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Reviews
Bande à part (1964)
"Comic quips, a love triangle and the protagonists sprinting through the Louvre"
I found Godard's Bande à part to be much more entertaining than À bout de soufflé and my favourite out of the Nouvelle Vague films. It was in its cool, its aesthetics and simplicity in narrative that had me captivated and I finished the film with a smile on my face.
It had everything you could want from a film with interesting textual references, comic quips, a love triangle and the protagonists sprinting through the Louvre, not to mention the best dance sequence to be caught on camera.
This is why I want to make films, because they can be this stylish, this cool and this entertaining.
8/10
Pickpocket (1959)
Something I've missed
Although a clear piece of cinematic art with its slow and detailed sequences, I feel I have missed the genius within Pickpocket. When watching, nothing grabbed me in the same way as A Man Escaped and I finished the film appreciating its beauty and form, without feeling truly impressed.
I must point out that it was not that I thought that this was a bad film. Stylistically I agree that this film is fantastically shot in black and white, it was just that I feel that there is something I've missed.
Undeniably the theft sequences are blindingly brilliant and I really felt myself leaning in to watch as hands exchanged wallets with the deftest of touches. I also felt that tension was built up fantastically with the use of sound and imagery. I thought that the ending was well measured and summarised the film well but it was the story as a whole that never grew on me enough and I felt disappointed at points with the way it unfolded.
I hope, however, to watch this film again and perhaps more times after that because I sense that it was what I missed as opposed to what the film lacked. For me, perhaps, it will age like wine. I certainly hope so.
For now... 6/10