“One of the first Brechtian
commandments is that the audience should never forget it is at the theatre" – Bernard Dort, "Towards a Brechtian Criticism of Cinema” (p. 237)
Pierrot le Fou is littered with
reminders that the audience is watching a film. Employing such Brechtian
technique abruptly ends any attempt on the part of the audience to live inside
of the fantasy in the film: to project themselves on to the protagonist as
he/she kills the bad guy or woos the maiden. Below are a few examples
from Pierrot le Fou.
Exhibit A: As we view footage of Ferdinand and
Marianne racing through the south of France, Godard abruptly inserts a shot of
the word cinema flashing in neon
lights. A subtle nudge one is viewing a film.
Exhibit B: Ferdinand and Marianne are driving
through the countryside when Ferdinand “breaks the fourth wall” and speaks
directly to camera. When Marianne asks, “who are you talking to?” Ferdinand
replies, “the audience.”
Godard is clear: this film is not the
place for you to live out your fantasies.
Brecht used this technique to push the
audience away; to give them a critical distance from the play which would allow
them to rationally assess the content. Godard doesn’t seem to employ this method for the same
purpose, instead he uses it to ask us to reconsider film as a type of music or
language. As we witness one absurd aside after
another, expectations of a cohesive story disintegrate. The beginning of the
film has little to nothing to do with the end. The movie moves along a road and
each scene is a town that will be driven through but not returned to. Godard asks us to reconsider film as a
kind of music – no plot just ideas. Strung together one after the other. No story just language. No movie just
cinema.
Mike O'Malley
No comments:
Post a Comment