The film illustrates Godard’s flair for originality and desire to re-direct cinema down new avenues, almost from the very first scene.  The film is essentially a monologue, which in itself was a major innovation at the time.  Those who are familiar with the bedroom scene from Godard’s subsequent tour-de-force, A bout de souffle, will see that scene in prototype form in this film.  The intelligent, wandering dialogue, flirting between the existentialist and the mundane is an equally important component of both films.

The most striking parallel with A bout de souffle is the presence of a young Jean-Paul Belmondo as the lead character.  Belmondo had previously appeared in half a dozen or so films, in minor roles, but it is clear he was destined for greater things.  Today he is recognised as one of the most popular of French film actors. 

It is interesting to note that Belmondo was unable to provide his voice for the film’s dubbing.  Shortly after the film was shot (on a very modest budget in a small hotel room), he was rounded up by the French army and forced to serve out his term as a paid up soldier.  (A few years earlier, Belmondo had joined the army, but had been invalided out on a pension after sustaining an injury.)  With his star posted in Algeria, Godard dubbed Belmondo’s dialogue with his own voice.  Unfortunately, this would later rebound on Belmondo.  Having seen Charlotte et son jules, director Jacques Becker decided against casting the actor in his film Le Trou because of his awful voice, little realising that that awful voice actually belonged to Jean-Luc Godard.

© James Travers 2000

For more on Jean-Luc Godard see:
The life of Jean-Luc Godard
Best of the French New Wave
A bout de souffle
Vivre sa vie
Alphaville
Masculin, féminin
Le Mépris
Pierrot le fou
Eloge de l'amour