If one must sell the restoration of a Jean-Luc Godard film and the original trailer for said film was, in fact, cut together by Godard himself, why not use it? Credit to Rialto Pictures, then, for selling the latest theatrical run of Band of Outsiders with his original preview — a peppy, jaunty work that tells you nothing about the film and nearly everything you might want to know.
If you live in New York, note that the film will begin screening at Film Forum on May 6. If you don’t, keep your fingers crossed that it eventually swings around — or just plunk down some money on Criterion’s beautiful-looking Blu-ray.
See the preview below:
In the dreary Parisian suburb of Joinville, Brasseur and Frey (“Belmondo’s suburban cousins” – Godard) take turns romancing English language student Karina, then light up when she mentions the big pile of cash stashed at her aunt’s villa. A piece of cake burglary, but of course things go memorably awry.
A jeu d’ésprit — extracted from one of the blackest of Série Noire novels, Fools’ Gold by Dolores Hitchens — with echt Godardian set pieces including the trio line-dancing “Le Madison” (later “homaged” by Tarantino in Pulp Fiction) and then “doing” the Louvre in record time.
