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The Films (4/5)
2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER tells the loosely connected story of housewife Juliette Jeanson (Marina Vlady) and her hobby of prostitution.
And that’s pretty much all the plot you get in this “Essay” film by Nouvelle Vague Experiential bad boy, Jean- Luc Godard. In 1966, Godard started two films at the same time, shooting one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The first to be released was the more narrative staple, MADE IN U.S.A starring Anna Karina. While Godard’s films have always been loose in a traditional movie making setting, MADE IN U.S.A. was more in line with film noir, but the second film would be a completely alien creation. The second film was 2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER.
Inspired by a newspaper article on prostitution in Paris, Godard crafted a 90-minute essay on modern life in Paris. The loss of nature, the rise of commercialism, and of course the dullness of middle class life, while across the world in Vietnam, people were being massacred. With this format in mind, Godard pushed his experimental style to the max. Cross cutting, bizarre half interviews with cast members, 4th wall breaking, non-stop cryptic narration by Godard himself, and actor openly quoting random books all leading up to a mysterious point. Some of it I still don’t understand.
Like most Godard films, 2 OR 3 is an extreme and challenging work of art. Speaking from personal experience, each of his films either click automatically or from a later viewing. Films like BREATHLESS, ALPHAVILLE, and EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, worked with me from the start, while others like WEEKEND, CONTEMPT, and BAND OF OUTSIDERS had me alienated. 2 OR 3 THINGS was one of the latter. But finally, on this 7th viewing of the film, over the course of 5 years, it finally clicked.
Through this viewing for this review I started to notice how it strangely blended together. The cross cutting between the mini subplots and book covers started to work as nonlinear chapter heads. Godard’s films are always filled with references and pushing the boundaries of intertextually. They fire off like machine gun fire that it’s nearly impossible to catch everyone, but here I started to notice them. Also, I discovered how visually brilliant Godard is with his use of framing and composition. Every shot is filled with information. The landscapes of the construction areas just added to the loneliness of the piece. Also, the use of close-ups stands out. The various shots of gas stations, espresso bars, and pinball machines added to bizarre nature. The most influenceable shot seems to be the close-up on the cup of espresso as the bubbles spin in circles, set to narration by Godard as he whispers various thoughts to us. This shot would be repeated in TAXI DRIVER.
While the film is challenging, something about this viewing just worked. Maybe like a good wine, Godard improves with age.
MASCULIN FEMININ (1966) tells the story of Paul (Jean-Pierre Leaud) and his wannabe pop star girlfriend (Chantal Goya) as they deal with the pressures of modern French life and the struggles to be one’s self in a commercialism culture. The culture defined as “the children of Marx and Coca-Cola”.
Like 2 OR 3, but not as extreme, MASCULIN is another film pushing towards being an essay production. But unlike the latter, this 1965 filmed movie has all the hallmarks of Godard’s wild style but feels like a “normal” film. That’s what makes Godard so bizarre and challenging. From his first film, BREATHLESS (1959) until the anti-movie WEEKEND (1967), each one of Godard’s films had a different look and energy. Of all the early pre-WEEKEND Godard films I’ve seen, MASCULIN feels the most like BAND OF OUTSIDERS (BANDE A PART) with it’s on the streets filming and 3 main characters.
What makes Godard worth revisiting is how unpredictable he is. Here we have a fun and poppy Teen/ young adult film that stops to interview random people, witness a movie in the local cinema, deals with hookers and soda bars, and the rise of pop music with randomly inserted pop hits from Goya.
On the cast side of things Jean-Pierre Leaud (THE 400 BLOWS, DAY FOR NIGHT) is charming and sweet, but every so often shows the brooding side ready to crack out. Leaud delivers the speeches with ease and makes a likeable everyman, even when he is trying to be edgy. Goya shows a tender but darker side that gives the movie a lingering sleaze factor. Godard and the 1960’s is like chochalte and peanut butter, a perfect time capsule with enough criticism of the culture to lead to endless hours of discussion.
Audio/Video (4/5)
Umbrella releases 2 OR 3 and MASCULIN with a 2.0 French Mono track. The audio is crisp with no noticeable issues. No hiss or pops. The mix of sound effects and narration is well balanced with no peaking high noise. English subtitles are included.
The upconverted to 1080p HD picture is impressive. The picture is in sharp focus with plenty of depth in every shot. There’s some natural film grain and no blurry areas. Some shots are softer than others, but for a standard def disc, this is one of the better transfers I’ve seen for Godard films.
Extras (0/5)
There’s no extras on either disc.
Overall (4/5)
2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER is one of Godard’s more challenging and visually impressive films. While the film is top notch, Godard is a tough cookie to recommended. This film toke multiple viewings to finally click with me, so some viewers will be alienated. If you’re a Godard fan already, then this release is a no-brainer. The only down side is the lack of extras. Recommended.
MASCULIN FEMININ is another one of Godard’s wild 60’s films before he completely left narrative filmmaking. A fun and yet serious look at youth culture in France. One of Godard’s most enjoyable. Highly Recommended.
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