Godard plays with cinema. With form and with story and with characters. He has a way of lulling you into a sense of normality only to strike you down with the absurd. He does that several times in Masucline Feminine, every time somebody erupts into violence suddenly, as if it were the only response to the chaos of the modern world. But actually, most of this film rests on the interactions of characters and a study of their reactions. Love this passage from an Ebert review:
This sort of thing isn’t terribly fascinating while it’s happening. But Godard works with a bright style and a sense of humor and his pictures leave a cumulative impression. We understand something — we can’t say exactly what — about Godard’s young people after seeing this film. We know them, although not very well. They have communicated to us, but not very coherently.
- the intellectual insecure around the working class, I’m sure Godard relate
- I like the way it lingers in reaction shots
- Set against the 1965 election
- The modern man is angry and confused with only violence as an outlet
