Saturday, January 09, 2016

Charlotte et son Jules




Written, directed, and co-edited by Jean-Luc Godard, Charlotte et son Jules (Charlotte and Her Boyfriend) is a thirteen-minute short film about a man who gets a visit from his ex-girlfriend as he deals with her appearance. Largely set inside a Parisian apartment, the film explores the many ups and downs of love as the couple is portrayed by Jean-Paul Belmondo as Jules and Anne Collette as Charlotte. It begins with Charlotte arriving into the apartment as her date (Gerard Blain) waits outside in his car where Jules rants about everything she’s done to him.

With Godard dubbing the voice of Jules (due to budget limitations and Belmondo unavailable for post-production), the film has Godard maintain a sense of intimacy with his usage of close-ups and medium shots in the film’s direction with Jules ranting while Charlotte remains mostly silent as she mocks him in a pantomime style. Shot in black-and-white by cinematographer Michel Latouche with stylish cutting by Godard and Cecile Decugis, the film has a playful feel with some sound work by Jacques Maumont and a whimsical musical score by Pierre Monsigny. The performances of Belmondo and Collette are splendid with Belmondo displaying some humility with Collette being very funny in her near-silent performance.

Charlotte et son Jules is an extraordinary short film from Jean-Luc Godard. Not only does the film contain elements that would become prominent in his work in feature films but it’s also a film that manages to play into the ideas of love in all of its fallacies and joyful moments. In the end, Charlotte et son Jules is a sensational film from Jean-Luc Godard.

Jean-Luc Godard Films: All the Boys Are Called Patrick - Breathless - The Little Soldier - A Woman is a Woman - Vivre Sa Vie - The Carabineers - Contempt - Band of Outsiders - A Married Woman - Alphaville - Pierrot Le Fou - Masculin Feminin - Made in U.S.A. - Two or Three Things I Know About Her - La Chinoise - Weekend - One Plus One (Sympathy for the Devil) - (Joy of Learning) - (British Sounds) - Tout va Bien - (Letter to Jane) - (One A.M.) - (Number Two) - (Here and Elsewhere) - (Every Man for Himself) - (Passion) - (First Name: Carmen) - Hail, Mary - (Soft and Hard) - (Detective) - (King Lear (1987 film)) - (Keep Your Right Up) - (Nouvelle Vague) - (Allemagne 90 neuf zero) - (JLG/JLG - Self-Portrait in December) - For Ever Mozart - (Historie(s) de Cinema) - (In Praise of Love) - (Notre musique) - (Film Socialisme) - (Adieu au Language) - (The Image Book)

© thevoid99 2016

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