
Such differences between the two seem appropriate given Godard's style of casually striking up a romance out of the blue between two disparate strangers. In this instance it begins with a man in a cafe, randomly conversing with a woman of whom he has noticed there before. Moreover it is not long before the relationship evolves almost without any real substance, in that Godard seems to skip the whole "getting to know you Bulls**t" and jumps straight into the ferocious candor that is the true test of any relationship. In an early scene, Paul is trying to connect with Madeleine and express his awareness of the deeper levels of tenderness and the importance of love as necessary to human survival; however she is slippery, questioning his motives, whilst touching up her looks and flippantly teasing him when he gets to serious. Later in the film Paul proposes to Madeleine and shortly afterwards the shot cuts to him angrily throwing a magazine at her that she was reading, eliciting nothing but a burst of laughter, furthermore showing how girlish fantasies of fame and fortune are too important to her to give any consideration to a genuine love that Paul is offering.

Despite Paul's romantic nature there is still an element of chauvinism and testosterone running through his blood, which spurts out when he is with his politically, militant like-minded pal Robert. When women walk by they whistle, make vulgar comments and rate their breasts. Unlike Paul though, Robert is unwilling to succumb to the superficial interests of women in money over love. Robert is a more pragmatic character who cannot accept the apathy of the females when it comes to matters of government regimes and conspiracies. An example of such apathy prevails when Paul interviews a "Miss.19" model for a teenage magazine and discovers that she idolizes the American way of life for its exciting, fast paced lifestyle and its liberal treatment of women. The irony here being that at the time the American government were responsible for a gross violation of freedom given their involvement in Vietnam. Though to no surprise, when he asks her if she is aware of any wars that are going on she replies that she is not. It has been said that this scene, as well as the other interview style scenes, was shot off-the-cuff, giving to it the authentic, hesitant and unsure responses.
Ultimately Paul and Madeleine are two French youths trying to carve out an identity that reflects the political and cultural developments of the time. It is a battle of the sexes between the masculine attempts at heroism, rebellion and dominance versus the feminine desire to be part of the American Hollywood glamour scene of riches and fame. Both sexes however seem to share the same obstinate and impulsive egoism.
At one point during the film an inter-title states that the film could have been called "The children of Marx and Coca-Cola" It would seem that Godard is again creating a distinction between the masculine socialist revolutionaries who are concerned with matters that have crucial humanitarian implications and the feminine culture junkie whose "I want it now" attitude and adoration of America has materialized in the form of a product that would be the benchmark for all other endorsements to follow. Amusingly, when Madeleine is asked if she is part of the Pepsi-Cola generation by a reporter she responds, “I love Pepsi-Cola!"
It would be unfair however to conclude that Paul and the male gender that he represents are the noble, objective leaders of tomorrow, as he is just as guilty of being unable to see the world from anything but an arbitrary perspective as the females are. His cross-section of questions from politics to sexuality aimed at deciphering the collective unconscious led him to a similar conclusion as that of Bruno Forestier in "Le Petit Soldat", that each man must come to his own decision when trying to develop a moral centre and, not rely on native concepts that are more concerned with nationalistic pride which only aims to gain territory rather than promote utilitarian change.
No comments:
Post a Comment