Godard's Masculin, Feminin is an overtly political film dealing with the lives of young men and women, though given his rather obvious gender bias, it's hard to truly picture this as a completely accurate portrait, as the male protagonist Paul is filled with anguish and questions of existential meaning, whereas the female role of Madeline is mostly concerned with fashion and pop culture.
Being somewhat frustrated with Godard recently, Masculin, Feminin's plotless excursion didn't help. After doing a bit of reading, though, I found that the film was banned to anyone under 18, which was precisely the target audience Godard had been aiming for. Maybe that's why I didn't quite get it. On the other hand, some publication said it was the best film of the year for people in that age range. While I didn't particularly enjoy it my first time around, I find it brave that Godard would aim such a difficult movie at such a young age group. It's arguably deeper and more intellectual than many other films at the time most kids that age would have normally been exposed to.
The film itself says it could have been called "The Children of Marx and Coca Cola," and with Godard's increasing attention on economic systems, philosophy, and rejection of pop culture, it's easy to see why. True to his style, Godard mixes his dissatisfaction with the status quo with his trademark touches of humor, though his uneasiness with the order at the time is obvious. Anyone daring him to go further would be in for a real treat...
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