Oliver Matheson’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Hey kid, how would you like to own a car like this?”
“Sure!”
“Well you never will”
I feel like a broken record because there is only so many times I can say “style over substance” when talking about Godard. Once again he takes the tropes and styles of American film and Gordard-izes them, but as much as I appreciate the effort and enjoy the fact that Godard loves movies so much, that only gets you so far. It shouldn’t be a surprise that this film didn’t have a script, quickly becoming aimless. You do have to admire the energy though, and Pierrot le Fou is very fun when it’s not over indulgent, but it veers into that territory far too often.
The obvious saving grace here is the cinematography and the colors. What colors! Nearly every frame is graced with vibrant colors. I haven’t seen red pop like this since Don’t Look Now, and the shots of the coast are quite marvelous.
Maybe I would have appreciated this more if I hadn’t watched it right after Alphaville because Godard’s idiosyncrasies did not seem as fresh as they might have, but I can’t see myself revisiting this one any time soon.