Le Fou".
* "Belmondo in the Wind" - (9:21) Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina talk about Belmondo's role in "Pierrot Le Fou". Recorded by journalist Mario Beunat for the television series Panorama and aired back in June 18, 1965.
* Venice Film Festival, 1965 - (3:57) Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina were interviewed by Maurice Seveno and Christian Durieux for a French TV new segment on the Venice Film Festival back in Sept. 2, 1965.
* Godard, L'Amour, La Poesie - (52:59) A 2007 documentary by French filmmaker Luc Lagier tracing Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina's marriage and films from "Le Petit Soldat" through "Pierrot Le Fou". Featuring interviews with Karina and Godard collaborators Charles Bitsch, Raoul Coutard, Jean Douchet and Jean-Paul Savignac.
* Trailer - (2:06) The theatrical trailer for "Pierrot Le Fou".
* 46-Page Booklet - The following booklet contains the essays "Self-Portrait In Shattered Lens" by Richard Brody, "Sarris on Pierrot Le Fou" and "Let's Talk About Pierrot: An Interview with Jean-Luc Godard".

JUDGMENT CALL:

Perhaps one of Godard's most accessible films, "Pierrot Le Fou" is a film that is best enjoyed after watching a good number of his films that preceded this film. With the film now released on Blu-ray for the first time through the Criterion Collection, many people will will be introduced to Jean-Luc Godard but in my opinion, this film is not a starting point for the beginner. It's more of a film that can be appreciated even more after watching his previous films and seeing how things have culminated in his work before he started to focus more on his political films.

"Pierrot Le Fou" is often seen as an early paradigmatic example of postmodernism in film. In the film, Godard shows his feeling towards American pop culture but Godard also becomes gets political as he uses the film for his characters to discuss the Vietnam and Algerian war. For many viewers familiar with Godard and his work, many believe this is Godard's way of using characters to flesh out his true feelings about society. While many feel the film is a paying homage to his nine previous films leading to "Pierrot Le Fou".

Personally, what I enjoy about this film is the adventure that Godard takes you. We wonder how these two people who are in love with each other, are yet so different. Ferdinand is reserved, quiet and just wants to enjoy the simple and peaceful life he has at the moment. Marianne just is tired of settling down and not doing anything. The fact is that she's a bad girl. She's involved with some shady characters dealing with illegal activity but in some way, that is her form of fun and she wants to expose Ferdinand to that life.

The way that Godard has shot the film is quite intriguing. We see things in the film but rarely are they explained. Why does Marianne enjoy killing and hurting others and why is it that both see or do things but not much is mentioned about it. It's like it's something natural for them.

Nevertheless, its the adventure of these two unlikely individuals that I find so interesting. Personally, I found it great to see Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina together as the primary leads for the film. The two have really good chemistry onscreen and the fact that we are enjoying this adventure of two people involved in criminal activity is quite interesting.

Godard has done a great job and utilizing many scenes with the two together to show their story of life together, when things start to become problematic leading up to a pivotal scene that comes out of left field (granted, this is common theme with Godard's '60s films, always expect the unexpected).

Overall, "Pierrot Le Fou" is an enjoyable stylish, arthouse film. It's also one of those films that I feel is appreciated the more times you watch it. Again, this film is not where you should start out if you are wanting to get into Godard films, otherwise you will find yourself a bit puzzled by how the film is paced, how the scenes were cut and how Godard's endings tend to be.

"Pierrot Le Fou" is a Godard masterpiece, but I highly recommend watching a few of his films such as "Breatheless", "A Woman is a Woman", "A Band of Outsiders", "Contempt", "Alphaville" and "Masculin Feminin" before tackling on this film. Once you start appreciating Godard's filmmaking, then you'll definitely appreciate this film even more.

Definitely recommended!

More extras please!

Reviewed by Jan2X, 2009-12-30

great video, amazing movie but the it lacks in the extras department. they should have packed everything in one disc and charged less. my favorite thing in this item would be the colorful booklet (essay + review + godard interview + pictures )

"...VAST, COSMIC, QUASIMETAPHYSICAL ARTISTIC DREAMS"

Reviewed by Robin Simmons, 2009-11-02

Jean-Luc Godard, the darling of French "New Wave" cinema, premiered this film at the '65 Venice Film Festival (where it was Booed!). Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina as a sexy couple who hit the road to escape the bourgeoisie, it is much more than a road movie.

Godard called the characters Belmondo and Karina portray "the last romantic couple." This was Godard's tenth feature in six years.
Playful, farcical, satiric and at times light-hearted,, thje story of a husband running off with his ex-lover (and child's baby sitter) afforded an opportunity to make fun of consumerism and politics in this episodic and meandering tale rich in metaphor and meaning.

A pop-art sensibility pervades this energetically acted film that is enhanced by the emphasis of primary colors and the vivid Technicolor cinematography of Raoul Coutard (who approved this stunning Crierion hi-def transfer).

Although Godard said he didn't use a script, Lionel White's hard-boiled novel Obsession, seems to be the source of whatever plot the picture itself has. Another source element is Raymond Queneau's comic novel from the `40s, Pierrot Mon Ami. Which in turn inspired the 1959 Euro hit "Mon Ami Pierrot" which Karina sings to Belmondo whom she calls Pierrot, which invariably moves him to say, "that's not my name." (He's "Ferdinand" in the movie.)
Godard's films are filled with allusions and references. Often to movies themselves. In fact, the actors do not hesitate to break the "fourth wall" and sometimes turn to the camera to make comments directly to the audience.

