I don’t find “woman is a woman” depressing at all, and I would like to take this opportunity to say that Godard, despite his intentions to not entertain, has made some of the most entertaining “couple arguing” scenes I’ve ever seen- there are some great ones in “Woman is a woman” where his tone is light and dark and absurd and serious all at once. His best “couple arguing” scene is that excellent middle section of contempt. His somewhat pranksterish directing make these “argument” scenes less grueling than real arguments, but they still carry a pathos to them.
On Pierrot: the story is depressing the film itself is very playful, breaking into song, dance, characters talking to the audience, cartoon violence. It’s very freeform, and reminds me a lot of Band of Outsiders. Plus I found it very funny that guy being held by his feet upside down.
UFEUF is the courtship
Vivre sa vie the marriage
Bande Apart the miscarriage
Pierrot the divorce
Made in the U.S.A. the alimony
and Alphaville and Le Petit Soldat?
And wasn’t Vivre Sa Vie after the miscarriage?
could it be: Le Petit Soldat – the falling, and Alphaville – the farewell?
I think Pierrot makes an interesting comparison with Bergman’s Summer with Monika, Now that’s a film that depresses me- after the sunny lyricism, the angst, as if Bergman can’t prevent his bitterness and darkness taking over. The cynicism outweighs any added depth. Bergman could never have made Pierrot; Godard may *at least to someone like Bergman) seem relatively frivolous and shallow but there’s a rare freedom v the calculations of Bergman, even in his comedies. They both had their relationship troubles, probably not the easiest, most likeable people
Sorry to revive an old thread, but I watched Pierrot recently on Netflix instant watch and absolutely loved it. Went ahead and picked it up on eBay (found an OOP Blu-ray on there), and noticed something different.
In the Netflix version, I remember Ferdinand wrapping himself up with dynamite and at the last minute saying, “this is silly…”. I found the line to be extremely funny. On the Blu-ray however, the subtitles say something along the lines of “some death, you idiot!”. It actually made the ending slightly more depressing, if still comedic.
Post-Kyo
Well played @Pierre. Perhaps Godard did indeed change after his slew of most famous 60s films.