framptonhollis The legendary filmography of Jean-Luc Godard lies somewhere between the four roads of comedy, tragedy, philosophy, and poetry, and "First Name: Carmen" does not disappoint on any of these wide- ranging tonal fronts.As I have said time and time again, Godard does not make "messy" movies. His films may contain various tonal shifts, but they are always done with expertise, for Godard is a professional juggler of sorts; however, instead of juggling balls in a circus he juggles emotions in the cinema. As funny as it is sad, "First Name: Carmen" certainly shows off some of Godard's finest humor. The absurd opening bank "action" sequence is unexpectedly hilarious as some of Godard's blackest comedic bits take center stage. One hilarious shot contains a janitor nonchalantly cleaning up dead corpses; if such an image tickles your funny bone in any way, you will have a blast with some of this film's funnier moments. Godard, himself, has a supporting role as a highly eccentric filmmaker who spends his time faking illness to avoid making movies and engaging in witty philosophical musings with those who cross his path.Other sections of the film are crafted with a sharp sense of melancholy as the film's beautifully poignant soundtrack, a majority of which is made up of sensitive violin music of the highest quality, howls in the background. Moments of romance also invade Godard's masterpiece, and they are often portrayed with a relentlessly poetic style. The violin music growing louder, images of waves clashing, the lovers' dialogue going back and forth, coming in and out; Godard explores the beauty of cinema. He takes advantage of every possible trick he can an uses it to an ambitious degree. Godard's films seem to be made for both entertainment and experiment, and "First Name: Carmen" is most certainly a primary example of this. One could watch this once a day and never get bored as they find new things to laugh along with, gawk at, cry to, and think about. Godard explores the most intimate corners of a relationship, the funniest aspects of crime, and the silliest traits of a filmmaker/philosopher. Those who can handle the film's avant garde, genre-bending style will likely soon fall in love with Godard's quirky, romantic, funny, and bizarre tragicomic experiment, while others may just gawk at its endless absurdity and occasionally juvenile imagery and dialogue.

MartinHafer OVERRATED "ART FILM" ALERT: The following film is adored by sophisticated and "with it" film fans. The fact that the average person may find the whole thing unfunny and bland is due to their just not being smart enough to understand and appreciate this masterpiece.Oh did I hate this movie! It's artsy-fartsy crap like this that turns many people off from foreign films, and that's a great shame as there are so many French films better than this. In fact, I challenge you to come up with one worse! The film is rife with weird editing and extended shots of waves crashing. This is meant to be "sophisticated"; I think it looks very amateurish and overdone.The story itself is pretty meaningless and confusing. It's about some terrorists who like to get naked A LOT (by the way, the female lead could really use a shave) and whose emotions are up and down more than your average roller-coaster. What some say is artistic, I think is boring and banal.The only element that made me the least bit interested in the film is that the director himself plays, of all things, a "crazy director". Wow--that's some stretch. It's sort of like asking Cookie Monster to play someone who loves to eat! Unless you LIKE pretentious movies that are 100% boring, do NOT watch this film!PS--if you actually LIKE this sort of mess, then by all means look for Godard's other "masterpiece", ALPHAVILLE. It's also a total piece of crap and a total waste of time.

MisterWhiplash First Name: Carmen is an enthralling hybrid for director/actor Jean-Luc Godard and screenwriter (and frequent collaborator) Anne-Marie Mieville. After almost a decade of weird, philosophical experimentation, they took on the opera of Carmen (the original story of which, unfortunately, I am not very knowledgeable of) and deconstructed it with some amusing self-awareness ("Uncle" Jean-Luc Godard at the start of the film is in a hospital of sorts, over-staying his welcome), while going back to Godard's olden days of movies with lovers on the run. This time the lovers meet by accident and chance- Carmen X (the alluring and dangerous Maruschka Detmers in a controlled, if downtrodden debut acting role) asks of her uncle Jean if she can use his beach-side house to make a film with some friends. He agrees, though not knowing she's apart of a terrorist gang that robs a bank. During the robbery she has a shoot-out, and kiss, with Joseph (Jacques Bonnaffe, whose performance shifts from bizarre to intense and then believable) the security guard. They hide out for a little while, becoming more involved, while Carmen knows at the same time his uncle prepares to make his comeback film after being washed up for so long, her terrorist friends are planning another scheme.The acting ranges from forceful to observant, from a little boring to a little ridiculous, but like in Godard's 60's films the actors contribute to Godard's documentary style feel (of which he calls a documentary which is 'fictional'). And Godard is able to get a few laughs during his few scenes on camera, even as he spouts a few quotes that make a viewer dig in their minds for a meaning. Accompanied with evocative and sweet late-night shots of cars and a train in Paris, are shots of the ocean, which contributes as the film's main flaw for me (I kept on saying, yeah the sea looks nice, but what's the point he's getting at here- is it the characters or himself that likes staring at the sea?). Nevertheless, the compositions are no less than on par with what to be expected from Godard (via the great Raoul Coutard and Jean-Bernard Menoud), and the emotionally charged musical selections from Beethoven and Bizet to Tom Waits are pulled off as a successful, often emotional experiment as the footage of the string musicians are inserted several times. Overall, 'Carmen', however little or much it follows it's source, is a fine piece of art-type of cinema, where romanticism and cynical humor plays as much of a role as the story.

Bob Taylor Here are the bare bones of the story: Carmen wants to make a film with her friends, but has no money. The gang tries to stage an armed bank robbery, but runs into fierce opposition from Joseph, a guard. Carmen and Joseph flee together to the coast, where they stay in her Uncle Jean's apartment. Jean (Godard himself) is making a film set in a luxury hotel, but this is just a pretext for a kidnapping attempt on a businessman. From here on, the plot follows the Bizet opera beloved of so many of us.It's fun to watch Godard working out styles and themes again, while acting outrageously in the hospital scene. Maruschka Detmers looks gorgeous, and Jacques Bonnaffe is suitably ardent and foolish. The bank robbery is worthy of Woody Allen in his best days.Footnote 2014: I see that I neglected to mention the extraordinary camera work in the hotel sequences. How Coutard managed to get that level of intimacy and richness of colour with the light levels so low near sunset is amazing. Detmers manages to cope with Godard's need to sexualize the story very well--she is excellent.