The French 'Nouvelle Vogue' is an area of cinema that I haven't seen much of, but what I have seen is good; and this film is very good! Jean-Luc Godard, creator of the quintessential New Wave film, 'Breathless' directs and once again shows that if a film has style and energy, plot and characters can take a backseat without too many problems. Band of Outsiders is muddled and doesn't seem to know exactly what it wants to do; but it doesn't matter, because the life that Godard injects into it more than makes up for it's lack of direction and even though many of the scenes have nothing to do with the actual plot; the film manages to work, and work very well. The plot is amazingly simple, and it follows a group of three friends that decide to steal some money from the female group member's landlord. In fact, this plot is so simple that it's really hard to even consider this film a 'crime film'. The crime at the centre of the plot is so petty that it feels wrong to put this in the same genre section as films such as 'Rififi' and 'The Asphalt Jungle'; but then again, that's Godard's intention with this film.
Band of Outsiders continually mocks convention, and scenes such as the impromptu dance in a cafeteria (Pulp Fiction, anyone?) show that Godard just wants to break convention, even if it comes at the expense of the plot. Despite being a well-renowned classic; this film is also very hard to like. At about the half hour point, I was convinced that I didn't like this film; but once Godard really let's the plot run away with itself, the film really opens up and just one cafeteria dance scene turned this film from a dead loss into a brilliantly vivacious piece for yours truly. Godard doesn't spend much time building or developing his characters; but they really don't need any development. The characters are what they are, and the brilliance in that respect comes from the way that Godard allows them to freely express themselves, without having the barriers of the plot to confine them. Really, this film shouldn't work. It forsakes all the proved elements that do make films work, yet it's chiselled out it's own niche. Godard is either a madman or a genius, but irrespective of that; echoes of this film can be seen throughout cinema, and therefore it's impossible to rank Band of Outsiders as anything but one of the most important films ever made.
Band of Outsiders continually mocks convention, and scenes such as the impromptu dance in a cafeteria (Pulp Fiction, anyone?) show that Godard just wants to break convention, even if it comes at the expense of the plot. Despite being a well-renowned classic; this film is also very hard to like. At about the half hour point, I was convinced that I didn't like this film; but once Godard really let's the plot run away with itself, the film really opens up and just one cafeteria dance scene turned this film from a dead loss into a brilliantly vivacious piece for yours truly. Godard doesn't spend much time building or developing his characters; but they really don't need any development. The characters are what they are, and the brilliance in that respect comes from the way that Godard allows them to freely express themselves, without having the barriers of the plot to confine them. Really, this film shouldn't work. It forsakes all the proved elements that do make films work, yet it's chiselled out it's own niche. Godard is either a madman or a genius, but irrespective of that; echoes of this film can be seen throughout cinema, and therefore it's impossible to rank Band of Outsiders as anything but one of the most important films ever made.