Masculin Féminin
Composite Score: 84.97
Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Chantal Goya, Marlène Jobert, Michel Debord, Catherine-Isabelle Duport, Evabritt Strandberg, and Birger Malmsten
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Writers: Jean-Luc Godard and Guy de Maupassant
Genres: Drama, Romance
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $200,380 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Masculin Féminin is Jean-Luc Godard’s film about love amongst a group of young Parisians in the 1960s, told through a series of vignettes. The film stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Chantal Goya, Marlène Jobert, Catherine-Isabell Duport, and Michel Debord as the varied group of young adults, each with their own views on life, politics, and love. It follows the romantic leftist Paul (Léaud) as he pursues a romantic relationship with Madeleine (Goya), an up-and-coming yé-yé singer who lives with roommates Elisabeth (Jobert) and Catherine (Duport), both of whom have differing opinions on Paul and on Madeleine’s relationship with him. Paul’s friend Robert (Debord) is an occasional addition to the group, hopelessly stuck on the outside looking in at the complex web of romance, sex, and friendship that weaves between Paul and the trio of women. Godard’s film has been celebrated for its apt social commentary on young adulthood, forward-thinking ideals on romantic entanglements, and haunting blend of wit and tragedy to portray the youth culture of the day.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
I can’t think of many strong arguments against watching Masculin Féminin, but I’ll do my best to come up with something here. I suppose the biggest reason to skip it would be the film’s generally high barrier to entry. It is a French New Wave film from one of that movement’s most prominent filmmakers, meaning that general audiences with little knowledge of the movement’s tendency toward experimentation and open-ended narratives might find the vignette style, random sounds, and unclear ending of the film to be off-putting or even too difficult to get through. I do think, because of its relatively familiar political themes and the overarching romance narrative, that this particular Godard film makes for a fairly easy stepping-in point for someone curious about the movement, but if you just want a straightforward narrative, this might be a film to avoid until you’re more open to the style.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
There’s so much that I love about Masculin Féminin, from its story to its delivery to its commentary to its stylization. The film is an excellent entry in cinematic history from Godard. The romance(s) at its heart make for a compelling and occasionally relatable look at relationships among young adults, showcasing romance, longing, disgust, and even platonic friendship in a way that feels just as authentic today as it did back in the 1960s. The characters, while perhaps slightly overdramatized, still feel like actual human beings talking about things that real young people would talk about. Its often-self-aware bits of wit serve only to elevate that realism, reminiscent of the attempts at levity that we ourselves insert into the heaviness of life to try and alleviate some tension. The film’s undertone of anti-Western sentiment also feels highly modern, engaging the minds of the really active youth but seen as too proactive by most of their peers. By framing the whole thing as a series of episodes in the lives of these young people, Godard is able to take the audience through so much more of their lives than if it all had to be fully connected. It offers the audience the benefit of the doubt, trusting them to fill in the gaps themselves and come to the conclusion that the film is driving toward. The whole thing ends up feeling truly satisfying, if a bit disheartening, by the time it wraps up.
Masculin Féminin is a masterclass from Godard, telling a story, giving social commentary, and engaging the audience all at an incredibly high level, worthy of its position among the greats. The experimental and open-ended style utilized by Godard are going to leave some audiences more confused or frustrated while leaving others fully satisfied and thrilled with the experience. This film can currently be streamed on Max or the Criterion Channel for anyone who would like to give it a shot.
