Review of Tout Va Bien (1972) by Michael H — 11 Nov 2007

A beautiful, dazzling film that only Godard could make...or should I say Godard & Gorin. What isn't credited to the team is how they essentially take several political speeches and manage to weave a comprehensive story of them...not a typical story in the Bourne or even Breathless sense, but rather the larger story of 1) The meaning of making film for and in the name of an audience, and 2) How human beings at work relate to each other. One sensational scene (among many) involves a ten minute tracking shot of a grocery store...starts with people buying groceries pretty aimlessly, and ends with their own revolution...yet also nicely reverses the roles of workers, previously stated against their bosses, now serve as Lords as such to the consumers buying groceries. It's a complex film, visually and otherwise, not for everybody but a film that everybody could gain something from. It's also a film that seems to me very close to Godard's heart as a thinker and filmmaker, as well as the film that best defines his Maoist period (roughly '68-'73).

So yes, as far was this film is concerned, five stars. Everything's fine!