Bande à part (1964)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writers:

Jean-Luc Godard (writer)
Dolores Hitchens (novel)

Release Date:

5 August 1964 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.

Plot Keywords:

Hidden Money | Dance | Trio | Criminal Gang | New Wave

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	...	Le légionnaire
Ernest Menzer	...	Arthur's Uncle
Jean-Claude Rémoleux	...	L'élève buveur d'alcool
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michel Delahaye	...	Le portier
Jean-Luc Godard	...	Le narrateur
Monsieur Jojot
Claude Makovski	...	Pupil
Michèle Seghers	...	Student in English Class

Also Known As:

Band of Outsiders (USA)
The Outsiders

Runtime:

97 min | USA:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chateau d'Eau, Port de Lilas, Le Métro, Paris, France

Company:

Anouchka Films

Trivia:

The story Franz refers to in the café scene, about something being best hidden in the most obvious place, is "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allen Poe.

Quotes:

Arthur: The situation couldn't be clearer. But what's not clear is the part I'll be playing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mise-en-abyme (2006)

Soundtrack:

J'entends, j'entends

Interesting but not essential

I found this to be more of a film about film-making than a great piece of cinema in its own right. It started fairly slowly and was unlike anything that I'd seen before but at the same time it wasn't really going anywhere. I watched some of the extras with the DVD and I'm glad I did because it highlighted the camera work and score which is really all that I'd really picked up watching it. The dance scene was brilliant but aside from that I didn't really find much in the characters to hook me in. I understand from the extras that there was no script which I know isn't uncommon with other directors but it did play like that. There was some good interaction between the characters at times but overall the only real spark inside the film itself was the dance. More technical for me than anything else.