The Cinematheque

“Perhaps Godard’s most delicately charming film.”

Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

Quentin Tarantino named his production company after Godard’s forever-cool seventh feature, one of the giddy glories of the French nouvelle vague. Described by Godard as ​“Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka,” the film was his first return to the gangster genre since Breathless. Three Parisian students (Anna Karina, Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur) meet in English class and, under the influence of far too many Hollywood movies, plot a potentially lucrative burglary. Band of Outsiders features a playful blend of quotes from Shakespeare, musical numbers, and self-conscious references to the relationship (and confusion) between cinema and reality. Ironic voiceover narration by the director summarizes the plot, explains the characters’ motives, and comments on the action. The scene of the three protagonists attempting to ​“do” the Louvre in record time has been homaged by Bernardo Bertolucci and Agnès Varda, while the Madison dance scene inspired the John Travolta-Uma Thurman twist in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.

In French with English subtitles

“One of Godard’s most open and enjoyable films … A fast and loose tale that continues his love affairs with Hollywood and with actress Anna Karina.”

Chris Petit, Time Out