I enjoyed the playfulness, the youthfulness and how entertaining the film came to be, as well as it began to transition to include the more darker undertones. “Band of Outsiders” is just an enjoyable film by Jean-Luc Godard and a worthy addition to the “10 Years of Rialto Pictures” DVD boxset.
Image courtesy of All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Band of Outsiders (Part of the “10 Years of Rialto Pictures”)
DURATION: 95 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, Monaural in French with English Subtitles, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio
COMPANY: Rialto Pictures/The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: 2008
Based on the novel “Fools’ Gold” by Dolores Hitchens
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Music by Michel Legrand
Cinematography by Raoul Coutard
Edited by Francoise Collin, Dahlia Ezove, Agnes Guillemot
Starring:
Anna Karina as Odile
Sami Frey as Franz
Claude Brasseur as Arthur
Daniele Girard as English Teacher
Louisa Colpeyn as Madame Victoria
Chantal Darget as Arthur’s Aunt
Georges Staquet as Le Legionnaire
Ernest Menzer as Arthur’s Uncle
Narration by Jean-Luc Godard
Two restless young men (Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur) enlist the object of their desire (Anna Karina) to help them commit a robbery––in her own home. French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard takes to the streets of Paris to re-imagine the gangster genre, spinning an audacious yarn that’s at once sentimental and insouciant, romantic and melancholy. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the convention-flauting postmodern classic Band of Outsiders.
In 1964, French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard went to work on his latest film “Bande à part” (Band of Outsiders) which was created with a small budget at around $125,000 and unlike his previous film “Contempt” which was in full color, Godard decided to go back to basics by filming in black and white and also to avoid any interjecting of politics in the film and thus many critics have called it Godard’s most accessible film because it s quite different from many of the films he has directed in the 1960’s.
“Band of Outsiders” is a film based on the novel “Fools’ Gold” by American author Dolores Hitchens and a film which Godard describes “Band of Outsiders” as “Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka”. For many critics, they like to call the film a B-Noir in which the film contains noir elements but also other elements of humor and things that you would see from a French New Wave film. When it first came out in theaters in the US, not many people could understand the concept of the film and thus it didn’t do well in the theaters. But now as the film is 46-years-old, publications such as Time Magazine has selected “Band of Outsiders” as part of its “All Time 100 Movies”.
With the 2003 DVD release from The Criterion Collection for “Band of Outsiders”, Rialto Pictures has included the film in their box set “10 Years of Rialto Pictures” out from Rialto and The Criterion Collection. It is important to note that these versions of the film are unlike The Criterion Collection DVD’s in the fact that they do not contain any of the special features but a trailer and Rialto’s theatrical press book.
“Band of Outsiders” revolves around two wannabe criminals Arthur (Claude Brasseur) and Franz (Sami Frey). Franz who attends an English class with a young woman named Odile (Anna Karina) is told by her that a large amount of money is stashed in the villa that she lives at with her Aunt and Mr. Stoltz. Because of this, Franz has told his friend Arthur about it and immediately, Arthur sees this as an opportunity to make some money and knows that in order to make this happen, he must first gain the trust of Odile. So, Franz takes Arthur to meet her at the English class and immediately, Arthur does what he can to make Odile know that he’s interested in her.
Franz has been attracted to Odile for quite some time but because he’s so shy, he never really had the opportunity to get close to her. But Arthur has much more experience with women and immediately, uses his bad boy charm to attract Odile’s affections and thus gets her to ditch her English class and for her to join him for the day in order for him to learn from her about how much more money is inside the villa. With Odile, hooked to Arthur’s words, when she goes home she happens to finds so much money that when she tells Arthur and Franz, immediately the two start planning on how they can steal the money.
But Odile tells them to wait a few days but with Arthur having problems with other people demanding some money immediately from him, he is forced to steal the money sooner than Odile is expecting.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
The good thing about “Band of Outsiders” is that The Criterion Collection has done a newer digital transfer of the film back in 2003. In fact, this high definition digital transfer was supervised by cinematographer Raoul Coutard.
Audio is presented in monaural French with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear and understandable and I am assuming that the audio is the same as the Criterion Collection DVD release and if so, that would mean that the film would have received a new digital mastering as well and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The “Band of Outsiders” version that comes with “10 Years of Rialto Pictures” does not have the special features included in “The Criterion Collection # 174” version. The Rialto Pictures version does come with notes from Rialto’s theatrical press book and Rialto’s theatrical trailer.
“The Band of Outsiders” is a charming and enjoyable film. Is it my favorite Godard film, I would still have to give the title of “My Godard Favorite” to his 1965 film “Pierrot Le Fou” but I will say that “Band of Outsiders” manages to pull me in with its various scenes and its interesting plot. Needless to say that many Godard fans enjoy the film and even prompted Quentin Tarentino to name his production company “A Band Apart” after the French title “Bande à part”.
The title of the film “Band of Outsiders” is about these three individuals who are outsiders. From the two male characters named after Godard’s favorite authors Arthur Rimbaud and Franz Kafka, Arthur is a player and obviously have some experience breaking the law and schmoozing with women, while Franz is the silent type who you can tell is not so comfortable when his friend actually starts to win Odile’s heart. And as for Odile, an innocent girl with not much experience with being around men and she is very much a different person from these two men. When Arthur asks for a kiss with a tongue, her inexperience shows as she sticks out her tongue. But it’s how these three individuals react to each other, you wonder how in the heck can these three people get mixed up together?
But perhaps that was the winning combination that made this film work as the three characters manage to keep you’re eyes glued to the screen. Not knowing what are going to happen to them but knowing that with director Jean-Luc Godard, anything can happen and for the most part, if you submit your 95 minutes to Godard, you’re definitely in for a wild ride. The ending might be a bit bumpy but the actual ride is where you feel satisfaction as you will encounter quite a few surprises, twists and turns and that is how I feel about “Band of Outsiders”.
From Odile (Karina) looking directly to the camera when asking a question, to the moment of silence which almost seems like an eternity but at the same time, you can’t help but be amused by it. From the playfulness of Arthur and Franz play shooting each other and my two favorite scenes, when the three individuals take part in the “Madison dance” and the Louvre scene in which the three try to break the American Jimmy Johnson’s record of how fast they can see all the art inside the Louvre. How fun is that? So, I was quite amused to see that scene but really enjoyed the various scenes that just stick to your memory (a lot of Godard films tend to do that for me).
As for this DVD, “Band of Outsiders” is included in the “10 Years of Rialto Pictures”.  I will say that I will more than likely revisit this review soon as I am now more inclined to purchase the Criterion Collection version (as it includes many special features). As for this DVD, it’s a worthy addition to the collection but I do wonder about the picture used in the DVD main menu and the booklet. They are definitely not photos from “Band of Outsiders”.
Overall, I enjoyed the playfulness, the youthfulness and how entertaining the film came to be, as well as it began to transition to include more darker undertones. But the film is quite entertaining and I had a fun time watching it.  Although there are other films I Godard/Anna Karina films I recommend watching before “Band of Outsiders”, the film is still worth having on your checklist of must-see Godard films.
I will revisit this review when I get the Criterion Collection DVD version in the near future but I can tell your right now, by the film alone, this is one Godard film worth having in your auteur collection!