The little soldier
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The little soldier |
| Original title | Le petit soldat |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean-Luc Godard |
| script | Jean-Luc Godard |
| production | Georges de Beauregard |
| music | Maurice Leroux |
| camera | Raoul Coutard |
| cut |
Lila Herman , Agnès Guillemot , Nadine Trintignant (as Nadine Marquand) |
| occupation | |
| |
The little soldier ( Le petit soldat ) from 1960 is the second feature film by Jean-Luc Godard . In this film, the main character utters one of Godard's most frequently quoted sentences: Photography is the truth. Cinema, that's the truth 24 times a second.
Although set in the espionage milieu, the film consists less of non-stop action than that it shows numerous cityscapes of Geneva or takes place in apartments. The critics praised the black and white “remarkable photography, which captures the atmosphere of Geneva day and night with great sensitivity.” The work is criticized for the “naivety of its worldview” . Bruno talks a lot in monologues about cinema, politics, revolution and ideals, and in doing so reflects Godard's viewpoints. The last part consists of a long monologue by Bruno in Veronika's apartment. There are several allusions to other works of art, they range from the name Veronikas (based on Carl Theodor Dreyer ) to Bach and Aragon . This quotation is blamed on the film as exaggerated; it is only of use to the initiated who have a taste similar to Godard and understand the allusions. In the film there are other pithy expressions of the characters, for example: "If a woman is alone in life, she is either a whore or a snitch." It was Godard's first work with Anna Karina , whom he soon married.
When the film was made, film censorship was tightened in France because of the Algerian war . The little soldier was banned immediately because of statements that were perceived as subversive . It was only performed on January 25, 1963 after the end of the Algerian War. The film was first shown in Germany in 1966.
action
The story takes place against the background of the Algerian War, when the Arab Algerians wanted to declare their independence from France in the colony and the white French Algerians resisted violently. The setting is Geneva , where a French secret organization (one may assume the predecessor of the later OAS founded in 1961 ) and Arab agents (it could be the FLN ) fight each other brutally and murderously. The French deserter Bruno finds himself between the front lines, and he also meets the Danish model Veronika. Bruno receives an order from the French: He is to kill an Arab middleman. In monologues he expresses doubts about the meaning of this struggle.
Since he is too hesitant to carry out the assassination attempt, the French consider him a traitor. At the same time, the Arabs expose him and kidnap him to an apartment, where they torture him. He frees himself by jumping out of the window and tries to negotiate passports for himself and Veronika with the French. In return, he carries out the planned murder - in vain, since the organization suspected and killed Veronika as a double agent.
Web links
- The little soldier in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The little soldier in the lexicon of international films