Summary
In a Parisian hotel, two detectives are investigating a murder which took place two years
ago. Meanwhile, a married couple, Emile and Francoise Chenal, are trying to extort money
from a boxer manager, Jim Fix Warner. But Warner is also hounded by the Mafia and,
despite fixing the boxing match, it looks unlikely that he can pay off all his debts.
The two stories become inextricably linked.
Review
In this film, Jean-Luc Godard takes a conventional detective thriller and manages to produce
something quite original - although the end result is far from accessible.
The film is loaded with Godard’s cinematographic devices - such as rapid inter-cutting
of apparently unconnected scenes, dialogue interrupted by unexpected musical intrusions,
and some blatant allegorical imagery. However, whilst such techniques were fresh
and exciting in Godard’s early career, the same approach now looks rather tired and distinctly
depassé in this 1980s thriller-drama. Instead of adding depth to the
film, this cinematographic artistry seems merely to render an already complicated story
virtually incomprehensible.
This is a shame because the film could have succeeded as a conventional drama - it does
have a very strong cast (which includes the (in)famous singer Johnny Hallyday) and the
plot (if you have the patience to follow it) is not without merit. In the search
for originality in his art, Godard is apparently hampered by his own past achievements.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in this film.
© James Travers 2000
Also see:
The life of Jean-Luc Godard
Best of the French New Wave
A bout de souffle
Vivre sa vie
Alphaville
Masculin, féminin
Le Mépris
Pierrot le fou
Eloge de l'amour
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