Bande À Part
(Band Of Outsiders)
1964
Godard proves that Breathless was not a fluke with his next film Band of Outsiders (1964). Band of Outsiders was the first Godard movie I saw and I had mixed reactions about it. And having watched quite a few of his films now, I understand that my perplexity was warranted in every way and that’s the way probably Godard would have wanted his audience to react. For sure, I will be revisiting it shortly and know for certain that I will gain more out of it now. Godard’s most lovingly directed work works on many levels and is perhaps his best take (or homage) on the genre.
Band Of Outsiders (1964)
I won’t be surprised if people rate it higher than Breathless for Band of Outsiders remains warmer and mellower today than at its time and would most probably elicit more “aaaws” than “huhs” unlike Breathless that still remains iconoclastic. A special mention for the DVD edition by Criterion – ranks among their best releases. Loaded with fantastic features including great interviews with Karina and Coutard, a gallery where Godard’s film is deconstructed stylishly and a short film Les Fiances du Pont Mac Donald (wanna bet Godard decided the title?) by Agnes Varda that is as charming as the main movie itself. A definitely great addition to your DVD collection.
With Band of Outsiders, Godard obtains a kind of inherent copyright for his work in the sense that a remake of the film is near impossible. Godard has already made a universally acceptable film with just the backdrop of Paris, literally. The gang of three is an anomaly in the relatively conservative city of Paris much like the Nouvelle Vague itself. The minute long silence (embodying Godard’s style of working), the impromptu dance (his theory of fluidity of the genre), the race through the L’ouvre (tribute to Truffaut’s Jules and Jim and a poke at the American cinema and its way of life) and the English class (well, er…, see for yourself) remain pieces of cinema to be cherished for ever. More than anything, the film is a celebration of unbridled youth, unsupervised freedom and unconventional cinema.
The Seventh Art 
December 7, 2008 at 6:36 pm
here is something i had written long back, one of my first reviews and yeah posted on dear cinema.
The only feeling which ran in me while watching the movie was the sense of freedom. How many movies today would give you a feeling of freedom, a sense of ease and sensation of being a witness to the banality of life unfolding with such poeticism? Band a Part embodies everything what Cinema is not today, watching this film made me want to go out and drive a car, take my girl out, study French and simply wander about searching for momentarily escapism. I had a similar feeling of such freedom and the mundane become extraordinaire while watching Jim Jarmusch, Stranger than Paradise which officially kicked of the American Independent Wave. There is a certain magic witnessing the “Ideal Chatter” of our lives becoming part of the film, and the representation of ” The Mundane” – When the three main characters sit during the course of an English Class, such an activity and its representation allows the film to become poetic; as Godard constructs scene out of the platitude of a classroom on a plane of glances, movements, touches and remarks which infuses a certain energy in the scene, and a simple act of sitting in an English class echoes the drudgery and playfulness which could or could not be part of life, but certainly is part of Cinema and can exist only in Cinema.
The story of Bande A Part could belong to any other film, but the way Godard has used the Dolores Hitchen crime novel and adapted the structure by forming a tapestry of Godardian magic that translates the film into a poetic aphorism, and gives the movie a breath of life. While it’s the trajectory of such moments being patched together, that allows the character, the surrounding and the atmosphere to sublime and become one, meaning, not seeming discreet and at the same time being attuned to life. Since irrespective of Godard’s Brechtian punctuation of the film narrative through a voice-over, it still hangs on its ability to soak in, or immerse, not so much with the story, but everything else in it: the walk, the talk, the style, the quote, the glance, the smile.
Band of Outsiders as the movie is known in English is a story about Odlie played exceptionally well by Anna Karina, as a matter of fact she is the driving energy and force in the film, not taking away anything form Sami Frey and Claude Brasssuer who play Franz and Arthur respectively, but it’s her performance in the movie that gives the movie such sheer energy and motion. Interestingly, the circumstances after which she had to act in the movie was completely opposite to the character she has to portray in the film (she had a miscarriage). Yet, after, such mental trauma and personal crisis, Anna Karina outshines in this film, and at the same time the presence of Sami Frey and Claude Bressuer keep the pace and energy level always in motion.As I aforementioned, Godard does not stay true to the text from which he has adapted this film rather he wanders from quotation to moments which are purely cinematic in its conception and delivery. Godard weaves his influences on which he has grown and piece by piece forms magic out of the things he has learnt or grown up learning, in short making history as he goes. One of the moments is when Odlie, Franz and Arthur sit in a restaurant and remain silent:
The “minute of silence” lasts 36 seconds.
Such pure moments of cinema really refines the image and makes the banal appear special, with so much of sounds and noise part of our daily lives that silence achieves something transcendental at that moment, and especially in the restaurant, it was amazing to see this particular scene unfold. Band of Outsider is filled with such pure moments despite the fact that the film was made way back in 1964. The energy and the enthusiasm of the characters appear so much as part of our current culture irrespective of the fact that we are not growing up quoting films and text, but the energy and zeal certainly remains in the hearts and minds, very much in the lines of Oldie, Franz and Arthur.
Godard as a director has never been concerned about telling a story in the manner we are accustomed to, meaning, allowing us to form the fabula in a direct manner, however, Band of Outsiders has a very simple plot so to say:
Odlie benefactor’s have kept money in a safe, which she comes to know, is unlocked, and she tells Franz and Arthur about it- so they plan a heist.
