Two Or Three Things I Know About Her Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

2 or 3 things I know about Paris

Yes, the city and its growth is the main focus of the film. Godard has said that the film is supposed to be about the transformation of Paris into a megalopolis: 'my film is an attempt at the description of a phenomenon known in maths and sociology as a complex. I tried to link the manner in which this woman (Julliette Janson) arranges her life with the way in which the government is arranging the Paris region.' It is also a political film, a film of ideas and a film about the objective world and its relation to our subjective experience. There is a whispered voice-over commentary from Godard full of dense, thoughtful comment which is impossible to take in on a single viewing. The film follows the character of Juliette Janson as she works as a prostitute to support the lifestyle of herself and her family. Godard has prepard a critique of the modern city and the dehumanising life that so many experience. It's a heady mixture of consummerism, loveless sex, violent war, americanisation and the fleeting nature of human life in a changing world. The word 'globalisation' is never mentioned but it the evils associated with the unregulated spread of powerful institutions suppressing individualism that lies at the heart of this film. It may have been made in 1966 but its relevance has not become dated. A difficult film then and one full of compelling images (from Raoul Coutard) and thought provoking text and sub-text. It may take you to the conclusion that film is not the ideal medium for presenting these ideas, but if the effort is made this is a rewarding film that reveals itself over several viewings.

Looks good, sounds confusing

This is the kind of film which requires the viewer to read a review or article before plunging in, because without it, they'll be left swimming. At its simplest level, it's about a woman who is in prostitution to pay for the lifestyle she's become accustomed to. The wider story is the place Paris had become, so that she would have to do that.

The problem is that its only in rare moments that the dialogue makes any sense. Characters turn to the camera and say something sporadically meaningful before shunting off. There isn't anything wrong with that from an avant guard standpoint, but it does have the effect of confusing whatever issues Godard is talking about.

It is worth seeing for the photography however, which takes in the banality of the 60s Parisian suburbs and the fashions. There is a fascinating shot which makes the bubbles on the top of a black coffee look like stars and galaxies. But its a shame that the rest of the film is so incoherent.