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Pierrot le fou from Criterion in February

21 November 2007

Pierrot le fou was not the first Jean-Luc Godard film I saw, but was the one that convinced me that this was a director whose work I needed to see more of. I actually can't remember what Godard film I saw first, but it was one of the more political ones involving speeches and pacing about and addresses to camera, and I was at an age where this sort of thing really didn't work for me. I'm not sure it does now. But Pierrot le fou was something no-one had thought to share with me about Godard's films - it was fun. Anarchic in every sense of the word and with an ending I could not get out of my head, it was to remain one of my favourites from that particular director's canon. I'll had over to the press release to fill in the details for newcomers.

Dissatisfied in marriage and life, Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes to the road with his children's babysitter and 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 colour imagery by cinematographer Raoul Coutard and Belmondo and Karina at their most animated, Pierrot le fou remains one of the high points of the French new wave, and one last frolic before Godard moved ever further into radical cinema.

Pierrot le fou cover

Pierrot le fou has been announced for a February 2008 release by the lovely Criterion people, with the following confirmed features:

  • New, restored high-definition 2.35:1 anamorphic digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Raoul Coutard;
  • 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 Godard and his collaborative life and films with Anna Karina;
  • Archival interview excerpts with director Jean-Luc Godard, actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Anna Karina;
  • Theatrical trailer;
  • New and improved English subtitle translation;
  • A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Richard Brody, an review by Andrew Sarris, and an interview with Godard.

Pierrot le fou will be released by Criterion on US DVD in February 2008 (exact date to be confirmed) at the SRP of $39.95.