I will give Godard due credit for his filmmaking skill and innovation. This movie, like most of his, is marked by a playful sense of humor, unusual editing technique, and a bold palette of primary colors. But good lord, the rhetoric. Perhaps more than in any other of his films, he has people doing that thing which drives up the goddamn wall: reading straight from a book. In this case, mostly Mao's little red book. If you like people constantly spewing didactic slogans at you in a monotone voice, this is the movie for you. The best part is that Godard appears to be poking fun at these young, bourgeois Marxists. It seems like Anne Wiazemsky's character wants to become a revolutionary terrorist just to get out of going to class. But this is also the worst part, because I view Godard as on par with them. He's a wealthy, privileged white guy playing Commie, sneering at everyone else. "Look at how clueless THESE little hypocrites are, but I'M the real deal." Phooey.
Review of The Chinese
