The first Godard film I saw was Pierrot Le Fou, and, like everyone else who’s seen it, I was struck by its bold color scheme: The movie is drenched in ocean blues, vivid reds, and various and sundry shades of white. Turns out those hues are something of a motif for Godard, who—with apologies to Krzysztof Kieślowski and his Three Colors trilogy—uses color better than any director in history.
This supercut by Cinema Sem Lei, which stitches together various shots of “bleu, blanc, rouge” from Godard’s 60-year career, shows why: The director treats color like a real, tangible character in his films, rather than as a mere aesthetic flourish. His compositions are always beautiful, but what gives those images resonance is his keen, tireless sense for how a shade can set a mood or subvert an expectation.
Via Indiewire.
