Pierrot Le Fou, (1965) is generally acknowledged as one of the classic films of the French New Wave and one of the most significant works of Jean-Luc Godard.
The film is known for its rebellious, nonconformist character. This is evident in its innovative cinematic techniques, such as the improvisational approach to script and shooting and the series of unconnected episodes, as well as in the overall approach of the theme.
The dissatisfaction of living in a consuming society and the wish of the individual to return to a simpler, purer way of life are dominant in the film. The urban landscape is seen as rather oppressive and mundane, while nature is regarded as a place of freedom and creativity. The main characters, Ferdinand and Marianne, are desperately longing to reconnect with nature and escape from the bourgeois lifestyle of 1960s Paris.
The dissatisfaction of living in a consuming society and the wish of the individual to return to a simpler, purer way of life are dominant in the film. The urban landscape is seen as rather oppressive and mundane, while nature is regarded as a place of freedom and creativity. The main characters, Ferdinand and Marianne, are desperately longing to reconnect with nature and escape from the bourgeois lifestyle of 1960s Paris.
Ferdinand and Marianne, the cinematic couple in seek of the adventure.
Godard’s criticism on the capitalistic way of living is apparent throughout Pierrot, particularly in the first scenes, which initiate Ferdinand's decision to leave it all behind. Ferdinand, who has recently lost his job at a TV broadcasting company, is seen getting ready for a cocktail party, where, according to his wife, he should give a good impression to any potential employers. In the party scene, through shallow conversations and parody advertisements for cars and women 's beauty products, Godard attempts to deconstruct the urban lifestyle.
The party’s guests conversation: a blond woman advertising her new hairspray.
Ferdinand seems asphyxiating in a pretentious social life and a miserable wedding. He is wandering meaninglessly around the room, hardly socializing and fails to conceal his disregard for other guests.
But what are the real causes of Ferdinand's disillusionment?
This deep disregard of modern society can be approached by taking a closer look at the Situationists'(1) theories. In their work the concept of urbanity holds a central role. One of their main interests is the rediscovery of joy and playfulness in life. The group was particularly interested in the alienation that comes with consumption culture, which, for them, had ruled over every aspect of urban life. The apparent success of late capitalism, such as technological progress and material wealth could not conceal the dysfunctional model of production, based on the exploitation of labor and natural resources.
The Situationists saw the urban landscape as sterile and lifeless, lacking creativity.(2)
Constant, one of the architects of the movement, argued that ‘in response to the need to construct whole towns rapidly, cemeteries in reinforced concrete are being built where great masses of population are condemned to die of boredom’. The streets, in Constant’s view, have degenerated into highways and therefore, social relations have become unattainable. Urbanism, is according to him, the first enemy of playful and joyful creativity, unless it is coupled by with revolutionary action, which will bring down the laws that make life meaningless and boring. (3)
Going back to Pierrot Le Fou, we see that Ferdinand leaves his comfortable but boring life to run away with his baby-sitter and ex-girlfriend, Marianne. Feeling trapped within a society defined by consumption, he finally leaves his wife and children.
Jean-Luc Godard, largely known for his narrative themes in urban living, forces his cinematic couple to abandon the city. In this lies the genius of the film.
But for his concern with politics, which are related to the polis -the urban sphere-, Godard turns to the natural realm to symbolize liberty and happiness. The Situationists’ theories are verified; the city, in Godard’s eyes, seems to have largely lost its fascination.
In this sense, the sublimity of the natural landscape depicted in the film, works as an antidote against the contaminating influence of capitalism. Pierrot helps us comprehend how historical landmarks, such as the revolt of May 1968 and the oil crisis of 1973, challenged the virtues of the post-war model. For Daniel Morgan, Godard’s return is seen as coinciding with his effective refinement from political cinema, his withdrawal into a kind of hermetic, self-imposed solitude.(4)
Ferdinand, Marianne and the infinity of the sea.
The images of the sea present nature as if belonging to a separate sphere from the human world, with its own scale and its own rhythm that is different from ours. Contrary to the city that promotes the culture of getting and spending, Pierrot’s natural world 'remains sublimely indifferent to the selfish demands of the human species'. (5)
Ferdinand thinks that his escape from the city will bring him all that he’s been searching for.
Probably, what one must keep in mind while watching the movie and getting familiar with the theories of the Situationists, is not an overall abandonment of the city. Probably, the whole story could be about the never-ending struggle to maintain inner balance. This balance may be largely disturbed, but the possibility to rediscover a different way of inhabiting the city is always open.
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1. The Situationists was an international group comprised mainly by artists and architects. Some of the central figures of the group were active in Paris during the 1960s. One of their main concerns was the study and research of urbanism and its crisis during that time. Pierrot Le Fou, Jean Luc Godard’s masterpiece which was shot at the same time seems to share the same view of this historic city. What is mostly explored here is the particular significance of the urban landscape in the lives of its inhabitants and the reasons of the apparent discontent of individuals with the city and the consequent rejection of its values.
2.For a further look at the Situationists’ theories: Sadler, Simon, The situationist city, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999
2.For a further look at the Situationists’ theories: Sadler, Simon, The situationist city, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999
3.McDonough, Tom(ed.) Guy Debord and the Situationist International: Texts and Documents / edited by Tom McDonough. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2002
-Constant - A Different City for a Different Life (1959) - p.95-100
4.Morgan, Daniel, 'The place of nature in Godard's late films', Critical quartery, vol. 51(3), October 2009, p. 18
5. Morrey, Douglas, Jean-Luc Godard, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005, p. 137
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