Godard's oft-repeated description of the film is especially precise, it even refers to a central image in the opening scenes. He said, "Life is the subject with CinemaScope and color its attributes. In short, life filling the screen as a faucet fills a bathtub that is simultaneously draining at the same rate."
This film is, on one level, a celebration of art for art's sake. It's contextual meaning is more obscure and layered.
Criterion's breathtaking Blu-ray release warrants a second look at this enduring cinematic treasure.

Generous extras include an interview with Anna Karina, a 50 minute documentary about Godard's life and films, archival interviews with Godard, Belmondo and Karina. An enclosed booklet has a fascinating essay by film historian and "New Yorker" writer Richard Brody who says: "Exactly as Godard intended, `Pierrot Le Fou' reflects appropriately vast, cosmic, quasimetaphysical artistic dreams of a Balzacian grandeur." What a great sentence. There are many more like that! Also in the booklet, an erudite review by Andfrew Sarris and an interesting 1965 interview with Godard.

Pierrot Le Fou ( Blu-ray review ) Do I really have to take this seriously? I think not!

Reviewed by dv_forever, 2009-10-29

First let me get the technical specifications out of the way. This is a gorgeous looking transfer of a beautifully photographed film from the 1960s. Criterion did their job with this transfer. The colors simply pop off the screen. The color scheme was designed to be extremely stylized by Godard and his famous cinematographer Raoul Coutard and this Blu-ray brings the visuals to the screen with striking clarity. The whole picture is vivid and you get a real sense of immersion in the textures. This is one of those Criterion releases I had to have even though I don't like the film that much. I certainly love the look and even people who hate artsy cinematic snobbery like Pierrot Le Fou can sit still for awhile and just look at the pretty pictures. It looks much better visually than most mainstream films coming out today. The audio is perfect for what it is, a basic two channel monaural track. It's the picture that pops! The special features are extensive, including an interview with Anna Karina from recent days. Perhaps the most obnoxious feature is the Pierrot Primer, a long-winded analysis of the first half hour or so of the movie by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin. He later collaborated with Godard on some film projects.

Now, I have heard my share of pretentious commentary tracks on Criterion from critics and intellectual snobs of all stripes but this commentary may take the cake as the most over thought, over analysed procession of verbiage I have ever encountered outside of a hardcore film theory book. The commentator discusses counterpoint and narration interlaced with editing techniques. It sounds like he's talking about J.S. Bach when in fact Godard is merely toying with technique and this film theory nonsense makes one want to pull their hair out. I don't doubt that Godard really is that pretentious, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since he's not the one doing the voice commentary here.

With that in mind, allow me to unveil my own views of Pierrot Le Fou and Jean-Luc Godard in general. It's been said many times before that Godard is the most radical of the French New Wave filmmakers, even going farther than Alain Resnais. Pierrot Le Fou was made when Godard was in his best form, before he turned to radical politics and his films became less and less coherent. Show this movie to anyone raised on mainstream studio fare and they won't know what to think of it except that it's boring. The mainstream viewer would be absolutely right in that opinion since at this point of his career Godard cared less and less about mere entertainment or telling a good story than he did with satirizing consumer culture, the middle class, American imperialism and all that jazz but encased always in this pop art sensibility with the girls and the guns and the crime stories. He was also deeply influenced by Bertold Brecht and his alienating effect. This could be an explanation of the apathy and boredom one feels when watching much of Godard's body of work. Not all of course as there are more emotional films such as "My Life to Live" in the Godardian canon. Godard's later works would be even more alienating but Pierrot Le Fou is already there. Forget about the superficial jump cuts, the misplaced dramatic musical cues that end abruptly, the characters acknowledgement of the audience, even directly conversing with the audience at points... forget about all of that shallow postmodernism and ask yourself what is this film about? Politics, love, death, war, consumerism, cinematic form? The famous Sam Fuller cameo speech can be used as an explanation I suppose. It all feels completely beside the point. There is no heart and soul in these cleverer than though films and more than 40 years later, one can even ask, who cares?

Truffaut is far less intellectual than Godard and yet Truffaut has heart. Resnais has a sense of cinematic form that eludes Godard in most respects. As attractive as the Godard films are and they all look great, I always felt he was the kind of French fraud that one reads about. He doesn't hold a candle to Robert Bresson. I think Godard would agree as he deeply respects Bresson. The main thing I dislike about Godard and this can be applied to other French New Wavers but none as much as Godard... the main thing I dislike is his pop art sensibility. I know this kind of thing was hip and cool back in the 60s and it was the height of trendiness but I can't stand it! I have the same revulsion for Quentin Tarantino's obsession with blaxploitation films, kung-fu spectacles and other sub-genres from the 1970s. It clouds Tarantino's aesthetic in kitsch and here is Godard, Tarantino's antecedent clothed in kitsch as well. Granted, that to compare the intellectual Godard to the lowbrow take of Tarantino is a disservice but Tarantino has many times claimed Godard's influence. Godard is one of the heights of cinematic modernism but also the blatant forerunner of postmodernism. His sensibility just doesn't grab my attention like Antonioni, Bergman or once again Bresson. All three are far more penetrating modern voices.

I have to say, beyond everything I mentioned. The one thing that grates on my nerves about Godard is that his films are anti-spiritual, almost always especially at that point in his career. His work always dealt with objects and humans as objects and commodities. He was deeply affected by Marxism and his movies are materialistic in nature, never attempting to ascend beyond the world of flesh and greed. Sometimes Godard tackles religious matters head on as in his film "Hail Mary" which was criticized by the Pope! Watching that film just proved it for me. Godard is not a spiritual artist and it's hopeless to look in his work for some kind of transformative ideal. Still he did photograph a lot of pretty things in beautiful ways and here we have a genuinely gorgeous Blu-ray ripe for decadent home viewing on your 1080p HDTV.