Pierrot le fou is a 1965 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo. The title means "Pete the madman". The film is based on Obsession, a novel by Lionel White. It was Jean-Luc Godard's tenth feature movie, released between Alphaville and Masculin, féminin. Jean-Luc Godard (French IPA: ) (born 3 December 1930) is a French filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave. Born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris, he was educated in Nyon, Switzerland, later studying at the Lycée Rohmer, and the... Jean-Luc Godard (French IPA: ) (born 3 December 1930) is a French filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave. Born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris, he was educated in Nyon, Switzerland, later studying at the Lycée Rohmer, and the... Jean-Paul Belmondo (nicknamed Bébel) (born April 9, 1933 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris), is a French actor. ... For the novel, see Anna Karenina. ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Jean-Luc Godard (French IPA: ) (born 3 December 1930) is a French filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave. Born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris, he was educated in Nyon, Switzerland, later studying at the Lycée Rohmer, and the... For the novel, see Anna Karenina. ... Jean-Paul Belmondo (nicknamed Bébel) (born April 9, 1933 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris), is a French actor. ... Lionel White (1905-1995) was a book author whos dark noirish stories were sometimes made into films. ... Jean-Luc Godard (French IPA: ) (born 3 December 1930) is a French filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave. Born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris, he was educated in Nyon, Switzerland, later studying at the Lycée Rohmer, and the... Alphaville is: A German music trio. ... Masculin, féminin Masculin, féminin is a low-budget, black & white film directed by Jean-Luc Godard and released in 1966. ...

Plot

Jean Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina in Pierrot le fou.

Ferdinand Griffon aka Pierrot (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is unhappily married and has been recently fired from his job in a TV broadcasting company. After a boring party in Paris, he decides to leave his wife and children for his baby-sitter, an ex-girlfriend, Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina). Following her into her apartment to find a corpse, Ferdinand soon discovers that Marianne is being chased by Algerian gangsters, two of which they barely escape. Ferdinand (whom Marianne decides to call Pierrot) and Marianne go on a traveling crime spree from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea in the dead man's car.They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run. Settling down in the French riviera after having burnt the dead man's car (full of money) and sunk a second car into the Mediterranean Sea, their relationship gets worse and worse. Ferdinand does not understand nor wish to understand the adventure into which Marianne brought him and ends up reading books, philosophizing and writing in his diary. Marianne gets bored by Ferdinand's settled life and drives him into a night-club where they meet one of their pursuers. After defeating the gangsters, Marianne and Ferdinand are separated, with Marianne traveling in search of Ferdinand and Ferdinand settling in Nice. After their eventual reunion, Marianne uses Ferdinand to get a suitcase full of money that was taken from the gangsters before running away with her real boyfriend, to whom she had previously referred as her brother. In the climactic end scene, Pierrot, after having shot Marianne and her boyfriend, paints his face in blue and decides to blow himself up with red and yellow dynamite. Regretting his decision, he tries to extinguish the fuse, but, blinded by the dynamite, he ends up exploding. Image File history File links Ferdinand and Marianne on boat. ... Image File history File links Ferdinand and Marianne on boat. ... Jean-Paul Belmondo (nicknamed Bébel) (born April 9, 1933 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris), is a French actor. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... For the novel, see Anna Karenina. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Mediterranean redirects here. ... The Quai des États-Unis in Nice on the French Riviera at night. ... Mediterranean redirects here. ...

Themes

In the most concrete sense Pierrot le fou deals with the impossible love affair between Marianne and Ferdinand. Like many of Godard's films, Pierrot focuses on the inevitable conflicts that arise from intimacy between men and women, largely as a result of their very different modes of communication.

Pierrot Le Fou's episodic structure also provides Godard with a very flexible vehicle to express many conflicted feelings about pop culture, politics, America, literature, music, and cinema itself. Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ...

