Masculine Feminin

1782. MASCULINE FEMININ (1966-France, Switzerland). With JEAN-PIERRE LEAUD, BRIGITTE BARDOT. Written and directed by JEAN-LUC GODARD. Suggested from a story by GUY DE MAUPASSANT. Jean-Luc Godard is one of the enduring grants of the French New Wave, which in the 1960s revolutionized the style and content of movies. Here is one of his masterworks of the decade, a revealing, highly personal film that is crammed with ideas, irony, and eye-popping imagery. Jean- Pierre Leaud (best-known for his starring performances for fellow New Wave filmmaker Francois Truffaut) stars as Paul, a 21-year-old Frenchman who has just completed military service. Paul is a product of a post World War II society in which feelings have been numbed by the insanities of televiÂsion and advertising, where political idealism (as espoused by those with little life experience) has nothing to do with practical reality. The scenario details Paul’s involvement in radical politics, and the manner in which pop culture has impacted on his life. Along the way, he becomes enamored of Madeline, a pen, aspiring rock singer. In this regard, the film becomes a revealing examination of the politics of sex, of how men and women talk to each other. Pauline Kael has called this film “graceful, intuitive,- while Leonard Maltin has described it as an “engaging, original concoction.- This is the film which contains the classic description of Paul and the rest of his generation as the “children of Marx and Coca Cola.Ó In French with English subtitles. 103 minutes. Drama