Jean-Luc Godard’s “Band Of Outsiders” (1964), starring Anna Karina, Sami Frey, and Claude Brasseur, will be shown in a new restoration at Film Forum In New York from Friday, May 6th through Thursday, May 12th. Star Anna Karina will appear in person for an onstage interview and audience Q&A following the 7:30 show on Friday, May 6th.
In the dreary Parisian suburb of Joinville, Brasseur and Frey (“Belmondo’s suburban cousins” – Godard) take turns romancing English language student Karina, then light up when she mentions the big pile of cash stashed at her aunt’s villa. A piece of cake burglary, but of course things go memorably awry.
A jeu d’ésprit — extracted from one of the blackest of Série Noire novels, Fools’ Gold by Dolores Hitchens — with echt Godardian set pieces including the trio line-dancing “Le Madison” (later “homaged” by Tarantino in “Pulp Fiction”) and then “doing” the Louvre in record time.
Along with Band, Karina’s collaborations with boyfriend/husband/ex-husband Godard (they married in 1961 and divorced in 1965) include “Le Petit Soldat,” “Vivre Sa Vie,” “Alphaville,” “Pierrot Le Fou,” “Made In U.S.A.,” and “A Woman is a Woman,” which won her a Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival. “Anna & Jean-Luc,” a one-week festival of their films together, will be shown as a sidebar to the “Band of Outsiders” run (see below for schedule).
In addition to her films with Godard, Karina has appeared in Visconti’s “The Stranger,” Rivette’s “The Nun,” George Cukor’s “Justine,” Tony Richardson’s “Laughter in the Dark,” Fassbinder’s “Chinese Roulette,” and many other films.
Born in Denmark, Anna arrived in Paris at age 17, unable to speak a word of French. Sitting at the café Les Deux Magots, she was spotted by a woman from an advertising agency, which led to a successful career as a fashion model. A picture of Karina in a bubble bath in an ad for Palmolive soap was seen by young film critic Godard, then casting his first feature, “Breathless.” Offered a part that would include a nude scene, Karina turned him down, but then accepted a role in his second feature, “Le Petit Soldat.”
Karina will also appear at BAM Cinematek on May 3rd and The Museum of the Moving Image on May 4th.
“Band of Outsiders” is presented with the support of the French Cultural Services and Unifrance.
