GRADE: 9
Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.
Original Title: Bande à part
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Country of Origin: France
THOUGHTS:
Maybe Godard’s most charming film, made without sacrificing any of his usual formal experiments and cinematic meta-commentaries. It’s got some of Godard’s most memorable sequences (a sprint through the Louvre, a hipster dance routine, Ana Karina’s version of a French kiss), dialog that’s consistently wry and funny, and a sincere love for American movies that avoids sentimentality. I’m used to Godard’s deconstructionist techniques challenging my viewership; but to be so delightfully engaged by them is a thrill I’ve heretofore only experienced with Breathless.