The Cinematheque

“Timeless … More prophetic than ever … Godard’s insight into the moods and idioms of coming-of-age in the metropolitan West remains unsurpassed.”

A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Godard is in full Godardian glory in the marvellous Masculin féminin, a disquisition on youth, sex, politics, sexual politics, and pop culture presented as a 15-point investigation into ​“the children of Marx and Coca-Cola” during ​“the era of James Bond and Vietnam.” Centring on young Left Bank Parisians in the winter of 1965, the film has Jean-Pierre Léaud (in a Berlin Silver Bear-winning performance) as Paul, just out of the army and in love with Madeleine, an aspiring pop singer played by real-life pop singer Chantal Goya. Paul’s attempts to remain true to his youthful ideals prove difficult in a consumer society in which everything is commodified. Godard’s lively, inventive, eternally fresh film mixes cinéma vérité-style analyses of male-female relations, a wicked parody interview with a teenage beauty queen, random urban violence, a Brigitte Bardot cameo, philosophy, advertising, and youthful awkwardness and ennui. Masculin féminin screens here in its 2016 digital restoration.

In French with English subtitles

“An excellent film, still as fresh as the day it was made.”

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

“Directed by anyone else, Masculin feminin—one of three movies that Godard made in his peak year, 1966—would be a masterpiece. For the young JLG it’s business as usual.”

J. Hoberman, Village Voice