Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection

Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection

Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre L?aud, Samuel Fuller
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Raoul Coutard
Composer: Antoine Duhamel
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-19
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection

Movie Reviews of Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection

Movie Review: "...VAST, COSMIC, QUASIMETAPHYSICAL ARTISTIC DREAMS"
Summary: 4 Stars

Jean-Luc Godard, the darling of French "New Wave" cinema, premiered this film at the '65 Venice Film Festival (where it was Booed!). Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina as a sexy couple who hit the road to escape the bourgeoisie, it is much more than a road movie.

Godard called the characters Belmondo and Karina portray "the last romantic couple." This was Godard's tenth feature in six years.
Playful, farcical, satiric and at times light-hearted,, thje story of a husband running off with his ex-lover (and child's baby sitter) afforded an opportunity to make fun of consumerism and politics in this episodic and meandering tale rich in metaphor and meaning.

A pop-art sensibility pervades this energetically acted film that is enhanced by the emphasis of primary colors and the vivid Technicolor cinematography of Raoul Coutard (who approved this stunning Crierion hi-def transfer).

Although Godard said he didn't use a script, Lionel White's hard-boiled novel Obsession, seems to be the source of whatever plot the picture itself has. Another source element is Raymond Queneau's comic novel from the `40s, Pierrot Mon Ami. Which in turn inspired the 1959 Euro hit "Mon Ami Pierrot" which Karina sings to Belmondo whom she calls Pierrot, which invariably moves him to say, "that's not my name." (He's "Ferdinand" in the movie.)
Godard's films are filled with allusions and references. Often to movies themselves. In fact, the actors do not hesitate to break the "fourth wall" and sometimes turn to the camera to make comments directly to the audience.

Godard's oft-repeated description of the film is especially precise, it even refers to a central image in the opening scenes. He said, "Life is the subject with CinemaScope and color its attributes. In short, life filling the screen as a faucet fills a bathtub that is simultaneously draining at the same rate."
This film is, on one level, a celebration of art for art's sake. It's contextual meaning is more obscure and layered.
Criterion's breathtaking Blu-ray release warrants a second look at this enduring cinematic treasure.

Generous extras include an interview with Anna Karina, a 50 minute documentary about Godard's life and films, archival interviews with Godard, Belmondo and Karina. An enclosed booklet has a fascinating essay by film historian and "New Yorker" writer Richard Brody who says: "Exactly as Godard intended, `Pierrot Le Fou' reflects appropriately vast, cosmic, quasimetaphysical artistic dreams of a Balzacian grandeur." What a great sentence. There are many more like that! Also in the booklet, an erudite review by Andfrew Sarris and an interesting 1965 interview with Godard.
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Summary of Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection

Dissatisfied in marriage and life, Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes to the road with the babysitter, his ex-lover Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina), and leaves the bourgeoisie behind. Yet this is no normal road trip: genius auteur Jean-Luc Godard s tenth feature in six years is a stylish mash-up of consumerist satire, politics, and comic-book aesthetics, as well as a violent, zigzag tale of, as Godard called them, the last romantic couple. With blissful color imagery by cinematographer Raoul Coutard and Belmondo and Karina at their most animated, Pierrot le fou is one of the high points of the French new wave, and one last frolic before Godard moved ever further into radical cinema

Special Features

* - SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by cinematographer Raoul Coutard
* - New video interview with actor Anna Karina
* - A "Pierrot" Primer, a new video program with audio commentary by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin
* - Godard, l'amour, la po?sie, a fifty-minute French documentary about director Jean-Luc Godard and his work and marriage with Karina
* - Archival interview excerpts with Godard, Karina, and actor Jean-Paul Belmondo
* - Theatrical trailer
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Richard Brody, a 1969 review by Andrew Sarris, and a 1965 interview with Godard
Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a man who has married for money and is terribly disillusioned with his life. When forced to go to a dinner party he does not want to attend, he throws a temper tantrum and returns home early. When driving Marianne (Anna Karina), the babysitter, back home, they fall in love and decide to run away from Paris. They embark on a series of escapades that begins with running illegal arms for extra cash and runs the gamut: love, death, ennui, boat chases, murder, betrayal, revenge, lost cash, and almost anything else you can think of, and all with a sense of reality that is an interesting contrast to the typical American film. Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Alphaville) blends different genres with great success and achieves moments of cinematic poetry in this quasi-epic of modern malaise. Also a cameo by the Hollywood director Samuel Fuller is something to watch for. Be aware that Godard is for people seriously interested in cinematic art. --James McGrath
Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a man who has married for money and is terribly disillusioned with his life. When forced to go to a dinner party he does not want to attend, he throws a temper tantrum and returns home early. When driving Marianne (Anna Karina), the babysitter, back home, they fall in love and decide to run away from Paris. They embark on a series of escapades that begins with running illegal arms for extra cash and runs the gamut: love, death, ennui, boat chases, murder, betrayal, revenge, lost cash, and almost anything else you can think of, and all with a sense of reality that is an interesting contrast to the typical American film. Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Alphaville) blends different genres with great success and achieves moments of cinematic poetry in this quasi-epic of modern malaise. Also a cameo by the Hollywood director Samuel Fuller is something to watch for. Be aware that Godard is for people seriously interested in cinematic art. --James McGrath

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