CrimeDramaComedy

Band of Outsiders

- A Who-Dunit, Who's Got-It, Where-Is-It-Now Wild One From That "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard!

Cinephile slackers Franz and Arthur spend their days mimicking the antiheroes of Hollywood noirs and Westerns while pursuing the lovely Odile. The misfit trio upends convention at every turn, be it through choreographed dances in cafés or frolicsome romps through the Louvre. Eventually, their romantic view of outlaws pushes them to plan their own heist, but their inexperience may send them out in a blaze of glory -- which could be just what they want.

Release Date : 1964-08-05

Language :FrenchEnglish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Orsay FilmsAnouchka Films

Production Country : France

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Odile

Original Name : Anna Karina

Gender : Female

Character Name : Arthur

Original Name : Claude Brasseur

Gender : Male

Character Name : Franz

Original Name : Sami Frey

Gender : Male

Character Name : English Teacher

Original Name : Danièle Girard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Madame Victoria

Original Name : Louisa Colpeyn

Gender : Female

Character Name : Arthur's Aunt

Original Name : Chantal Darget

Gender : Female

Character Name : Legionary

Original Name : Georges Staquet

Gender : Male

Character Name : Arthur's Uncle

Original Name : Ernest Menzer

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Alcoholic Student

Original Name : Jean-Claude Rémoleux

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Doorman

Original Name : Michel Delahaye

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Louis Jojot

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pupil

Original Name : Claude Makovski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Student in English Class

Original Name : Michèle Seghers

Gender : Female

Character Name : Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Original Name : Jean-Luc Godard

Gender : Male

Reviews

CRCulver

@CRCulver

2021-06-23

Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 film Bandè a part (sometimes titled "Band of Outsiders") is an adaptation of a American crime novel that transcends its pulp origins through Godard's cinematic invention. The young lady Odile (Anna Karina), who isn't very bright, meets lowlife Franz (Sami Frey) in an English course and makes the mistake of telling him that the home in which she lives with her aunt holds a large amount of cash. Franz and fellow criminal Arthur (Claude Brasseur) plan a heist while at the same time vying for Odile's love, or at least her body. As is common in the French New Wave, the auteur only uses a crime caper as a skeleton for his own storytelling. A narrator (Godard himself) occasionally reads descriptive passages from the original novel, which are horribly purple prose, as if Godard is poking fun at his own source of inspiration. Bandè a part has occasionally been treated as a departure from this director's work, as "Godard for people who don't like Godard". However, anyone who has seen Godard's films to date will immediately recognize elements typical of his work at the time. For example, someone reads aloud a classic work of literature, this time an English teacher in a parody of modern language-learning methods. There is leftist social commentary, as the two criminals kill time by reading aloud tragic passages from Parisian newspapers. There is also dancing, as in the film's most famous scene Odile, Franz and Arthur interrupt their plotting for an amusing line dance in a café, over which the narrator tells us their unspoken thoughts. And then there is Godard's many references to the film canon. Bandè a part is deeply imbued with the spirit of American noir films, which fits with the crime caper plot, but it also nods to classic slapstick and romance, which gives it a levity and charm I wouldn't have expected from a film with these particular characters. Bandè a part may not be among the most awesome masterpieces of cinema, but it is memorable and funny, and very much worth seeing for fans of mid-century French films.