Review of La Chinoise (1967) by Richard D — 07 May 2011

It's almost impossible to watch this film without thinking of what happened a mere year later in France in 1968. First, a note on the actual watching experience: even a political film studies major found it to drag drag and feel at least two hours long and it feels somewhat like a thesis project and not a theatrical film because it is so obsessed with structure and so stagy.

I can say that the film is difficult, but worth the challenge to watch. Godard's politics leak out by the end and upon reflection. If nothing else he says that terrorism is pointless and that these people are totally disconnected from the masses they say they care so much about.

The only working class character is a woman who feels like a prop they use in their plays and is often seen in scenes doing domestic labor. Yet she is totally alienated from these people who are obsessed with the theory of making a revolution.

I found her, played by Juliet Berto, to be the most fascinating and real character. If you think you'd be interested in a film that is beautifully framed and involves a lot of people walking around reading from the Little Red Book like a religious text, this might be just the movie for you! In many ways it is not that different from other New Wave era films.

It's plot light and full of scenes where characters have long, abstract philosophical discussions that don't quite make sense. But rather than reflecting on universal life experiences, which makes so many New Wave films almost accessible, this one is about a particular kind of people radical people.

Their passion is so great and their experience so limited that you almost pity them.