Pierrot Le Fou

Communication between genders seems to be a major theme in Pierrot Le Fou, but I do not necessarily agree with Godard's assessments. The characters of Ferdinand/Pierrot and Marianne clash again and again through the movie. This is made blatant by Marianne's insistence on calling Ferdinand Pierrot. I think the most important quotation in describing this gender clash in the film is given by Marianne, where she says, "You speak to me in words, and I look at you with feelings." Which is very deceiving. The simplicity of the statement seems to vouch for its validity. Generally, it may appear that men are more logical and women more emotional, but this is not fair or accurate. Whether on purpose or not, making wide sweeping general assumptions about the opposite sex is exactly what causes the breakdown of communication.

Aside from this quote, there is a lot more content dealing with the breakdown of communication between sexes. When Ferdinand and Marianne settle down on the beach, Ferdinand is shown as being content with a life of literary and philosophical pursuit. Marianne, on the other hand, finds this anything but ideal. I do not think we can take these characters as representatives of their sexes, because doing so forces strong stereotypes, a barrier to communication.

Besides the gender content, I really enjoyed the film. There were extremely humorous as well as serious moments. The betrayal of Marianne seems to make sense when one looks back to her actions through the film. These movie is very similiar to Weekend in a lot of ways, but definitely easier to watch and little more conventional. The ending is both powerful and comical at the same time, reminiscent of fate's sense of humor. So much time is spent wrapping the dynamite, emphasizing the deliberateness of the suicide. Because of this action, however, Ferdinand is unable to extinguish the wick as his own ridiculous actions have prevented him from doing so.