Bande à part (film)
| Bande à part | |
|---|---|
 Bande à part poster | |
| Directed by | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Written by | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Starring | Anna Karina Sami Frey Claude Brasseur |
| Cinematography | Raoul Coutard |
| Music by | Michel Legrand |
Production companies | Anouchka Films Orsay Films |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $120,000 (estimated) |
Bande à part (French pronunciation: [bɑ̃d a paʁ]) is a 1964 Nouvelle vague film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It was released as Band of Outsiders in North America; its French title derives from the phrase faire bande à part, which means "to do something apart from the group."
The film is an adaptation of the novel Fools' Gold (Doubleday Crime Club, 1958) by American author Dolores Hitchens (1907–1973).
The film belongs to the French New Wave movement. Godard described it as "Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka".[1][citation needed]
Plot
Odile (Anna Karina) meets a man named Franz (Sami Frey) in an English language class. She has told him of a large pile of money stashed in the villa where she lives with her aunt, Mme. Victoria and a man named M. Stoltz in Joinville, a Parisian suburb. Franz tells his friend Arthur (Claude Brasseur) of the money – and his nascent romance with Odile – and the two hatch a plan to steal it.
Meanwhile, Franz and Arthur try to seduce Odile. Ultimately, Arthur wins Odile, and they spend the night together.
Arthur's uncle learns of their plot and wants a cut of the money. Franz, Arthur, and Odile now must commit the robbery the night before they had planned, the night they knew M. Stoltz would be away from home. Moreover, Mr. Stoltz grows suspicious, and he hides the money and changes the locks.
When they arrive, Franz and Arthur tie up Mme. Victoria and lock her in an armoire. They only find a small amount of cash in the house, and when they open the armoire, to interrogate Mme. Victoria about the rest of the money, they find that she is dead. Franz, Arthur, and Odile flee the scene at once, until suddenly, Arthur declares he will return to the home, to verify that Mme. Victoria is in fact dead.
This is a ploy: Arthur knows where the rest of the money is hidden, and he plans to take it for himself. But on the highway, Franz notices Arthur's uncle heading in the direction of the villa; he and Odile turn around to follow. There, they witness Arthur being shot by his uncle repeatedly after finding the rest of the money in the doghouse. With his final breath, Arthur shoots his uncle in return. Odile rushes toward the body, but Franz pulls her away as Mr. Stoltz pulls up to the house. Mr. Stoltz gathers up the pile of money that is on the ground and walks up the stairs of the house. This is also where we learn that Mme. Victoria is alive, as she appears in the doorway and meets Mr. Stoltz as he enters the house.
Odile and Franz drive off with a small stack of money from the robbery. Odile, crestfallen, declares, "I'm disgusted with life." The two decide to flee to South America, and the narrator declares his story has ended here, "like in a pulp novel," and promises a technicolor sequel chronicling Odile and Franz's tropical adventures.
Cast
- Anna Karina – Odile
- Danièle Girard – English Teacher
- Louisa Colpeyn – Madame Victoria
- Chantal Darget – Arthur's Aunt
- Sami Frey – Franz
- Claude Brasseur – Arthur
- Georges Staquet – The legionnaire
- Ernest Menzer – Arthur's Uncle
- Jean-Claude Rémoleux – The alcohol drinking student
Famous scenes
- A minute of silence: In one scene, Arthur, Franz, and Odile are in a crowded café and decide to observe a minute of silence; as they do so the film's soundtrack is plunged into complete silence. This silence actually lasts only 36 seconds and is interrupted by Franz, who says "Enough of that."
- The Madison scene: Shortly after, Odile and Arthur decide to dance. Franz joins them as they perform a dance routine. The music is R&B or soul music composed for the film by Michel Legrand, but Anna Karina said the actors called it "the Madison dance".[2] This scene influenced the dance scene with Uma Thurman and John Travolta in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.[3] (A further Tarantino connection is in the name of his film production company, A Band Apart.[4]) It also influenced scenes in Hal Hartley's Simple Men[5] and Martin Hynes' The Go-Getter.[6] In Roger Michell's Le Week-End[7] the principal characters see the dance scene on a television in their Paris hotel room, and briefly dance along with it. The final scene of the movie is a longer reenactment in a café after one of the characters plays the music on a jukebox.
- The Louvre scene: In one scene, the characters attempt to break the world record for running through the Louvre. And the narration informs that their time was nine minutes and 43 seconds which broke the record set by Jimmy Johnson of San Francisco. That scene is referenced in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers (2003), in which its characters break the Louvre record.
Status
Bande à part is often considered one of Godard's most accessible films; Amy Taubin of the Village Voice called it "a Godard film for people who don't much care for Godard".[8] Its accessibility has endeared the film to a broader audience. For example, it was the only Godard film selected for Time's All-TIME 100 movies.[9]
Noted critic Pauline Kael described Bande à part as "a reverie of a gangster movie" and "perhaps Godard's most delicately charming film".[10]
The entire coffeehouse dance scene was also used as the music video for the song "Dance with Me", by the music group Nouvelle Vague from their 2006 album Bande à Part. The group took their name from a scene in the movie, where Odile and Arthur are walking on a street and pass a business with Nouvelle Vague (New Wave or New Trend) in large letters over the door.
Bande à part was ranked No. 79 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.[11]
References
- ^ Archer, Eugene. "Film Festival: New Wave at Its Crest," The New York Times, 19 September 1964
- ^ Karina, Anna. Interview on the Criterion Collection edition of the film.
- ^ Channel 4: British Film Institute: Bande à Part "A-Z Guide"
- ^ Kenneth Turan "Godard's "Band of Outsiders" returns with its charms intact", Baltimore Sun, 17 August 2001
- ^ Hernandez, Eugene. "Godard's Outsiders Back in 35mm", indieWIRE, 6 June 2001.
- ^ Martin Hynes Talks M. Ward, The Origins of She & Him and the Music of 'The Go-Getter". The Playlist. 28 May 2008.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Taubin, Amy. "Prime Movers," Village Voice, 15 August 2001.
- ^ The complete list – ALL-TIME 100 Movies – Time Magazine
- ^ BAND OF OUTSIDERS at Film Forum in NYC
- ^ "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema | 79. Bande à part". Empire.