Watch Godard IV: Soldiers

Winston 2022-07-04 19:06:45


In 1959, "Four Hundred Blows" won the best director at Cannes, and this kind of worldwide affirmation obviously made the directors of the new wave more relaxed. Godard's work "Little Soldier" in 1963 was banned because it involved the Algerian war. From all aspects, "Little Soldier" is Godard's best and mature film, but as an underground film, it obviously failed to be like the same. "A Woman is a Woman" produced in 1963 is as famous. "Little Soldier" was filmed only 3 years after "Exhausted", but Godard has fully learned from "Exhausted" in all aspects, showing a genius-like maturity and control.
1. "Intellectual Movies"
"Little Soldiers" still has the "Breakout"-like detective story structure, but I think Godard has detached himself from the storyline, which is what burnt him out in "Breakout." "Little Soldiers" exposes the scars of the Algerian war, one of the most painful political events for French intellectuals. But Godard's shrewdness is that he focuses on the instability of individuals in the entire political event, and examines the entire event from an upward perspective (an inverted bird's-eye view). Bruno is more the incarnation of Godard's personal political ideas. The focus on political individuals and the small characters of the times is Godard's theme, and it is also Godard's most abundant source of narrative enthusiasm in the entire film except for anarchism. That kind of compassion and care is still awe-inspiring.
2. "Anarchism"
Godard talks about politics in "Little Soldiers". He is unambiguous and has a clear stand. Through Bruno's mouth, Godard fully and thoroughly explained his anarchist philosophy with two bedroom scenes. . Although Godard's deconstruction of the binary opposition of "left" and "right" is not new today, it also shows an anarchist position.
3. "Existentialism"
Bruno has a sense of powerlessness and dizziness from beginning to end. He tries to find the active individual in passive political events. Disgust and rejection have always been another focus of Godard's interpretation in this film. We can see that in Godard's understanding of personal value, Sartre's existential philosophy is deeply permeated.
4. "Violence to Aesthetics conversion"
When I watched the scene of Bruno being tortured, I smiled knowingly. It was in 1963, and Godard had already invented the violent aesthetics that would be advertised in the future. The torturers did not want to leave torture marks on Bruno, so the whole torture process was more like an aesthetic game, they tried various methods, burning their palms with lighters, drowning their heads in a bathtub, wrapping their heads with clothes Then hit the head with the shower head to make it impossible to breathe and shock the feet... Godard's darker humor is to arrange a female secretary to read "leftist" readings, among which we can see our great Chairman Mao's "Spark of Fire" , can start a prairie fire".

"Little Soldiers" is an important attempt by Godard to make his ideal film in all respects. I think the reading value is far higher than "Exhausted". Since I have no research on the Algerian war, many details in the film are confused. , but I think it's one of Godard's most important films to read anyway.

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Extended Reading

Le Petit Soldat quotes

  • Bruno Forestier: I think actors are stupid. I despise them. Tell them to laugh and they laugh. Tell them to cry, they cry. Tell them to crawl, they do it. To me, that's grotesque.

    Veronica Dreyer: I don't see why.

    Bruno Forestier: I don't know. They're not free.

  • Bruno Forestier: What's important isn't how others see you, but how you see yourself.