‘Pierrot le Fou’ screening on Wednesday

The Pakistan National Council of the Arts, The Embassy of France and Alliance Francais join hands to screen French film ‘Pierrot le Fou’ (The Madman) at PNCA Lecture Hall on Wednesday (August 29), at 7 p.m.

Released in 1965, the film is based on novel ‘Obsession’ with a budget of $300,000 and runs for almost two hours.

We first see a wife and her jobless bored husband leading a stagnated life. Come the beautiful baby-sitter and things change forever. Marital life is set aside, romance takes over, and the colours return to dull life. The film later turns into a road movie and we get to travel in a stolen car through the French countryside.

‘Pierrot le Fou’ became one of the highest grossing films from mid-sixties. It was also the official French submission for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Film. The film carries plenty of interest and excitement with dazzling nightclubs, gangsters, thrilling chases, burning and sinking cars carrying loads of cash and finally boyfriends who up till now was a brother. And yes, things do blow up in the end.

It would not be out of context to point out that like few other films of Godard, characters here look right into the camera. The script was completed a day before filming began and much of what we see on screen looks improvised. That is the whole fun of watching Godard. He makes personal films often with explosive ends. Colors and production effects here are the highlights with graceful punches. Betrayal is the basic ingredient of the plot around which characters move and finally end up .

Godard who almost always collaborates on the script, makes films to break and violate all cinema conventions and traditions. His cinema is liberated with improvisation, surrealism, loose ends, chaotic personal obsessions and above all alternative lifestyle.

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