Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection | 
 enlarge | Actors: Jean-paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Samuel Fuller, Jean-pierre Léaud
Studio: Criterion Collection
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 26045
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 110
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: CC1738DDVD
UPC: 715515027823
EAN: 0715515027823
ASIN: B000ZM1MIM
Theatrical Release Date: January 8, 1969
Release Date: February 19, 2008
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Product Description
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. System Requirements:Running time: 110 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: FOREIGN/FRENCH Rating: NR UPC: 715515027823 Manufacturer No: CC1738DDVD
Amazon.com essential video
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 43 more reviews...
 the summation of the new wave August 22, 2008
Godard's first ten films are characterized as his most "new wave" of films (why Maculin/Feminin and Weekend aren't "new wave" is beyond me. Perhaps it has to do with Anna Karina and Godard's separation, though they had divorced before filming Alphaville). Anyway, if this indeed is his last new wave film, it serves as a sort of masters thesis of everything that he made before.
Ferdinand/Pierrot (Jean-Paul Belmondo, wonderful) lives an unsatisfying life of domesticity with his rich, vapid Italian wife. Marianne (the beautiful, amazing Anna Karina), a since forgotten fling of Ferdinand's appears in his life once again, and the two undertake a spree of murder, poverty, cunning, theft and isolation. One of the bonus features on the second disc describes Pierrot as the reverse Breathless (Godard's first full length), and it makes sense. Here, Godard is self-referential, making sly gestures and nods at his previous work. Some of my favorite lines of any Godard film are here: Pierrot glad he hates spinach and his old man's monologue on writing and Joyce. Raoul Coutard's filmography is, once again, stunning. The film is awash in blues, in comic book two-tones, which Karina's red dress stands out as an ode to non-conformity.
Of course this is a long film, and though its structure is completely linear, the odd sense of time in it may detract viewers (I for one love it). Different elements and characters seem to be thrown in at odd times, but eschewing the normalcy and heightening the artificiality of cinema was Godard's intentions. Some might see this as arty pretension, well it is. But as a film lover I'm rather tired of movies I watch once and everything is handed to me neatly. Anything demanding close repeated watching is the only thing worth watching, personally. But really, this movie isn't so over everyone's heads as to be unenjoyable to those unfamiliar with Godard's work. It's funny, sad, exciting, and most of all enigmatic.
Now, if you've seen Godard's previous nine films you'll want to see this, unless you didn't enjoy them, which begs the question Why did you watch them? Belmondo and Karina are at once very archetypal characters in the Godardian universe, but they're also very much distinct from the other characters they had played. For instance, they seem to be the complete opposites of their A Woman is a Woman roles. Karina here plays the feisty, un-containable murderess always on the move, whereas the earlier film all she wants is a kid. Belmondo here is a sensitive, artistic brooder, with a playful side to be sure, but in Woman he is a horny, egocentric, calloused hanger-on.
Also, the end of Pierrot is one of the most abrupt, unexpected, wonderfully humorous and disconcerting of any I have ever seen!
So, while I whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone interested, perhaps it'd be best to acquaint yourself with his earlier films to get a gist of Godard's intentions as a filmmaker. If you're new to his work, I suggest this order: Breathless, Band of Outsiders, A Woman is a Woman, Contempt, Alphaville, My Life to Live, Pierrot le Fou. And if you like those then watch Masculin/Feminin and Weekend. All the films mentioned above are outstanding, amazing, brilliant films worth a million Jurassic Parks, Mama Mias, Titanics and ET's.
 Artsy-Fartsy July 4, 2008
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
It's beneath the artist to explain his work. You'll just have to figure out the meaning of my review's title on your own.
 Well... June 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I like Godard's early films A Bout de Souffle and Band Apart, but this is...I don't know what to say...too much? If you like Godard, the French New wave and so on, this Criterion DVD is made with excellent transfer and with some really good extras (like the documentary about Godard and Anna Karena). But the film is too playful for me to appreciate, it's more interesting as an idea than to watch. 2 stars for the film and 4 stars to Criterions package. If you haven't tried Godards films before don't start with this one, try A Bout de Souffle ("Breathless") instead, also on Criterion in a fantastic edition.
50 Books to One Record May 6, 2008
10 out of 15 found this review helpful
During the year of 1965, Jean-Luc Godard would create three highly acclaimed films: Alphaville, Pierrot le fou, and Masculin, Feminin. What makes this accomplishment even more outstanding is the fact that these three films could not be more different from each other with Alphaville being an Orwellian science fiction film and Masculin, Feminin being a romance with a strong socialist edge. However, amongst these three films it would be the lone color film Pierrot le fou, Peter the Wild, that would garner most critical attention. Having watched all three films myself, I can say at least that Pierrot le fou is indeed the most experimental of the three films and it delves heavier into the potential of film as a medium that the other two, but is it as enjoyable as the other two films? In my opinion, no, it is not a very enjoyable film and it borders on absolute tedium at times.
The film opens with Ferdinand Griffon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, reading in the bathtub while puffing away on his ever present cigarettes. Being forced to attend a party that he does not want to attend, Ferdinand states that he would prefer to stay at home with the children. Yet, because her husband is unemployed, Ferdinand's wife is insistent that he will attend the party. Also, a fellow party patron's niece will look after the children. On their way out, Ferdinand meets Marianne, Anna Karina, and soon is whisked off to the party. The party turns out to be a complete bore with its patrons speaking as if they were commercials. Ferdinand soon flees home and it is at time that we the viewers learn that Ferdinand and Marianne shared a relationship with each other some years before and, as he is giving her a ride home, Ferdinand soon decides to abandon his family. After spending the night with Marianne, Ferdinand sees that there is more to the young, pretty girl than meets the eye when he sees several automatic weapons in her apartment and not to mention a dead man with a pair of scissors sticking out of his neck. Therefore, they begin their lives on the run promising to love each other, but can that truly come to be?
I have watched a handful of Jean-Luc Goddard films now and for the most part my reaction has been quite cool towards them. I respect that they are quite creative and that Godard pushes the boundaries of film. I even like the strong socialist and antiwar groundings within the films, but at some points the films just come off as a bit ludicrous to me or that they were striving so much to become "art" that they ignore entertainment value for the viewer. I am not trying to say that I do not appreciate films that make the viewer think, I really enjoy the Brechtian films of Oshima Nagisa, but at least I want to feel some enjoyment while watching the film instead of feeling my eyes glaze over. I do think this film is important to watch in order to see the progress of the French New Wave, but if you want to simply enjoy a French New Wave film watch a François Truffaut film instead.
lots of new shots in this crierion dvd April 24, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
great movie
the old dvd was the first dvd i bought
they must have had a very different cut of this film
many many beautiful shots here that were simply not on the other dvd
image is beautiful
the color is great - to me this movie is so much about the color red
for me this is godard's masterpiece
the extras are great
anna on t.v. at the venice film festival is priceless
what a beautiful, beautiful woman and spirit !
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