Le Petit Soldat
(The Little Soldier)
1960
Godard ran into controversy with the very second film he made. Le Petit Soldat got banned for graphic depiction of torture of its protagonist by both parties involved in the war against colonialism. Though very mellow and even fantastic when viewed today, it would most definitely have raised a few eyebrows especially because of the cinéma vérité style the scenes adopt. And as an interesting point, for Godard, is that he surprisingly does not take a stand at all. His focus remains his central character whose freedom and happiness have become functions of factors beyond his control.
The Little Soldier (1960)
Though a typical Godard character, I felt like watching a Truffaut written one at times. A chap full of ironies. He says that he won’t describe his torture and follows it up by exactly that. He says he will not commit a murder and flips to the other side in no time. Michel Subor’s quirky portrayal goes down as another underrated performance in the director driven New Wave. The narrative’s fluidity and emphasis on the mundane stays intact and Godard seems to assert his control over the medium with ease as he happily weaves his ideologies in the form of daring monologues.
Le Petit Soldat remains Godard first and most superficially personal statement made on film. It is not incidental that Godard himself had a childhood that was divided between Switzerland and France like the little soldier. But the film is, more importantly, of interest for its romantic significance that would define Godard’s first phase of filmmaking. Godard employs Anna Karina in the lead role for the first time and Coutard’s camera seems like Godard’s own eyes, never once stepping off her in the photo-shoot scene. According to fellow technicians, there was clearly a chemistry developing between them from the first few days of shoot. Godard’s least talked about film of his early years retains its power to charm.
The Seventh Art 
December 2, 2008 at 10:10 pm
‘I wanted to tell my story and do fewer exercise in style’
Godard on Le Petit Soldat
The little soldier could be a continuation of the existenlist trajectory that Godard so coolly had set his hindsight on. However, this time around the character Bruno spoke for Godard and the missing political ideology from Breathless. Le Petit Soldat like most of Godard works was an attempt at something this time around- Politics. And that is the precise reason why it even got banned regardless of all the efforts from Godard and his producer to call it an adventure film. Le Petit Soldat has one of the most famous aphorisms in cinema that, Godard spoke through the filmic character of Burno, “Cinema is truth 24fps second”. The entire scene was shot with Godard speaking out the question to Karina (the film was dubbed); who responded to Godard, and on the film Godard simply replaced his face with that of Bruno.
Godard does not build upon the foundation (mise-en-scene) he had established with Breathless; rather he simply re-creates the same methodology with an added coat of paint. The film is partially-autobiographical because Godard not only expressed his love for Karina but also exposed his political inclination rather sentiment, as he described the Left in one his interviews and his own state of emotion. Though, this is one of the easiest of all Godard movies to slip into; since there is a narrative to which Godard adheres, a basic story-line and plot development. But not necessarily in the classical strand of cause-effect.
As you rightly put, Srikanth this movie was an open declaration of Godard’s love for Karina. He had seen Anna Karina in an advertisement on TV and had invited her to work on Breathless. But she refused to do so, because Godard wanted her to show her bare chest, the role went on to Lillan David (Truffaut mistress). Even Karina had found him weird on first meeting with his dark glasses and the persona. Godard still pursued her for this role irrespective of the fact she told him, “She did not know anything about Politics”, but Godard was least bothered. He made her sign the film (she was underage) so he flew her mom from Denmark and got her to sign the film on her behalf.
The film is significant because more than cinematic reference Godard has formed the narrative out of his love for the authors, Jean Giraduoux and Jean Cocteau( the scene of Bruno sitting in the backseat of a car where a passage from his book Thomas the Impostor is read aloud. The reference to Jean Giraduoux dates back to one of his earliest articles of film criticism- Towards Political Cinema’:
‘One felt for Siegfried the same love as that which bound him to Limoges’
Siegfried is a reference to Jean Giaruodux’s novel Siegfried et Le Limousin (which he later turned into a play, Siegfried). The last name of Bruno is a direct allusion to the play (Siegfried) by Griaduoux and the book by Cocteau that helped him form some of the ideas for his film that is a direct similarity to these works. Although, Godard openly admitted his reference and influence from Maluraux novel La Condition Humanie for this particular movie, call it an irony of fate, but it was Malraux who did not approve of Breathless as France submission for the Cannes film festival and it was screened out-of-competition.
Godard just like Breathless did not know what to shoot initially, so for atleast a week the entire crew waited for him to get an idea. This time no one could complain. This movie is not only significant in giving us a glimpse into the development of Godard further political goals but it also offers a rare view of his love for Karina. Two long-time and important collaborators joined Godard: Agnes Guillmeot as editor and Susan Schiffman. The latter also worked in almost all movies of Truffaut and was an important member of the French New Wave crew. Beside Godard loved Bresson’s Pickpocket that year, voting it as his favorite film of the year 1959, and it must have been gratifying for him when Bresson left a note for him(after a private screening of the film) saying, “ Continue”.
The end of this movie marked the beginning of a new era for Godard. Karina left her boy-friend to join Godard in Paris and the rest as they say is history.
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December 2, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Wow, so much behind this little film. And Bresson’s praise would definitely have elated him.
Thanks again for the wonderful set of trivia, Nitesh.
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December 2, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Cinema is about discussion and learning as Godard rightly put, and your post and idea for the blogthon is certainly helping me as much. I think that is how cine-love should be expressed- through discussion and discourse.
The note seriously helped Godard, keeping up with idea of note and Godard. Here is an interesting anecdote:-
One rainy night in Paris in 1970, Bernardo Bertolucci was standing outside the Drugstore Saint Germain. It was a quarter to midnight. He was waiting for his -mentor, the great New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard, to arrive from the French premiere of the Italian’s new film, The Conformist. “I haven’t talked about this for dozens of years,” says Bertolucci, “but Godard was my real guru, you understand? I used to think there was cinema before Godard and cinema after – like before and after Christ. So what he thought about the film meant a great deal to me.
“He doesn’t say anything to me. He just gives me a note and then he leaves. I take the note and there was a Chairman Mao portrait on it and with Jean-Luc’s writing that we know from the handwriting on his films. The note says: ‘You have to fight against individualism and capitalism.’ That was his reaction to my movie. I was so enraged that I crumpled it up and threw it under my feet. I’m so sorry I did that because I would love to have it now, to keep it as a relic.”
And if u seen The Conformist the phone no which the student dials to his professor is of Jean Luc Godard.
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December 3, 2008 at 7:37 am
I haven’t seen The Conformist yet, but I guess now I’ll be just waiting for the phone scene:)
All these stories are so dramatic by themselves. I would love to see someone make a biopic of Godard, in his own “non-conformist” style…
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December 4, 2008 at 11:46 pm
This is an interesting little film from Godard’s early days: perhaps the most aesthetically and formally straightforward of his early works, though it’s not without its own innovations.
For me, it mostly remains relevant for the way that Michel Subor’s portrayal of Bruno Forestier here was later channeled into the films of Claire Denis. He reprises the role as a much older Bruno in Beau Travail, which is like a long-delayed sequel where the audience can catch a glimpse of what’s happened to him in the intervening years.
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December 5, 2008 at 7:41 am
Thanks Ed for visiting. It’s an honor. For other readers reading this comment: Visit Ed’s blog NOW. One of the best film blogs around. You’ll love it.
WIll check out Beau Travail someday…
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June 12, 2009 at 11:05 pm
[…] references that he places in the film. It wouldn’t be a coincidence if you spot allusions to The Little Soldier (1960) or Alphaville (1965) in the film, for the director himself tells us so in an interview. Not […]
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