Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Movie Men - Part 2

THE IDEALIST - Masculine Feminine - Paul

Masculin/Feminin remains my favourite Godard film. Mainly because of Jean Piere Leaud's portrayal of Paul one of the good looking and charismatic children of Marx and Coca-Cola. Paul's interests move between his on-again-off again girlfriend, his political beliefs and a social survey he is conducting into the opinions of Parisians. His Marxist-Leninisst stance collide . When he talks about politics it sounds like he's talking about love. There's nothing like a man who confuses his political with his personal even if its subconscious. He longs for a perfect society - culturally and politically in the same way he longs for a perfect love (a movie story romance) and a perfect film - his perfect vision of life as it should be.



Paul plays out the cliches of a leading man tossing cigarettes offhand and getting into lovelorn fight, wandering the streets of Paris - a heartthrob to an unseen audience. His political ideals, romantic ideals and his own ideals about his own life.

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