I enjoy experimentation in film; for instance I thought Breathless was pretty fascinating. But here I found myself yearning for a more traditional narrative. It's a gorgeously shot movie, for sure, which makes the fact that I didn't love it all the more frustrating. Godard seems more interested in talking about movies than actually making one. It's like he has all these theories and ideas and opinions about literature and art and cinema, but he doesn't know how to adequately channel them. Here he outputs his ideas through two characters who seem disinterested in the movie they're in. The plot comes as an after thought, which is fine by me in theory, but here there's nothing much left but vacuous lamentations, quotes from books, and some pretty cinematography. Stuff happens, but there's no cohesion throughout any of it, either narratively or thematically. This is a film that's way less than the sum of its parts.

Pierrot Le Fou contains all the stylistic elements that one loves about Godard’s films even if he/she cannot comprehend or make sense of the dialogue or events taking place. Crazy as it is, you always come out of Godard’s films feeling like you experienced what Alice experiences in Wonderland; A long spiraling loop of beautiful shots and utter brilliance. With a lot of similarities between Pierrot Le Fou and Godard’s other masterpiece The Weekend, I can’t help but prefer Pierrot because of Karina and Belmondo and what they bring out in both their characters.

The cinematography and direction of the film are beautiful along with the obvious color motifs that take over a number of scenes, which are Red, White and Blue. Red like the first car they drive in the film, White is always in the background or is the color of the walls and Blue like when Belmondo paints his face at the end of the film. Pierrot Le Fou can only be appreciated by those who appreciate beauty because everything about it from colors to dialogue is marvelous with the element of mystique. The best way to watch Pierrot Le Fou is not to try to make sense of it.

Dynamite doesn't produce fire