Like much of Godard's work, the film has many of the characteristics of the then dominant pop art movement, making constant disjunctive references to various elements of mass culture. Like much pop art the film uses visuals drawn from cartoons and employs an intentionally garish visual aesthetic based on bright primary colors such as red, blue, and yellow. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) is one of the earliest works to be considered pop art. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...

Pierrot Le Fou is seen by many commentators, including Frederic Jameson as an early and paradigmatic example of post-modernism in film. The films postmodern elements include its parodic but affectionate attitude towards American pop culture, its deliberate mixing of high and low art, its frequent dissection of popular movie conventions, and its use of a decentered, collage-like (or paratactic) narrative structure. The central character of Ferdinand also embodies Jameson's notion of the postmodern citizen as a victim of "compensatory decorative exhilaration" or a mass media-addled mindset in which individuals lose the ability to distinguish truth from fiction or important issues from trivial ones. Fredric Jameson (b. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... Parataxis (from Greek for act of placing side by side; fr. ...

This movie makes also numerous references to the Vietnam war and the Algerian war. For example, Marianne and Pierrot entertain American tourists on a beach, miming war scenes where Pierrot is a US soldier and Marianne a Vietnamese girl, referred to as "Uncle Sam's Nephew" and "Uncle Ho's (Ho Chi Minh) Niece. Pierrot is also tortured by being drowned in a bathtub, a technique often used by French during the Algerian war. Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Combatants FLN (1954-62) MNA (1954-62) France (1954-62) FAF (1960-61) OAS (1961-62) Commanders Mostefa Benboulaïd Ferhat Abbas Hocine Aït Ahmed Ahmed Ben Bella Krim Belkacem Larbi Ben MHidi Rabah Bitat Mohamed Boudiaf Messali Hadj Paul Cherrière (1954-55) Henri Lorillot (1955-56... For the city named after him, see Ho Chi Minh City. ... Combatants FLN (1954-62) MNA (1954-62) France (1954-62) FAF (1960-61) OAS (1961-62) Commanders Mostefa Benboulaïd Ferhat Abbas Hocine Aït Ahmed Ahmed Ben Bella Krim Belkacem Larbi Ben MHidi Rabah Bitat Mohamed Boudiaf Messali Hadj Paul Cherrière (1954-55) Henri Lorillot (1955-56...

Behind the Scenes

• Sylvie Vartan was at first chosen by Godard to play the role of Marianne but her agent refused.^[1][2] Godard considered Richard Burton to play the role of Ferdinand but gave up the idea.^[2]
• As with many of Godard's movies, no scenario was written until the day before shooting (at best), and many scenes were improvised by the actors, especially in the final acts of the movie. The shooting took place over two months, starting in the French riviera and finishing in Paris (in reverse order from the edited movie).^[2]
• Jean-Pierre Léaud was an uncredited assistant director on the movie (who also appeared briefly in one scene).

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (born 1944) is a French pop singer and music hall impressario of Hungarian and Armenian origin. ... The Quai des États-Unis in Nice on the French Riviera at night. ... Jean-Pierre Léaud (born May 5, 1944) is a French actor. ...

Influence

• Mathieu Kassovitz's first short movie is called Fierrot le pou (Fierrot the louse).
• The twentieth episode of Cowboy Bebop is entitled "Pierrot le Fou."

Mathieu Kassovitz (born 3 August 1967 in Paris) is a French director, screenwriter, occasional actor and is considered one of contemporary Frances top emerging film talents, best known for his searing Cannes-winning drama La Haine. ... The following is an episode list of the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. ... Original run April 3, 1998 – April 23, 1999 Episodes 26 Movie: Knockin on Heavens Door (天国の扉) Director Shinichiro Watanabe Writer Keiko Nobumoto Studio Sunrise BONES Bandai Visual[2] Released September 1, 2001 Runtime 115 min. ...

Notes

1. ^ Interview of Sylvie Vartan in French
2. ^ ^{a b c} Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le fou ed. David Wills, Cambridge University Press, 2000 (first 20 pages)