Customer Reviews

Jean-Luc Godard (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Give me a cinematic film over a naturalistic one any day. I'm an unapologetic fan of pretty pictures, and auteur Jean-Luc Godard made some of the most beautiful, ever.

If you're like me, you will want to see Lionsgate's new collection, entitled simply: The Jean-Luc Godard Boxed Set. While these later films in the famous French New Wave director's oeuvre are not his most popular, they are certainly right up there with the rest of his work as far as good looks go.

Passion
First Name: Carmen
Détective
Oh Woe is Me

I watched Détective (1985) for the first time, mainly because it seems to be singled out as one of his "worst" and "most commercial" movies, done "just for the money." It is supposed to be a film noir farce, but it's hardly a send up of a genre ala the films of Edgar Wright. In this one, you have to look pretty hard for the satire. But that's OK - it's gorgeous, and the characters are quirky.

More about mis-en-scene than the mystery at hand, Détective ostensibly follows the intersecting - but not necessarily connected - stories of a collected group of people ensconced in the Hotel Concorde St. Lazare in Paris. Watching them all is the titled detective, Isidore (Jean-Pierre Léaud), his uncle (Laurent Terzieff) and their luscious young love interest, Arielle (Aurelle Doazan).

As the detective himself says, "To sum up: Lots of stories here, ours and other people's. Something is bound to happen." A lot does happen, but in a very languid, roundabout manner - this is definitely the kind of movie you watch for love of art, not for mindless popcorn-munching.

The DVD is fairly skimpy on the extras, nevertheless there is an excellent, short-but-sweet documentary which serves to introduce the viewer to the filmmaker's singular sensibility and his personal philosophies. There are some great quotes from Godard himself, and refreshing observations from a handful of film historians focusing on these movies in particular. It's very well-done. Recommended. [Buzzine]

A great product for aficionados of art film. These aren't the easiest films to get your mind around. However, the product has useful helps - a brief but incisive summary of each film on the back of the case, "chapter" headings, and a discussion featurette concerning the cinema of Godard. Discussion points in the featurette are supported by scenes from the four films in this package. ..The aim of this type of cinema is to stimulate thinking and to educate, but these films are sensual, erotic, comical and poetic as well. Lots of slapstick, film genre-hopping and beautiful actors and actresses.

Being that the titles do not seem to be provided as of 1/11/2008, this DVD has the following movies on three discs:

Passion
First Name: Carmen
The Detective
Oh Woe is Me

These movies were made in the 1980s and 1990s. Although lesser known, they are supposedly interesting, if not spectacular, films for Godard fans.

This three disc set of movies includes four films, and one 29 minute documentary about these particular films. The films are as follows:

"Passion"(1982) is a film about a director who is struggling to make a film, just as Godard is struggling to make this and other films. This film is about the process of film making, but also about the struggle to make art, which is illustrated with various live sets of famous works of art from Goya to Rembrandt, Rubens and Delacroix. Hanna Schygulla, and Isabelle Huppert appear in this film.

"First Name: Carmen"(1983) is a satirical film that is reminiscent at times of a Charlie Chaplin or the Keystone Cops film. One particularly humorous scene is of a bank robbery, with one of the cops firing at one of the robbers (Carmen, played by Maruschka Detmers), which evolves into a close contact wrestling match, and then into a scene of two lovers on the floor kissing oneanother. The two lovers then eventually run off together running from the law. The rest of the film focuses on the two lovers and their quarrels. Godard uses a pastiche of fragmented sounds and images to evoke a story about conflict that goes beyond two lovers in order to address various political issues about gender,power and economics. Godard appears in this film as a film director who is living in an asylum, and who is Carmen's uncle.

"Detective"(1985) is a collage of styles from film noir, melodrama, slapstick, and comedy to romance. A detective stakes out a hotel of people, some of whom are involved with the mafia, all of which takes place in and opposite a hotel in Paris. Laurent Terzieff and Jean-Pierre Leaud portray the detective and assistant. Johnny Hallyday is a fight promoter who is having an affair with Nathalie Baye, while Alain Cluny is a Mafia head. Julie Delpy also appears in the film.

"Oh, Woe is Me (Helas Pour Moi)" (1992) is one of the rare Godard films that mostly takes place in the out of doors amongst nature. Gerard Depardieu portrays Simon, who has been possessed by a cruel God. This is a modern take on the tale of Zeus coming to earth and disguising himself as a woman's husband. The film is beautifully photographed and lighted with multilayers of sound and voices.

All in all this is an interesting and varied collection of films. These films won't be to everyone's taste, but they are entertaining in a thoughtful way. Godard is all about the truth of making a film, and he never lets us forget that we are watching a film all the while discussing a variety of subjects. As Godard says, "Cinema is truth at 24 frames a second."

Thanks to the reviewer who gave us the titles in the box set--a strange bit of information for Amazon to leave out. Of the three listed Godard films I've only seen "First Name Carmen." A quick synopsis: Two Parallel Stories (1)a quartet rehearsing Beethoven; (2)a group of film makers robbing a bank to produce their film.

Godard utilizes Bizet's "Carmen" as a palet to weave the art of cinema with various other fields of art (music, painting, sculpture--notice the way Godard films the human body, take a look at some of Rodin's sculptures and you'll see what I mean--sorry I can't explain it better). Godard's emmulates the mechanics of the string quartet and it's various parts coming together to make one whole body, in this case Godard's film. There's Godard using Cinema as Art, of course, the common mantra that drives his ouevre, but what sets this film apart from many others is, as stated earlier, he bounces Cinema off of Art, rather than as Art, resulting in the provacation of how Cinema relates with Art.

I've not seen the other two films, so my apologies for not writing two more pretentious reviews. Even though I have not seen the other two films, I give the set five stars simply because it's Godard.

This box set was worth the money and space on your shelf. The movies are some of Godard's less known, but also very creative, with great actors.

The films are stupid, pointless and sloppily done. Plus the unnecessary underage nudity made them even more offensive. No wonder they're forgotten.