Masculin, Feminin details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | jean-Pierre Leaud, Chantal Goya, Marlene Jobert |
| Director: | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Genres: | Drama - Mystery, Thriller, War, World Cinema - French |
| Studio: | ELEVATION |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Masculin, Feminin |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 40 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 14 Mar 2005 |
| Main languages: | French |
| Subtitles: | English |
Write your own review
Most helpful review
When Godard ran out of ideas...
By Tim Branney from England , 29 Jul 2007[Highly rated reviewer]
This seems to be the film that divides the Godard oeuvre between pre and post-Maoist ideology. As such, it's a mess. I found it hard to stomach the casual misogyny, the adolescent political posturing and the lack of wit and warmth that characterizes his earliest and best films.
Why are the women in Godard's films always so passive, without thoughts, feelings and opinions of their own? Despite its title the film has a completely masculine structure, with the female characters orbiting around the desires and needs of the men. They are reduced down to body parts or emotional punchbags passively receiving, absorbing, never resisting.
Watching 'Masculin Féminin' I found myself giving thanks to the same generation of feminists who came along and kicked the asses of these chauvinistic 'revolutionaries' who, while busy out on the streets standing up for the 'working man', (sic) also expected their little women to be at home making dinner and warming up the bed for later.
'Masculin Féminin' abandons the playful exuberance of Godard's earlier films and ushers in the formless, inauthentic, radical chic that typifies most of his latter output. For me, 'Masculin Féminin' lacks any sense of critique: the Vietnam War is just an excuse to graffiti; American Imperialism becomes a catchphrase flashed up on the screen like some MTV blipvert; the question of the individual and the mass political act is reduced to two post-adolescants leering at a woman in a launderette. Ghastly.
This is a disappointing film on all fronts. It’s superficial and unlikeable both in its execution and in its characterisation. The thrilling technique and cinematic literacy so evident in Godard's earliest films is not furthered in any way and what results is no more than a politically facile rehash of all his stock tropes, all of which are seen to much better effect in the likes of 'A Bout De Souffle, 'Bande A Part' & 'Une Femme Est Une Femme'.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (11) Yes |
- No (1)
All reviews
(6)Jean-Luc who?
By DJCampbell (13 reviews) , 19 Jul 2011Godard's whole genre is now passe: locking himself away in a garage in Switzerland has not really produced the right results in recent years either. This film is typical of much of his work, and is transitional. It is not up to much even compared to his usual offerings.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Nothing Godard hasn't done before
By brokenking (255 reviews) from Bristol , 27 Oct 2010Let me just qualify that title. The various themes covered in this film are largely the same as most other Godard flicks, the only difference is the delivery of a few of the messages. If you can accept and appreciate that then this might be a good film for you to watch, otherwise don't bother till you're in the right frame of mind.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Don't watch for the plot
By a customer from Ely , 26 Aug 2009This is a fascinating snapshot of mid-60s France, full of chain-smoking student revolutionaries and their gorgeous girlfriends. A time when the Vietnam War and Marxism were competing for the attention of the young against pop music and fashion. In Goddard's France the 60s soured far earlier than it did in the rest of the world.
Though much of this is very watchable, there's little plot to get the viewer through Goddard's increasing interest in experimentation with the art of film. Sound drops in and out, captions appear with little relevance to the action, there's a lengthy interview with a magazine's Miss 19 that has no plot significance. Despite brief appearances from stars Brigitte Bardot and Françoise Hardy, the film feels very low budget and much of the action happens off-screen which may be part of Goddard's experimentation but actually feels cheap.
Essential viewing if you're into Art Films, probably not if you're a more mainstream sort of person.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
When Godard ran out of ideas...
By Tim Branney from England , 29 Jul 2007[Highly rated reviewer]
This seems to be the film that divides the Godard oeuvre between pre and post-Maoist ideology. As such, it's a mess. I found it hard to stomach the casual misogyny, the adolescent political posturing and the lack of wit and warmth that characterizes his earliest and best films.
Why are the women in Godard's films always so passive, without thoughts, feelings and opinions of their own? Despite its title the film has a completely masculine structure, with the female characters orbiting around the desires and needs of the men. They are reduced down to body parts or emotional punchbags passively receiving, absorbing, never resisting.
Watching 'Masculin Féminin' I found myself giving thanks to the same generation of feminists who came along and kicked the asses of these chauvinistic 'revolutionaries' who, while busy out on the streets standing up for the 'working man', (sic) also expected their little women to be at home making dinner and warming up the bed for later.
'Masculin Féminin' abandons the playful exuberance of Godard's earlier films and ushers in the formless, inauthentic, radical chic that typifies most of his latter output. For me, 'Masculin Féminin' lacks any sense of critique: the Vietnam War is just an excuse to graffiti; American Imperialism becomes a catchphrase flashed up on the screen like some MTV blipvert; the question of the individual and the mass political act is reduced to two post-adolescants leering at a woman in a launderette. Ghastly.
This is a disappointing film on all fronts. It’s superficial and unlikeable both in its execution and in its characterisation. The thrilling technique and cinematic literacy so evident in Godard's earliest films is not furthered in any way and what results is no more than a politically facile rehash of all his stock tropes, all of which are seen to much better effect in the likes of 'A Bout De Souffle, 'Bande A Part' & 'Une Femme Est Une Femme'.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (11) Yes |
- No (1)
Love it / hate it
By a customer from London , 22 Jun 2005An excellent film reflecting the French New Wave style of the mid 60's. Changes the objective of film making from simple story telling to more of a reflection of everyday life. Follows the juxtaposition of a guy just out of national service, who is becoming a left wing activist, and his on-off girlfriend who is moving from working on a fashion magazine to becoming a pop singer.
This film moves between moments of beautiful poinacy to what now appears as hilarious self parody, but which at the time was a breath of fresh air compared the formulated films of the era.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (1) Yes |
- No (1)
