La Chinoise (1967)

 Jean-Luc Godard's "La Chinoise"

Watching a Jean-Luc Godard film, for me, is equivalent to drinking an ice cold water after midnight. It really hits the spot. And for every Godard film I watch, the themes seem to parallel one another. His films are full of spirited youth attempting to do radical things. Where do they get these radical ideas? Well from media, of course - movies, television, novels, advertisements, etc. And the final thematic point Godard makes in all his films is that real life is no movie, kids.

As you get ingrained in the political ideologies of our main protagonists - a group of five youths in a Communist Revolutionary group - it becomes clear that their intentions are pure, but their inspirations are completely derived from popular forum. Not only this, but their ideas of class warfare and revolution are not entirely thought out or adherent to any strategic plan. Rather, they are filled with the impassioned spirit of popular revolutionary ideas intent to bring out social change, but fail to examine how they wear these ideas like a bourgeois fashion statement.

"La Chinoise" is a very strange film to me in the sense that it both sympathizes with its characters while also remaining very critical of them. As a viewer, you get wrapped up in the sentiment of their cause and the passion for which they care about toppling imperialism. They have slogans, cool shades with nations' flags, endless Little Red Books, re-enactments, and soundtracks that mock Western violence. It's all trendy and hip. But these hip, trendy aesthetics are merely capitalist-infused fashions. This renders their behavior hypocritical, despite being sympathetic to their passions.

It's a film full of contradictory and confusing rhetoric that attempts to forward face the political discourse happening in France in 1967. And like with all Godard films, it  attempts to reconcile the nature of art and film against these socio-political trends. Also contradictory, it asks the viewer to identify with the artifice of film while also celebrating the artifice as being more real than standard document-style art. Does film allow audiences to understand current events, despite their fictional narrative constructions? 

Although "La Chinoise" doesn't rank as high for me as other Godard masterpieces, it certainly catches your attention and entices consideration for its complex thematic musings. And despite most Godard films being drenched in political commentary, this one certainly feels the most upfront in its viewpoint on the subjects. Regardless, I am always very energized by the spirited creativity of Godard's 1960's period.