Pierrot le fou (1965) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Dissatisfied in marriage and life, Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes to the road with the babysitter, his ex-lover Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina), and leaves the bourgeoisie behind. Yet this is no normal road trip: genius auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s tenth feature in six years is a stylish mash-up of consumerist satire, politics, and comic-book aesthetics, as well as a violent, zigzag tale of, as Godard called them, “the last romantic couple.” With blissful color imagery by cinematographer Raoul Coutard and Belmondo and Karina at their most animated, Pierrot le fou is one of the high points of the French New Wave, and was Godard’s last frolic before he moved ever further into radical cinema.

Cast

Ferdinand Griffon	Jean-Paul Belmondo
Marianne Renoir	Anna Karina
Mrs. Griffon	Graziella Galvani
Fred	Dirk Sanders
Man on pier	Raymond Devos
Gangster	Roger Dutoit
Gangster	Hans Meyer

Credits

Screenplay	Jean-Luc Godard
Producer	Georges de Beauregard
Director	Jean-Luc Godard
Cinematography	Raoul Coutard

Disc Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by cinematographer Raoul Coutard (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
New video interview with actor Anna Karina
A “Pierrot” Primer, a new video program with audio commentary by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin
Godard, l’amour, la poésie, a fifty-minute French documentary about director Jean-Luc Godard and his work and marriage with Karina
Archival interview excerpts with Godard, Karina, and actor Jean-Paul Belmondo
Theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Richard Brody, a 1969 review by Andrew Sarris, and a 1965 interview with Godard

From the Current

Belmondo in L.A.

Jan 14, 2010

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has bestowed its annual career achievement award on French New Wave icon Jean-Paul Belmondo. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 16, and, according to Leonard Klady, awards committee member and Screen International journalist, Belmondo...