Bande à part
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the French-Canadian independent music radio station with the same name, see Bande à part (radio)
| Bande à part | |
|---|---|
 Bande à part poster |
|
| Directed by | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Written by | Dolores Hitchens (novel Fools' Gold) Jean-Luc Godard |
| Starring | Anna Karina Danièle Girard Louisa Colpeyn |
| Music by | Michel Legrand |
| Release date(s) | August 5, 1964 (France) |
| Running time | 97 min |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $120,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
Bande à part is a 1964 comedy-drama film with film noir elements, directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It is released as Band of Outsiders in North America; its French title derives from the phrase faire bande à part, which means "to do something apart from the group."
The film is an adaptation of the novel Fools' Gold (Doubleday Crime Club, 1958) by American author Dolores Hitchens (1907-1973). The film belongs to the French New Wave movement. Godard described it as "Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka". [1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Odile (Anna Karina) meets would-be criminals Arthur (Claude Brasseur) and Franz (Sami Frey) in an English language class and the two men persuade Odile to assist them in staging a robbery.
[edit] Famous scenes
- In one scene, Arthur, Franz, and Odile are in a crowded café and decide to observe a minute of silence; as they do so the film's soundtrack is plunged into complete silence (which actually lasts only 36 seconds).
- Shortly after, Odile and Arthur decide to dance; to decide which dance they will do, they use their fingers to indicate the steps on the table in front of them, and Odile's steps are preferred. Franz joins them as they leave their seats, and they perform a dance routine. The music is R&B or soul music composed for the film by Michel Legrand, but Anna Karina said the actors called it "the Madison dance." [2] This scene inspired the dance of Uma Thurman and John Travolta in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. [3] It also influenced a scene in Hal Hartley's Simple Men. [4]
- In one scene, the characters attempt to break the world record for running through the Louvre, and the narration informs that their time was nine minutes and 43 seconds. That scene is referenced in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers (2003), in which its characters break the record set in Bande à part.
[edit] Status
Bande à part is often considered one of Godard's most accessible films; Amy Taubin of the Village Voice called it "a Godard film for people who don't much care for Godard". [5] Today, it is regarded as one of his finest efforts; for example, in 2005, it was the only Godard film selected for Time Magazine's All Time Top 100 list.
[edit] Namesakes
- A Band Apart, Quentin Tarantino's film production company, named after the film.
- Bande à Part, the second album by French bossa nova group Nouvelle Vague.
[edit] Reference
- ^ Archer, Eugene. "Film Festival: New Wave at Its Crest," The New York Times, September 19, 1964
- ^ Karina, Anna. Interview on the Criterion Collection edition of the film.
- ^ Channel 4: British Film Institute: Bande à Part "A-Z Guide"
- ^ Hernandez, Eugene. "Godard's Outsiders Back in 35mm," indieWIRE, June 6, 2001.
- ^ Taubin, Amy. "Prime Movers," Village Voice, August 15, 2001.
