Band of Outsiders

"A Who-Dunit, Who's Got-It, Where-Is-It-Now Wild One From That "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard!"

1964 1h 37m FR

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 628

CrimeDramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Cinephile slackers Franz and Arthur spend their days mimicking the antiheroes of Hollywood noirs and Westerns while pursuing the lovely Odile. The misfit trio upends convention at every turn, be it through choreographed dances in cafés or frolicsome romps through the Louvre. Eventually, their romantic view of outlaws pushes them to plan their own heist, but their inexperience may send them out in a blaze of glory -- which could be just what they want.

“A Who-Dunit, Who's Got-It, Where-Is-It-Now Wild One From That "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

DarkroomSubscription

Cast

Anna Karina
Odile
Claude Brasseur
Arthur
Sami Frey
Franz
Danièle Girard
English Teacher
Louisa Colpeyn
Madame Victoria
Chantal Darget
Arthur's Aunt
Georges Staquet
Legionary
Ernest Menzer
Arthur's Uncle

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Writers: Jean-Luc Godard
Languages: English, French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

62 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, shot by Raoul Coutard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Agnès Guillemot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anna Karina and Claude Brasseur and Sami Frey carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A Who-Dunit, Who's Got-It, Where-Is-It-Now Wild One From That "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean-Luc Godard directs. Raoul Coutard behind the camera. Michel Legrand scores. Agnès Guillemot cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in France. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
262 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, shot by Raoul Coutard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Agnès Guillemot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Anna Karina and Claude Brasseur and Sami Frey carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A Who-Dunit, Who's Got-It, Where-Is-It-Now Wild One From That "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard!".
9IMDB entry: tt0057869 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Raoul Coutard
Original score: Michel Legrand
Editing: Agnès Guillemot
Costume design: Christiane Fageol
Makeup / hair: Janou Pottier
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Status: Released
Budget: $120,000
Box office: $182,857
Return: 152% of budget
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Band of Outsiders (1964)

Also by

Jean-Luc Godard

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CRCulver2018-07-31
★ 6/10
Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 film Bandè a part (sometimes titled "Band of Outsiders") is an adaptation of a American crime novel that transcends its pulp origins through Godard's cinematic invention. The young lady Odile (Anna Karina), who isn't very bright, meets lowlife Franz (Sami Frey) in an English course and makes the mistake of telling him that the home in which she lives with her aunt holds a large amount of cash. Franz and fellow criminal Arthur (Claude Brasseur) plan a heist while at the same time vying for Odile's love, or at least her body. As is common in the French New Wave, the auteur only uses a crime caper as a skeleton for his own storytelling. A narrator (Godard himself) occasionally reads descriptive passages from the original novel, which are horribly purple prose, as if Godard is poking fun at his own source of inspiration. Bandè a part has occasionally been treated as a departure from this director's work, as "Godard for people who don't like Godard". However, anyone who has seen Godard's films to date will immediately recognize elements typical of his work at the time. For example, someone reads aloud a classic work of literature, this time an English teacher in a parody of modern language-learning methods. There is leftist social commentary, as the two criminals kill time by reading aloud tragic passages from Parisian newspapers. There is also dancing, as in the film's most famous scene Odile, Franz and Arthur interrupt their plotting for an amusing line dance in a café, over which the narrator tells us their unspoken thoughts. And then there is Godard's many references to the film canon. Bandè a part is deeply imbued with the spirit of American noir films, which fits with the crime caper plot, but it also nods to classic slapstick and romance, which gives it a levity and charm I wouldn't have expected from a film with these particular characters. Bandè a part may not be among the most awesome masterpieces of cinema, but it is memorable and funny, and very much worth seeing for fans of mid-century French films.

Production companies