JEAN-LUC GODARD

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB. 

France/Switzerland, 1982.  Sara Films, Sonimage, Films A2, Film et Video Productions, Société Suisse de Radiodiffusion et Télévision (SSR).  Screenplay by Jean-Luc Godard.  Cinematography by Raoul Coutard.  Produced by Armand Barbault, Catherine Lapoujade, Martine Marignac.  Production Design by Jean Bauer, Serge Marzolff.  Costume Design by Christian Gasc, Rosalie Varda.  Film Editing by Jean-Luc Godard.  

Go ahead and listen to the critics who rave about this self-indulgent drivel by Jean-Luc Godard, for I suspect that they didn’t understand it either. Isabelle Huppert is adorable as a factory worker who resists being fired by her boss (Michel Piccoli), who is himself canoodling with the lovely Hanna Schygulla in the hotel that she owns. Both women are drawn to a filmmaker (Jerzy Radziwilowicz) who has abandoned the solidarity movement in Poland to come and make a listless film that brings to life the classics of the visual art world. He’s having difficulty finding the inspiration to make anything worthy, while the maids at Schygulla’s hotels are happily quitting their jobs to be nude models on his set. No one can deny the obvious exuberance with which Godard directs from behind the camera, and the performances and cinematography are excellent, but the infuriating, jumbled-up plot is the last word in pretentious European art house cinema and will drive you completely mad.

Cannes Film Festival:  In Competition