Customer Reviews

Masculin Feminin (The Criterion Collection)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My favorite Godard film is Pierrot Le Fou and Masculine/Feminine is usually considered alongside Pierrot because the two films do make for an interesting contrast. Pierrot Le Fou is the romantics Godard film and Masculine/Feminine is the realists Godard film. Both films deal with disaffected people at two different times in life. Pierrot stars Belmondo and Karina as disaffected adults -- when the two meet Belmondo is already married but Karina gives him an excuse to abandon his boring bourgeoisie existence and head off on a road trip where he learns through the helpful example of Karina what true freedom is. Maculine/Feminine -- starring Leaud and Goya -- is about younger people disaffected by their mundane lives but neither really knows what to do about it. They each have vague dreams but neither has much direction or any real hope and their time together leads neither toward any increased self-awareness. Pierrot Le Fou is filmed outside in the sun by the sea and the atmosphere inspires the characters who attempt to communicate but who for the most part remain trapped within themselves and their own private relationship with the world -- even though the two characters remain at an unclosable distance from one another there is a sense of shared adventure that gives the film its romantic feel. Ultimately in Pierrot le Fou increased freedom also means increased self-awareness and increased awareness of each persons singular nature so the film moves inexorably toward a tragic end. Masculine/Feminine takes place primarily indoors and there is no sense of adventure but rather one of the world closing in as they try to come to grips with what that unavoidable world they are confronted with is all about. Even though Masc/Fem is about younger people these are people who live in the real world whether they want to or not. These two films as another reviewer mentioned make excellent companion pieces -- interesting to see Godards treatment of disaffected people from two perspectives, the poetic and the realist. At this phase in Godards career he was not overtly political but politics plays an increasing role in the way his characters relate to each other and feel about the world, especially in Masc/Fem where the masculine half of that equation shows a flicker or two of a growing political consciousness . In later films Godard will develop his own political ideas but this phase in his career remains my favorite. If the New Wave is all about the disaffected lost generation of the sixties then Godard is that generations Hemingway.

Amazon's review is right on the money concerning this film.

What I would add is that this film best shows the change that female sexual liberation had on society. The boy, totally in love, has nothing of value to give to a girl who considers sex an everyday occurance -- a big change from the going-steady days of the late fifties and early sixties when sex was the culmination of a protracted courtship. The masculine and feminine roles changed forever and continue so to this day. Goddard was there first. In 1966, this film was cutting edge. In 1999 it remains an important work with a lot to say to the present generation concerning the battle of the sexes that has, apparently, been won for good by the ladies.

I saw it in 1966 on a first date with a very conservative girl who was convinced after we left the theatre that I was a sex pervert. Unfortunately for me she was as yet unwashed by the New Wave.

A great movie. An interesting stop in Godard's career. A pseudo-revolutionary and a pop singer have an odd relationship. It is worth it to watch this one alongside "Pierrot Le Fou," because the two movies are different yet at the same time quite fluid. In fact, if this one does not hook you, I would give "Pierrot" a try and then come back to "Masculin/Feminin." Jean-Pierre Leaud (from The 400 Blows) is particularly excellent in this film.

Jean-Luc Godard's "Masculine -Feminine" first opened in Los Angeles 38 years ago but it's charms and timeless tenderness are as insinuating and thoughtful as they were in 1966.
Jean-Pierre Leaud as Paul, Godard's hero is passionately in love with Madeleine (Chantal Goya) but Paul is also passionately in hate of the war in Vietnam and the De Gaulle government. Godard is making a love story but he is making it in the real world of France, 1966: student riots, a world that Godard describes as "the world of the children of Marx and Coca Cola."
Godard is not making a docudrama though and he lets us know this with his formal structuring of the plot: he divides Paul's story into chapters to make sure we understand that this is a movie that we are watching and that he is a film maker arranging and conducting the scenes.
Despite all this though: Godard has made a thoughtful and touching film about fervent young love and the blind, maybe even mis-guided righteousness of the young and foolish.
"Masculine-Feminine" is real and superbly made and it a pleasure to re-discover it's many charms and to experience once again it's enchanting and vulnerable love story.

Excellent movie. Jean-Pierre Leaud is playing the same insecure but dogmatic, innocent but manipulator, sex-obsessed but sex-ignorant character that he played so well for Truffaut, and he fits perfectly in this story as well. He as Paul falls crazily in love with Madeleine, who is insecure but open-minded, innocent but risk-aware, sex-interested but also sex-ignorant enough to be afraid about being - and to get - pregnant.

The script of the 60s is there: the young discover affluence and idealism, light entertainment with the heavy duty of changing the world, and exploration of sexual freedom. Boy-meets-girl and discover a new, uncertain world together.

