Despite the protagonist wanting nothing more than to be a rugged, hard-boiled film noir hero, Jean-Luc Godard depicts Michel as a foolish man who lives to emulate Humphrey Bogart. As Michel travels through his life of crime, jumping from one bad decision to the next, Godard captures the intricacies of Michel’s character and dedicates each layer of the film to conveying them. Like Michel, Godard is not afraid to take risks, and he uses compositional elements in unconventional ways to deepen the viewer’s understanding of Michel. Through the interaction of various editing styles and cinematography centered on the thoughts and feelings of Michel, Godard displays a world through the eyes of Michel where his self-involved personality and true feelings about Patricia shine through. Godard places the viewer in the
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Godard continues his rhythmic editing as the intensity of the argument increases. His use of jump cuts is most frequent when Michel lists what he wants in a girl, “I love a girl who has a nice neck, nice breasts, a nice voice, nice wrists, a nice forehead, nice knees. But she’s such a coward.” Between every few words there is a cut immediately after Michel takes a breath from talking, leaving no time for a response before he continues again.
Since the jump cut closes the lapse in time, it is unclear to the viewer whether Patricia attempted to respond to Michel. Whether Patricia had something to say or not, the rapid jump cuts tell the viewer that Michel did not listen. Patricia’s responses mean very little to Michel, so trapped in the mind of Michel, the viewer does not hear her at all. Throughout the film, Michel is portrayed as a self-involved character, but in this scene, Michel is so narcissistic that there is no room for the thoughts or reactions of the women he loves. This intensified the anger and adds layers to his
Godard continues his rhythmic editing as the intensity of the argument increases. His use of jump cuts is most frequent when Michel lists what he wants in a girl, “I love a girl who has a nice neck, nice breasts, a nice voice, nice wrists, a nice forehead, nice knees. But she’s such a coward.” Between every few words there is a cut immediately after Michel takes a breath from talking, leaving no time for a response before he continues again.
Since the jump cut closes the lapse in time, it is unclear to the viewer whether Patricia attempted to respond to Michel. Whether Patricia had something to say or not, the rapid jump cuts tell the viewer that Michel did not listen. Patricia’s responses mean very little to Michel, so trapped in the mind of Michel, the viewer does not hear her at all. Throughout the film, Michel is portrayed as a self-involved character, but in this scene, Michel is so narcissistic that there is no room for the thoughts or reactions of the women he loves. This intensified the anger and adds layers to his