In which Godard pulls off something Lars von Trier tried and failed to do
40 years on - a musical which deconstructs musicals. In one of the best
examples of Godard's belief that his films are extensions of his film
criticism, he constantly draws attention to the artifices and
conventions of the form, cheekily making the music drop in and out,
forcing his characters to be self-consciously aware of how absurd it is
to be a movie character. Yet as they play out the tangled romantic
threesome he's scripted for them, there's a warmth which somehow makes
the film succeed as an entertainment, not just as an essay.
