Movie of the week – “Band of Outsiders”

Without a doubt Godard had found the formula for what I call a true cinema with his nouvelle vague histories. In Godard’s “Band of Outsiders” two friends (Arthur and Franz) try to robber a parisien madame and her money they think come from unpaid taxes. Odile (Anna Karina) is helping them, a young girl they met at English class. The part where they actually met her is genius, their teacher is reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in French for a translation assignment. The three speak poor English. Odile doesn’t love the cinema nor the theater – funny and ironic the way Godard plays with the emotions between people and the cinema – she prefers “la nature”. She is in love with Arthur but he is unreadable and Franz is in love with her.

Best scene – Dance in the café; Worst scene – Arthur assaults Olive, putting the blame of their failed plan on her.

My first incursion into Godard’s movies was“Vivre sa Vie” (1962), then “À Boute de Suffle” (1960), “Le Mépris” (1963), “Pierrot Le Fou” (1965) and at last “Band of Outsiders” (1964), wholly random choices and what impresses me the most is that he directed nearly a movie per year and all of them quality, wary, superior master-pieces. I just couldn't stop watching, I was emotionally engaged. As a woman, I look different to his approach, especially the scripts. Even before I read Godard used Anna Karina as an object of creation for his films, he had been aggressive to her, though I really didn’t mind to check if it is only gossip or an accurate fact, even then I had the opinion about his conception of women characters: naïve, curious, emotional, beautiful, and free, for it bothers me seeing this kind of violence in his movies. 4/5