While examining film, it is sometimes beneficial to focus
on one particular defining moment in order to gain a greater understanding of
the rest of the film, as well as the concept of film in general. The moment
that I would like to examine closely occurs while Paul, Madeline, Elizabeth,
and Catherine are all at the movies. Upon looking at this scene there are multiple
elements and techniques that stand out as unique and purposeful.
First, it’s important to take note of this “film within
the film.” This deliberate cinematic inclusion is, in fact, a parody of Ingmar
Bergman’s “The Silence.” It seems wonderfully suitable that Godard chose to use
that particular film within his own. “The Silence,” like “Masculin-Féminin,”
also concentrates on the complexities of youth with respect to sex and
relationships. Similarly, both films broach various controversial issues.
Additionally, by featuring this film within the film, Godard manages to break
down certain emotional barriers between film and reality. He does this by
allowing us to see the characters as they watch the film.
As “The Silence” is being shown, the shot not only
alternately focuses on the film within the film vs. the characters, but also specifically
on one person at a time. This manages to exemplify each character’s own
individual reaction to the film. For example, we see Catherine who is subtly
smiling and biting her lip at times. Similarly, we see Paul’s face, which
conveys utter misery as he averts his eyes from the screen. This is exceedingly
complemented by his morose dialogue, which interestingly enough, also manages
to break down barriers between cinema and reality through his own expressed
wishes for his life to have been like a film:
“At the movies the
screen would light up and we’d shiver. But more often we’d be disappointed,
Madeline and I. The images seemed old and flickery. Marilyn Monroe had aged
terribly. We were sad. This wasn’t the film we’d imagined…the perfect film each
of us carried within…the film we would have liked to have made, or perhaps even
to have lived.”
Overall, the concept of character reactions seems to be
extremely important to Godard—not just in this scene, but all throughout the
film. It would similarly appear that Godard was very interested in human nature,
and that many of the techniques implemented in his film were utilized to
examine natural reactions. For example, he constantly breaks the
shot/reverse/shot rule. By having the camera focused on the listener rather
than the speaker, we (the audience) are more capable of seeing his or her
reactions. Our focus is on the facial expressions and the subtle movements that
reveal what the character is feeling.
This leads me to think that Godard wants film to be geared
toward a focus on emotional provocation. This can be understood in terms of the
emotional provocation in the lives of the characters themselves and in the
audience as well. Godard clearly likes to toy with and evoke attitudinal emotions
as he incorporates horrifying and shocking moments into his film in an almost
humorous way (i.e., the wife shooting her husband, the shooting on the train,
the man stabbing himself, and the other man lighting himself on fire.) These
actions come out of the blue in such a way that unexpectedly causes us to
laugh. Of course these aren’t “laughing matters” but, as explained before,
Godard sees film as an opportunity to literally “screw” with emotions. (Perhaps,
just as Madeline screws with Paul’s emotions?)
Perhaps it is Godard's ability to impact emotions both internal to the film and external from the film that also allows him to break down the aforementioned barriers between cinema and reality.
