Made in U.S.A. (1966)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writers:

Jean-Luc Godard (writer)
Donald E. Westlake (novel)

Release Date:

27 September 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery

Plot:

Set in the near future, Paula, a leftist writer, goes from Paris to the French town of Atlantic-Cité...

Plot Keywords:

Journalism | Experimental Film | Acronym In Title | Avant Garde | Country Name In Title

Cast

Anna Karina	...	Paula Nelson (as AK)
László Szabó	...	Richard Widmark (as LS)
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Donald Siegel (as JPL)
Marianne Faithfull	...	Marianne Faithfull (as MF)
Yves Afonso	...	David Goodis (as YA)

Also Known As:

Made in U.S.A. (Brazil) [pt]
Made in USA (Argentina) [es]
Made in USA (Finland) [fi]
Synevi stin Ameriki (Greece) [el]
Una storia americana (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Anouchka Films

Trivia:

Though based on "The Jugger" by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake), the author received no compensation for this adaptation. Westlake, who passed away at the end of 2008, successfully kept the film from being shown in the US during his lifetime.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Hunter: A Conversation with Author Donald E. Westlake (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

As Tears Go By

Strange stuff!

A cinematographic experiment by Jean-Luc Godard! Not too accessible. Interesting opening credits with just the initials of the cast. The colors are bright, contrasting with the usual black and white movies that Godard made before this one. At some point, the movie reminded me of the hit series "Twin Peaks" by David Lynch. But this is way more incoherent. In fact, it's hard to figure if there's anything to be made of this film. Still, Godard get to explore the fascination of the French for everything that comes from the U.S.A. Another interesting fact: some of the talks exchanged by the characters (ex. in the bar scene). A linguist would probably have some fun analyzing this. Some scenes are just painful to watch if you're tired (ex. the political manifesto on tape)! Anna Karina is great to watch, as usual.

Out of 100, I give it 71. That's good for ** out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 26th, 2002.