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Godard's WEEKEND -- Noir, si, by far.
The celebrated "student riots" of Paris had yet to occur when Godard crafted this enigmatic work, which remains surprisingly current and still slightly ahead of its time. With its bizarre humor, Saturnalian subplots, it shares something with lighter films such as THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN or another Peter Sellers vehicle, THE PARTY. These works were among the most wickedly funny films ever made. They seem to explode with madness, turning the art of cinematic storytelling upside down with outrageous behavior, revolutionary attitudes and sheer irreverance, not to mention the epic scale of explosive sequences and slapstick.
WEEKEND is a work of the kind of "instant" maturity that seemed to come to a great many artists of all kinds very suddenly in the late 60s. Some might say LSD and "expanded consciousness" had something to do with it. Certainly, as the encounters of the somewhat callous main characters become stranger and stranger ... well, one is tempted to say that the wasteland they travel in is located in a dimension known best to those who have tasted from the bitterest cup.
One could think of the entire film as a journey into the darkest corridors of the mind ... which is certainly "noir." The Party and THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN could be seen as adventures into twisted corridors, as well, all though there seems to be nothing dark about them ... even though there "should" be.
Should is a peculiar word. What does it mean, after all? In this case, we're talking about another peculiar word that is sometimes uttered by the most anal retentive among us: "Appropriate."
In the case of The Magic Christian, (click title to get a copy) it means a look at serious mental illness -- without spelling it out -- in a most refreshing way. Which is what all that LSD use was about -- which is sort of how a film like this could happen. The film's plot centers on a driven British business magnate whose ambition and relentless pursuit of wealth has taken him to the top in a variety of enterprises. This archetypal character suffers a severe manic-depressive breakdown. What's wonderful about the screenplay is that the film doesn't announce this ... you just sort of figure out the premise based on what happens through the course of the film, which also gives Sellers a chance to act.
Sellers' character -- whose name is Guy Grand -- and isn't that a clue? -- proceeds to use his money to turn the world upside. Finding a partner in a homeless young man who, no doubt, suffers from the same affliction (which something like .05 of the population does), Guy Grand proceeds to use somewhat maniacal pranks to attack various facets of the British establishment. From art auctions to dog shows, from the street vendor to the parking constable to high society, nothing sacred and no one goes unscathed. Vanity, greed, snobbery and sheer wrongheadedness are all turned against themselves with the help of this fool and his money, as the Paul McCartney penned theme goes. The film is literally Peter Sellers meets Monty Python -- though young John Cleese and the late Graham Chapman are hardly a match in their bit roles. All three had a hand in writing the screenplay from the Terry Southern novel. Sellers' gifted ear for mimicry, his ability to project utter nonchalance and the stonefaced manner in which he can pull off a gag, or look at ordinary things as if they are matched with the ideal role. It's surprising to think that a great many Monty Python fans have never seen The Magic Christian, and how many young people who've looked to the 60s for direction without it. For everything Guy Grand does is a turn-on, tune-in and dropout attack on the establishment -- the spirit of Dickens is here -- and thrived in the decade. One thinks of the Mary Poppins charge who doesn't want to deposit his money in the bank? Guy Grand became that little fellow as an adult. Inappropriate? I suppose so. The 60s, however, were about resurrecting the human spirit. It usually can be found in kids, or adults who learn to become them once again. How much funnier is this film than the Robin Williams flick, Toys, though, which is similar and theme, but bravely out of context in the 60s-turned-upside-down 90s.
THE PARTY may be even funnier. Decidedly slapstick, it's still Peter Sellers using irony to poke fun at human folly. Again, it is a film which explodes in catastrophe.
Sellers portrays Hyrundi V. Bakshi, a very bad actor who stumbles onto good things as he stumbles through chaos. He is inadvertently invited to an important occasion -- the party. The results are hilarious. They are sight gags brought into epic proportion -- as in The Magic Christian.
Sellers, by the way, did perform with stars of Godard's "Breathless" Jean-Paul Belmondo (in Casino Royale, 1967) and Jean Seberg (in The Mouse That Roared, 1959).
There are some great Peter Sellers sites out there. Here are some links:
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Weekend has that same explosiveness in its humor as do these comedies, though it is not a comedy. What it takes from film noir -- which Godard often comments on in his films, such as Breathless -- is a curious detachment and callousness.
The film violence is absurd. The long sequence -- a pan shot -- of a highway leading out of the city -- could be the cars streaming out of Detroit for getaways in the north this summer, as well as in the 1960s: The traffic is slowed around crashes, the bodies strewn insensibly around the wreckage. All manner of activity is taking place around the stalled traffic, which goes on forever. Godard, with his panning shot, seems to make no comment.
As the actions of the characters becomes increasingly disturbed, we are drawn into a game of death: What will happen next? Will these characters survive? Will they stay together, in spite of their loathing for each other? We try to second guess the auteur, but no victory is possible.
The film seems to anticipate the sweeping change -- revolution, rebellion, dropping out, turning on -- that would explode in 1968. A whole generation would react against war, against restraints on personal liberty, against the so-called fabric of society. This film was very timely and it remains so.
French film and American film noir links:
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