Simply delicious...

one of Godard's 2 really good films. he's too philosophical and abstract to portray real characters, except in this film.

ironically, the cartoon-like characters in Alphaville work well; perhaps because the two main actors in it (Anna Karina and Eddy Constantine) are special indeed. the film has moments of rare cinematic poetry.

It was in 1966 that Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) director Jean-Luc Godard ("Contempt", "Breathless", "Pierrot le fou") would release his film about youth in the mid-60's titled "Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis".

Released after the successful "Pierrot le fou" (1965), "Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis" would become a different film by Godard standards as it would focus on Parisian youth in 1965 but also start to show signs of a different Godard (who separated from Anna Karina, who was a major actress in his films) and also a precursor to his films incorporating his political views. But as for the characters featured in "Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis", call the young adults that were a sign of the times or as Godard would call them, "the children of Marx and Coca-Cola".

"Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis" was scrutinized and lambasted by critics during its release in 1966, many of those critics who have revisited the film have taken back what they originally have said and now realize how it is one of Godard's best films and some have considered it a masterpiece that was ahead of its time.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Masculin féminin" is featured in black and white and presented in 1:33:1. Cinematographer Willy Kurant supervised the new high-definition digital transfer which was created on a Spirit Datacine from the 35mm grain master. Also, thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed from the MTI Digital Restoration Ssytem.

As for the audio, the French monoraul soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the optical soundtrack master and audio restoration tools were used the Criterion to remove clicks, pops, hiss and crackle. The film is Dolby Digital 1.0 and center channel driven but for those who own modern home theater surround sound receivers, one can easily switch the audio via audio on all channels or stereo, to their own preference. Also, included is a selection for the the optional isolated music track.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Masculin féminin" comes with the following special features:

* Chantal Goya (1966) - (4:50) An excerpt of an interview filmed for the TV show "Au-Dela De L'Ecran", Goya talks about being a pop star and working on "Masculin féminin".
* Chantal Goya (2005) - (15:07) Interview with Chantal Goya in 2005 as she talks about her experience working with Jean-Luc Godard and on "Masculin féminin".
* Willy Kurant - (11:59) 2005 Interview (in English) with "Masculin féminin"cinematographer about his career and working with Godard.
* Jean-Pierre Gorin - (15:36) A 2005 interview (in English) in which Godard's Dziga-Vertov Group business partner talks about the historical and experimentation of "Masculin féminin".
* Freddy Buache and Dominique Paini - (24:56) In 2004, Freddy Buache (film critic and founder of Cinematheque Suisse) and Dominque Paini (Director of Cultural Development for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris) talk about the importance of "Masculin féminin" and how Buache criticized it when it was first released but now considers it an important Godard film.
* Godard on Swedish Television - (4:07) With "Masculin féminin" being a co-production between Godard's Anouchka Films and the Swedish Production Firm Sandrews Films, a Swedish television crew were there to interview the director who was filming the "movie" scene.
* Original Theatrical Trailer - (2:01) The original theatrical trailer.
* Rialto Pictures Rerelease Trailer - (1:53) Remastered Rialto Pictures trailer.
* Essay Booklet - 14-page booklet featuring an essay "The Young Man for All Times" by Adrian Martin (film critic for the Melbourne Age) and "On the Set of Masculin Feminin" (an excerpt from the article "One Evening, In a Small Cafe" by Phillipe Labro.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis" is quite a unique film, so unique that it was a film which I absolutely enjoyed. It's not a film that one can come and watch and say, I enjoy "Breathless" or "Pierrot le fou", I will love "Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis". Nor is it a film in today's modern world where you can think that if you enjoyed young adult films such as "Dazed and Confused" or "Metropolis" that you will enjoy "Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis" because the structure of the film is so different. There are way too many disruptions for the film's pacing and odd situations that either one can appreciate them or simply dislike them. Especially when you reach the ending.

I absolutely loved the improvisation and also the long use of dialogue between characters. I have said that I enjoyed Eric Rohmer's "My Night at Maud's" for effectively making long dialogue scenes so enjoyable but yet intelligent. If one can capitalize on moments in a film where communication is done effectively. And since the film was created with a low budget,Godard made great use of dialogue. In fact, because Godard didn't use a script, he had earpieces in which the talent were filmed answering questions that the director would ask them. He would effectively use the talent, tell them what to say on the earpiece and try to get an improvised but yet natural answer in which topics would bring out that awkwardness.

For example, a scene where Paul interviews "Miss 19', an actual beauty cover girl for a magazine that is being asked questions, even personal questions about sexuality, her past loves and political views. Her answers were not of an actress but her genuine answers. You can sense that uncomfort in her answers but that's what Godard wanted for this film. True feelings by people who represent that young generation in Paris.

