Review of Masculin Féminin (1966) by Brigitta B — 12 Jul 2010

For the most part, this an annoying, frequently dull film. Godard's relentless deconstruction of film grammar and penchant for amusing self-reference occasionally--but only briefly--rescue the narrative from Godard's didacticism and unrepentant sexism.

I loved this film the first time I saw it, but I squirmed in my chair and gritted my teeth through this most recent screening. I also began to re-consider Kael's notion that we should only see a film once.

It's a stupid idea, but it would have preserved a happy memory of a film I recalled as playful and fun. I simply can't get over how obvious Godard's chauvinism is, and how I could have ever overlooked or missed it.

I think Leaud's speech at the end about the distorting qualities of his questionnaires reveals Godard's hesitation to endorse the empty radicalism of his young heroes, but it does absolutely nothing to change the impression that he thinks the heroines are empty-headed dolls.

Goya is especially adorable, but Godard never puts a single thought in her pretty little head; instead, he surrounds her with the constant nattering and shameless philosophizing of Leaud and Debord. The camera work is, as always, incredible, but it's in the service of an obnoxious thesis.

Though I've seen very little of them, I've always thought the films Godard made during the Dviga Vertov period were somehow a radical break from the stuff he made before May '68. Now I don't think so; I think he just carried his work to its logical but unwatchable conclusion.