Band of Outsider’s was my first Godard, as well as my French New Wave – and I loved it. I have since explored more of Godard’s films and found that I’m not a big fan of some of his other work, but Band of Outsiders is a great film despite this. In a lot of ways it is an experimental film; it plays around heavily with things such as sound editing and voice overs – sometimes it feels a bit self conscious, but unlike some of Godard’s even more self conscious movies, I for some reason didn’t find this a problem.
Maybe it was because Band of Outsiders is a film to be taken more lightly in some respects. While it does have resonant themes on friendship, pressure, crime and manipulation, it at the same time is an often times simply very ‘pulpy’ movie. It’s entertaining and enjoyable. I really loved the scenes such as the restaurant where they revolve around the table, one character leaving, the next moving closer to the other, and the dance sequence with the strange sound editing was a very odd experience. Their daring dash through the Louvre is also a classic, in my opinion.
The three characters I felt were very strong and I felt like I got to know them and it was interesting to watch their motivations and actions evolve throughout the movie. Beside being something that can be studied though, I just simply liked the characters. There was something about how they were written that made me just enjoy seeing them on screen. In the end I felt the movie ended much to abruptly, and the beginning was a bit rocky, but I otherwise loved everything in between. Band of Outsiders indeed does make me feel like a bit of an outsider, as I didn’t much enjoy some of Godard’s other films, but at least I can take refuge in the fact that I love at least one of his films.
1 comment:
Well said.
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