Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
BFI - you should know better!, 6 Feb 2004
By A Customer
One of the cool things about DVD is the ability to make subtitles optional. Over in the US, the Criterion release of "Bande A Part" allows you to dispense with the subtitles, allowing you to enjoy a picture uncluttered by text once you're familiar with the dialogue. Great shame then that this BFI release for the UK market doesn't give you the choice - you're forced to always view the film with subtitles whether you like it or not, making it no superior to a VHS copy in this respect. However, the other features and extras (again, fewer than on the Criterion release) are worthwhile. And the film itself, of course, is genius! But the BFI's oversight means I can only award this particular transfer three stars.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not unlike "Au Bout De Souffle" ..., 20 Nov 2005
"Bande A Part" (The Outsiders) is another stylish 1960's Godard film that is rich in characterisation and features some memorable scenes, but for me falls short of the quality of some of the earlier "Nouvelle Vague" films such as "Au Bout De Souffle" and "Jules et Jim". "Bande A Part" shares strong similarities to both of these films; the triangular nature of the love interest, the petty gangsters, the bustling Parisian boulevards and the unexpected finale. The plot is fairly straightforward; pretty student Odile (Anna Karina) reveals that there is a stash of cash hidden away in a room at her foster parents to two male admirers and together with her , they conspire to steal it and flee the country. The main characters are hedonistic, amoral and anarchic, typical existentialists,and they flirt ,chat and dance their way through the film entertaining the viewer most in the famous cafe dance scene and the race through the Louvre. "Bande a Part" is a good film, but for me it lacks the substance and impact of earlier French New Wave productions.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bande A Part, 22 May 2006
From the opening sequence of Bande A Part, the Benny Hillesque music set to a flashing montage of the protagonists portraits, the viewer is bombarded with a visual feast. Here, Godard Nouvelle Vague film is a classical (or perhaps modern) case of form over content.
Bande A Part is an web of bit size stories built around the plot to get rich quick via theft. The narrative often feels a little thin, but this quick shot, fast paced, youthfully playful film manages to sample a vast range of scenes, from a dance sequence, the quotation of Thomas Hardy and Shakespeare, to anti-climatic killings. It is often funny, poetic and insightful.
This is an intelligent film, but not inaccessible. It's homage to more mainstream gangster films of the 50's gives an air of familarity.
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