Masculin Féminin

It is a tender and intimate look at the lives of young people in the 60s in Paris. The film follows two characters, male and female as they navigate love and the changing, ever turbulent landscape of life. The film explores the two of them through 15 interconnected but separate parts and every part has a monologue or introductory text on screen. These don't often talk about the film but also outside of it as well, most of them are for us the audience even when they relate to the plot.

The film is a drama about youth and their struggles to live and react and adjust in a world that is uncertain and cruel and things that are happening in such a wide scale that we have no control over them. It feels like a glimpse into that era, as if we're seeing how people must have lived, thought, loved and died in that time. This is pronounced more through the use of shots of people wandering in the streets going to and fro in between the 15 parts.The themes that are talked about here resemble the ones found in Alphaville even though genre-wise these both movies are very different. Love and it's need in human life, violence and power and using that to decide things in other people's lives, the word "tenderness" and it's importance in the narrative, poetry and the attitude different characters have to it.

This was so refreshing and different and bolder than most modern movies being made today, it isn't afraid to talk about things it wants to yet there is a tenderness to it though it's less romantic than Alphaville

A compelling film that uses its narrative and stylistic elements to question everything from politics to personal relationships. It remains a significant work for its bold examination of the contradictions and complexities of its time.

I'm about to move Godard into the "insufferable" category, as I continue to not connect with any in this string of mid-decade films. This one did not age well, as insecure Paul now gives off a lot of PUA incel vibes. But even through the lens of the times, I struggle to find much here to reflect on or latch onto. More empty philosophy and unfocused repetition.