NOTRE MUSIQUE
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Jean-Luc Godard's look at the state of
Mankind and its relation to war is both elliptical
and hyperbolic. This is an intentionally obscure
film from a past master of cinema. Moments are
good, but there is less here than meets the eye.
Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4) or 5/10
"If you understand what I'm saying I'm making myself too clear." One of the characters in NOTRE MUSIQUE says this to another and it seems to reflect Godard's personal philosophy. NOTRE MUSIC is Jean-Luc Godard's somewhat opaque meditation on war and the possibility of peace. The film is divided in three sections: Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Really it is one long section representing Purgatory with a short prolog and a shorter afterward.
The Hell Prolog is a montage of war scenes from familiar war films (and a few that just show misery). Films represented include classics like BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, ALEXANDER NEVSKY, and ZULU.
Next we go to a conference of writers in Bosnia, though the director of the film; Jean-Luc Godard also attends and gives a short discourse on his theory of film. There is some discussion of the Israel-Palestinian conflict without taking sides. A Palestinian makes the moot point that the world knows and is interested in Jews and not particularly knowledgeable or interested in Palestinians. Interest in Jews focuses the world's attention on the conflict, a fact that is both a blessing and a curse to the Palestinian cause. The dialog delivered is intellectual and profound but not realistic, as if from some sort of play of rhetoric.
Finally Godard finishes the film with his impression of heaven which aside from a subtle joke involving a well-known song is just as "angelically dull" as George Bernard Shaw said it would be.
The subtitling was poor, with subtitles hard to read and sometimes omitted.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Copyright 2004 Mark R. Leeper
========== X-RAMR-ID: 39081 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1342285 X-RT-TitleID: 1137738 X-RT-AuthorID: 1309 X-RT-RatingText: 5/10
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