The plot is as simple as that, without sounding complex. When Odlie goes to her house to see her aunt; while Franz and Arthur wait and read the Newspaper, reading aloud the headlines which range from murder to rape and back to murder, shows how much Godard is interested in portraying the society and people as they exist in the environment without going out to recreate fiction, he makes the films closer to documentary a la Cinema Vertie. Jean Luc Godard once said,” Cinema is not about abstract ideas, but phrasing of moments” and Band of Outsiders is a movie based on such moments part dull, part vibrant, part cinema, part life, in short pure joy.
One of the most interesting factors while watching Band of Outsider was that I saw this movie with a diverse group of friends, acquaintance and people whom I didn’t know. And the overall response was amazing. Even before the movie began not many were ready to watch a Godard film- Fearing they all would go to sleep since the last attempt to show Eloge De Lamour and Notre Musique were unsuccessful, but when Band of Outsider began and till the final credits rolled, the film made people laugh, smile and everyone watched with muted joy and pleasure, the film hasn’t aged a bit and was still fresh as it was in 1964. Though the most remarkable thing about the film was that in a group of Engineers, Medical student, Law student, and one student of Mass Communication the film didn’t lose it’s charm at all, which meant, Godard and his films still had the power to charm and make new fans with his witty dialogues, quotes, likeable heroes and its tinges of reality. When the film finally ended everyone wanted to learn the Madison and dreamt about beating the time in Louvre, at least I knew we would stay one step ahead of Bernardo Bertolucci The Dreamers.
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December 7, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Hi Nitesh,
I read it in DearCinema adn read it all over now. Your language directly translates the energy of the film into words.
BTW, you mention about unsuccessful screenings: Was this a rooftop film fest of some kind or was it some kind of casual get together in your room/house? Because I want to know if the rooftop culture is active at all…
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December 7, 2008 at 8:33 pm
No film festival just a casual get together, but it was a pretty healthy enviorment where discussion always took place after a film. I wish we can do something like that roof-top thing, it would be wonderful.Sadly, it stopped becasue I got disillusioned and disturbuted all my films to people. :) There is still so much to write and explore on Bande a apart and contempt, hopefully, will do so in few days.
Btw, are u familiar with the works of regional South Indian directors? Or other regional directors in general.
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December 7, 2008 at 8:39 pm
This is one of my favourites as well. A truly remarkable work of art. Band of Outsiders is at once iconoclastic as well as light hearted – that I feel was Godard’s greatest achievement. The pop culture references were fascinating. This is truly one of those genre-benders; by freely merging a gamut of ‘American’ genres, it manages to break free of each of them, and at the same time nearlt reverse their very idioms as well. Never as political as say Masculin Feminin or as revolutionary as Breathless, this is I believe one of the few Godard movies where the narrative might just be called conventional. Consequently this is perhaps one of his very few movies that nearly every cine lover can truly enjoy, if you know what I mean.
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December 7, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Hi Shubhajit,
Yes it is perhaps his most “lovable” film as you call it and may be one of the very very few. Going by Godard’s later works, I guess Godard would have repented for making them so.
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December 8, 2008 at 6:31 pm
[…] in style in his next film A Married Woman (1964). After all the freewheeling and cheerfulness of Band of Outsiders, Godard pulls of an intense drama whose typically French texture can make many rave about it on and […]
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December 8, 2008 at 9:07 pm
@ Nitesh: Disillusioned and distributed? Why so drastic a move?
As for the south Indian directors, I am only familiar with the directors one needn’t pay any heed to – mostly the mainstream. I’m still to see Adoor, Aravindan, Kasaravalli et al.
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December 8, 2008 at 10:47 pm
@Nitesh, @ Srikanth,
Ore Kadal by ShyamaPrasad.
Vaanaprastham..
in case this can start a discussion
Srikanth, do look for ‘Subscribe to Comments’ plugin at wordpress.
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December 9, 2008 at 8:10 am
Hi, Kartikey
I’m not sure if this is available in wordpress.com where I’m blogging. Yes, it is there in wordpress.org (self hosted wordpress, plugins enabled).
Meanwhile, check if this link helps:
https://theseventhart.info/comments/feed/
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December 9, 2008 at 9:31 pm
@ kartikey, I’m aware of both of the films and the works of Shaji N Karun. But haven’t seen their entire works. I wish the works of Arvindan were available.
Srikanth, that’s great, that is exactly what I wanted to know. So are u familiar with all forms of South Indian mainstream cinema( Telegu, Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada. If so great…will let you the details in few days to come..
Long story of the Disillusioned and all, but I was happy that I could affect plenty of people and, yeah, and they were exposed to world cinema.
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December 12, 2008 at 6:36 pm
[…] that Tarantino loved Band of Outsiders (1964) and named his production company after the film, but it is in Made in U.S.A. that one can […]
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March 20, 2010 at 5:39 pm
[…] gravity and possible consequences of his moral choice). In a cheeky homage to Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders (1964), Adarsh gloriously “performs”, in true Bollywood fashion, a fake death stunt while he […]
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May 8, 2010 at 8:46 am
Nitesh,
Godard was trash. When you are done postin on these boards please finish mopping the floors. W eare having people over.
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