As for the DVD, The Criterion Collection has done a magnificent job in restoring this film, supervised by cinematographer Willy Kurant. A good number of special features that are interesting, informative and enjoyable. It was great to hear from Chantal Goya sharing some of the Godard behind-the-scenes direction with the viewer. How the discussion about Madeleine's music career was actually a dialogue about her own music career but Godard using it on the film. And of course, Jean-Pierre Léaud is just a talented actor that both Francois Truffaut and Godard knew how to utilize in their films (despite Truffaut being a bit critical on how Godard handled him for this film). We sense a young man who is trying to make sense of his life. Has a set perspective yet being with a woman who is nothing like him nor does she want to be like him.

Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis" is a film that is definitely not a perfect film. In fact, because there are quite a few disruptions and the pacing is quite frantic at times, some people may see it as a film that is too artsy for its own good. As mentioned earlier, critics really blasted Godard for this film when it was first released. But the fact was, it was a film ahead of its time and what we have is a time capsule of youth, Paris during the mid-60's that now, many people who lived during that time, can watch this film and say, "this film was a masterpiece".

Overall, "Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis" is a film that is not only worth of being included in the Criterion Collection but also a Godard film worth owning. Highly recommended!

If there has been any other devastating and revealing film, capable to portrait with such magisterial realism, nostalgic uncertainness poetry and extraordinary vitality reflecting the contradictions between Marxist dialectic with such background as Paris of the 1960's , fears before Vietnam, and multiple concerns of a whole generation and starred by a sleepless young man (magisterially performed by Jean Pierre Leaud who deservedly won the Silver Bear as Best Actor in 1966), please be my guest.

Jean Luc Godard - one of the most irreverent filmmakers of the French New Wave - tells us a story through a perfectly achieved set of fourteen vignettes, in his accustomed journalistic and documental style, which conforms a work that in spirit still stands as the most powerful film of febrile anguish and active questioning of the emerging generation of the Post war.

A collector item, in few words.

Maybe I am just a sucker for punishment. Over the last few months I have watched quite a handful of Jean-Luc Godard's films, but, besides a couple such as Breathless and Band of Outsiders, I have really not enjoyed my time delving into his films. I am by no means stating that Godard is a bad filmmaker for I respect the body of work that he has created overall and the changes that he made in film and his desire to use film as a tool to change society and maybe even spark revolution amongst his film viewers, but for the most part I find many of his films to be too "arty," in my opinion Pierrot le fou is a prime example of this, and this sense of art for art's sake detracts from the films often leaving them as little more than pedantic schlock.

Well then. After my introductory paragraph it might come as bit of a shock that I enjoyed the film Masculin, Féminin quite a bit not only the first time that I watched it but the second time as well. Masculin, féminin stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as Paul, a young man with literary aspirations and a very strong communist bent and the ye-ye girl Chantal Goya as Madeleine, a photographer who is embarking on her career as a pop singer. Like many of Godard's films there is no one underlying plot within this film, unless you consider Paul's desire to sleep with the lovely Madeleine as an underlying plot, so it comes off as being very episodic. We are treated to the typical anti-America propaganda that is common within Godard's body of work during this time period, but we are also introduced to Godard's disillusionment with socialist movements as well. These disillusions come out brilliantly within interviews conducted by Paul in which the "oppressed" are more concerned with the small bits of happiness than can be found in life and not in some vague socialist plot that offers fewer concrete awards than the America based capitalist system. Outside of political agenda, one of the most enjoyable aspects of this film is the music. Throughout the film we are treated to French ye-ye girl songs, Chantal Goya, of course, and they definitely give the film a bit of energy where it is lacking in several other Godard films.

Another aspect of the film that should be mentioned is the sexuality within the film itself. There, of course is no hardcore or even soft-core action, but the topic of sexuality is quite prominent and the characters continuously talk about their love making episodes in relation to love and it even the subject of birth control is prevalent. This, of course, seems tame by today's standards, but at the time this content was racy enough to give the film an eighteen and over ranking.

Masculin féminin was created the same year that Godard also created Alphaville and Pierrot le fou. The former two often garner more praise, but in my opinion this film shines in comparison to the other two.

this review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"Masculin Feminin" is a film about a group of teenagers in 1960's Paris who go on outings together. Movie theatres, dance clubs, and love affairs.

The film is set against the beginnings of youth culture in France and got the equivelant of an NC-17 rating when it was released in France but would most likely get a PG or PG-13 rating by today's standards.

The film has some very nice 1960's French pop music which I really liked and would watch the film solely for the music.

The DVD has an archival and a new interview with main actress Chantal Goya along with new interviews with other cast and crew. There is also a discussion of the film between two film experts Freddy Buache and Dominique Païni, Swedish TV footage of the production of the fictional Swedish film featured in the movie, an original theatrical trailer and a new trailer for the re-release.