3A: La Monnaie De L'Absolu; 4A: Le controle De L'Univers on AllMovie

The third and fourth installments in French director Jean Luc Godard's free-spirited eight- or ten-part television documentary series continue to examine various aspects of cinema from an iconoclastic master's view. Episode 3A, "La Monnaie de lAbsolu" examines what Godard perceives as the loss of integrity in post WW II films from the late '40s to the early '50s while also paying tribute to Italian neorealism. As with previous series entries, Godard uses minimal narration and a maximum of creative editing techniques in which a wide variety of film excerpts and photographs from different sources are layered and blended to make his points. Those audience members not familiar with his moving collages may find them difficult to understand. Episode 4A, "Le Controle de l'Univers" offers a look at the semiotics of cinema and focuses on images of body parts through film history and then turns to a tribute to the mastery of Alfred Hitchcock.