Barnes & Noble

In 1963, director Jean-Luc Godard deftly changed gears from the CinemaScope corrosion of Contempt to the rough-and-ready black-and-white of Band of Outsiders. From the outset of the rinky-dink credits, the film never relents on charm, dwelling in the same petty-crime mind-set that haunted Breathless -- and in a world where characters are as likely to talk to the audience (often about other movies) as to each other. Living with her aunt in the permanently overcast outskirts of Paris, Odile (Anna Karina) finds herself caught between two semi-tough nuts, Franz (Sami Frey) and Arthur (Claude Brasseur), who, among other ploys, infiltrate Odile's language class in order to pass her suggestive notes. Not unlike Godard himself, this unsteady trio is already in firm command of filmic gestures, and consequently Band of Outsiders is suffused with a slew of ecstatic only-in-the-movies moments. Woven throughout the loopy, romantic plot are Brasseur’s resonant impression of a gunshot from Billy the Kid, a light-speed run through the entirety of the Louvre, and a hilarious, whispered voice-over that updates latecomers as to what’s transpired 15 minutes into the film. Although the boys eventually rope Odile into a fatally botched heist, the story remains effervescent. The scene where all three dance the Madison remains sublime and eternal, marking this possibly as the most purely pleasurable of Godard's films. Eddy Crouse

All Movie Guide

One of pioneering director Jean-Luc Godard's most accessible films is this French spin on Dolores Hitchens' novel Fool's Gold. It tells the tale of three disaffected youths who plan a burglary, leading to deadly results. The alienated young trio is marvelous, particularly Anna Karina, and the early scenes of their clearly overdeveloped fantasy lives are splendidly handled. Something of a companion piece to Godard's classic À Bout de Souffle, its young characters have the same odd mixture of fatalism and starry-eyed naïveté that is, by turns, appealing and tragic. Trivia buffs should note that the film gave its name to Quentin Tarantino's production company (A Band Apart), and several of its scenes are echoed in his Pulp Fiction. Robert Firsching

Product Details

• UPC: 037429170328
• Source: CRITERION
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Presentation: B&W
• Sound: Dolby Digital Mono
• Language: Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:35:00
• Sales Rank: 480

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Criterion Collection: 10 Years of Rialto Pictures

Features:

DVD MENU