I first saw this aged 17 late night on TV, sound turned down so my parents wouldn't come down and send me to bed. Unfortunately, TV doesn't show films like this any more (not that there are any others) so today's teenagers will mostly miss the opportunity to feel shocked and affronted in the manner of a middle aged vicar. What's difficult is that it's not just viscerally unpleasant but frequently dull and constantly carries an aura of threat that seems to be directed at you the viewer, something along the lines of 'When the revolution comes, you'll be first up against the wall, you bourgeois pig.' - a still pertinent message, though not one we get to hear so much these days. Having decided he doesn't care what you think (an early onscreen text reads 'A film found on a scrapheap'), Godard can do anything he wants and does, resulting in one of the most visually inventive films of all time. There are musical sequences, figures from history and literature, long political disquisitions, virtuoso tracking shots, gunfights, miracles, readings from children's books, random onscreen texts and, as a defining motif, car crashes. After you get past the essentially superstitious feeling that the film is actually threatening to your life, there's really so very much to enjoy. Give yourself a very special treat.