Capo
Administrator
Posts: 7,847
|
Post by Capo on Jul 23, 2007 0:33:30 GMT
La Chinoise The Chinese Jean-Luc Godard 1967 France A group of Parisian students discuss Art, Marxism-Leninism, and play with the idea of a Maoist revolt. Obscure, often inaccessible work, furiously political but fascinating all the same, because Godard never neglects his art. Engrossing, extended lectures substitute plot, with the director, as ever, constantly making apparent the artificiality of his medium: while conversations take place between his young students, he cuts to shots of clapper boards from the beginning of the actual take. And there's a moment a la Le mépris' opening credits, early on, when Jean-Pierre Léaud talks to someone off camera, as if in an interview; the questions are hardly audible, and not subtitled, so his answers form an extended monologue. The theatrical barriers of the scene are destroyed when he mentions the camera and crew in front of him - and we cut to a reverse shot of the camera filming Léaud...or, with recurring questions throughout regarding the reflection of reality, is it filming us?
|
|