Band of Outsiders (1966)

disgusting, overrated, pointless

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Jean-Luc Godard's extremely entertaining ode to the American pulp novel. Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur convince Anna Karina to help them steal a stash of loot from her aunt's house. Or does she? Godard's most playful film has only an occasional straight narrative and is infused with a lot of funny episodes (from the trio passing notes while attending English class to the now famous Madison dance scene). Karina, 24 years-old but looking like a teenage school girl, is exceptional and she's very well paired with both Frey and Brasseur. The music by Michel Legrand is a big plus as is Raoul Coutard's striking B&W photography, capturing a bleak 1964 Parisian winter. The telling narration is by Godard himself. Based on the novel by the American author Dolores Hitchens.

For anyone interested in the history of film, this is a must-see, in the same way Birth Of A Nation or GWTW are must-sees; One can see the brilliance D.W. Griffith brought to early cinema in his epic recreation of his own Southern version of the American Civil War without admiring the sketchy politics that lie at it's roots, without rooting for the Ku Klux Klan to rescue Lillian Gish from the freed slaves. In the same way, I give Godard's film a high historical rating although I personally find the characters a drag, and their aimless lives less than fascinating. Regardless of the brilliant avant-garde cinematic techniques that pepper the Band of Outsiders, one is also stuck with the characters, an aimless lot without a lot of talent, charm or magnetism, rootless folks who ignore others completely as long as they can run about and steal and make noise and act like unruly children. Late in life they have discovered they can be naughty--but without talent or insight or much else than self-indulgence, after a while watching them get's to be a drag. So you can run screaming through the Louvre and feel free and make noise and annoy the other patrons and guards? If you missed your adolescent years, it's a shame, but rootless behavior in and of itself doesn't create much of anything save a picture of self-indulgence. One can appreciate the new vision of cinematography that frees the narrative from ancient strictures--but one also gets tired of a supposedly "free spirit," Arthur, setting up Odile for failure, using her body for his own instant gratification without any eye for consequences; simply put, he's a loser, and why do I want to spend two hours with him? I recognize Godard's contribution to the New Wave, but also find his characters tiresome in their attitudinal posing and aimless vapidity.

What's amazing is it's actually pure pulp--the stuff great, heavy noirs are made of--filled with amoral, disenfranchised characters. (And maybe a reinterpretation of the classic femme fatale? Albeit more whimsical and not that together?) Under Goddard's distinct treatment and style, noir becomes pure jazz--light, unrehearsed, lateral, irreverent, quirky. Filled with characteristic musings and explorations of love, attraction, and intent; and a lot of atmospheric story-telling. But like any great jazz reinterpretation, once the melody has been deconstructed and played by various instruments to obscurity, and by the time you forget it, it all comes together again in the end.The Madison is the most seductive scene I've seen lately.

The plot is simple. Two vagabond guys with nothing better to do be- friend a romantic girl in an English class who reveal to them about hidden money (loads of it) in the house where she lives. And like any other respectable vagabonds, these two with the help of the girl off- course decide to steal that. But wait, there are many turns and counter- turns before the climax is actually reached. In typical Godard style, this is romanticism of crime. The viewer knows that a robbery is going to take place in the climax. But what makes this movie special is not just the final robbery, but the lead upto it. The narration by Godard himself along with the passion of the three characters constitute the rest of the movie. The conversation between the characters is intelligently portrayed. Many crime genre loving viewers may argue that except for the climax, there is nothing 'happening' in the movie. Well for me, the conversations and the moments between the three characters were as interesting as the climax. Another praise-worthy part was the cinematography. Godard's love for Paris is reflected by his aerial shots, long shots of the Seine river, The Louvre and other parts of the French capital. Something that Woody Allen does in his movies for New-York. The acting is good. The lead actress is exceptional as a romantic, somewhat dumb but passionate girl who can do anything for love. Well Overall, Not as important to the history of the French New Wave, like Godard's other movies, but surely a treat for his fans. Rating : 7/10