Masculine-Feminine

Masculine-Feminine (1966)

Genres - Drama, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Ensemble Film, Psychological Drama, Romantic Drama, Urban Drama  |   Release Date - Sep 19, 1966 (USA)  |   Run Time - 110 min.  |   Countries - France, Sweden  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Masculine Feminine was Jean-Luc Godard's first (but not his last) foray into the burgeoning "Children of the Sixties" generation -- or, as Godard described it, "the children of Marx and Coca-Cola." Impressionable teenager Paul (Jean-Pierre LĂ©aud) tries to make sense of the world by working as an interviewer for a research firm. Meanwhile, Paul cohabits with aspiring singer Madeleine (Chantal Goya), with two additional young ladies joining the nocturnal festivities. Paul jumps or is pushed from a window, leaving a pregnant Madeleine to move on to the next aimless youth she meets. While the nominal hero has failed to find fulfillment in personal relations, another male protagonist (Michel Debord), a political activist, is luckier -- an indication that the director favored revolutionary politics over simple emotionalism at this point in his career. Though Godard's free-form style is usually opposed to linear storytelling, Masculine Feminine has solid literary roots, having been inspired by two Guy de Maupassant stories.

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Keywords

journalist, Parisian, singer, vignette, anarchy, army, battle-of-the-sexes, career, extramarital-affair, France, journalism, love, morals, nostalgia, politician, pop-music, promiscuity, radical, relationship, romance, roommate