Band of Outsiders (Bande à part) (1964)
94%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win
Band of Outsiders is a film that exudes charm and lightness on the surface, but beneath lies a morbid and personal exploration of Godard’s feelings for his wife, Karina. The film is a rejection of traditional filmmaking, breaking every rule with Godard’s signature cocky attitude. It’s a snapshot of youth culture in crisis, but also a timeless piece of cinema that remains appealing and underrated. Godard delivers clever ideas one after another, and the result is a quietly poetic and strangely optimistic film that is both refreshing and accessible to all.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s both charming and morbid, then Band of Outsiders is the perfect pick for you. Godard’s film is a rejection of traditions and an embrace of the new, making it a timeless piece of cinema. Plus, it’s a stirring portrait of youth culture in crisis, which is always relatable. And let’s not forget the fact that it’s a documentary of Godard’s affection for Karina, which is both sweet and intriguing. So, grab some popcorn and get ready for a wild ride with this underrated gem.
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Films, Anouchka Films, Orsay Films,
Distributor
Criterion Collection, Rialto Pictures, Royal Films International
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Chateau d’Eau, Porte des Lilas, Le Métro, Paris, France
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1964
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 37m
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Language(s):French, English
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Country of origin:France
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 5, 1964 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 7, 2003
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
Band of Outsiders, Crime, Drama, French (Canada), Jean-Luc Godard, Dolores Hitchens, Anna Karina, Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, written by Jean-Luc Godard and Dolores Hitchens, reviewed by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Jaime N Christley, Dave Kehr, Philippa Hawker, Philip Wuntch, John Monaghan, Michael J Casey, Shikhar Verma, Isabel Quigly, Matt Prigge, Henry Stewart, Eric Melin, 94% Tomatometer, 91% Audience Score, $37.7K Box Office (Gross USA), Criterion Collection, Rialto Pictures, Royal Films International, Mono Sound Mix, misfit trio, heist movie, Hollywood noirs, Westerns, choreographed dances, Louvre, romantic view of outlaws, inexperience, blaze of glory
Worldwide gross: $106,074
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,150,087
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,562
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 125,418
US/Canada gross: $66,660
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $722,748
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,252
US/Canada opening weekend: $28,656
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $310,697
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,529
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $120,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $1,301,077
Production budget ranking: 2,068
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $700,630
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$851,620
ROI to date (est.): -43%
ROI ranking: 1,637
Sami Frey – Franz
Claude Brasseur – Arthur
Jean-Luc Godard – Le narrateur
Chantal Darget – Arthur’s Aunt
Michel Delahaye – Le portier
Director(s)
Jean-Luc Godard
Writer(s)
Jean-Luc Godard, Dolores Hitchens
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win
Academy Awards
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (3)
Behind its substantial charm and light touch is a movie that’s more morbid, alienated, and personal than it lets on.
May 5, 2016 | Rating: A
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
The film sees Godard parsing out his feelings for Karina, then his wife, and meditating on the mercurial nature of his own preoccupations.
September 7, 2011 | Rating: 3/4
Jaime N. Christley
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
This 1964 feature remains one of Godard’s most appealing and underrated films, relatively relaxed and strangely optimistic.
March 3, 2008 | Rating: 4/4
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Grave, light-hearted and quietly poetic.
October 21, 2006
Philippa Hawker
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
As charming as seasoned film buffs remember and as refreshing as initiates expect.
January 17, 2002
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
TOP CRITIC
Delivers one clever idea atop another.
January 4, 2002
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
A documentary of Godard’s affection for Karina.
July 17, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
Diving into cultural malice and the crisis of being young and clueless, the film exhumes coolness and for once makes the filmmaker accessible to everyone who was ever sold into his cocky attitude only to be disappointed later.
April 16, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Shikhar Verma
High on Films
I yawned all through with what I thought was wild boredom, but realised afterwards was fury and distaste, because in fact nothing Godard does is ever boring in the sense of being uninteresting,
January 29, 2019
Isabel Quigly
The Spectator
The Godard movie you use to turn people into Godard-heads, ‘Band of Outsiders’ wasn’t, as it were, always liked.
May 6, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Matt Prigge
Metro
Godard, the cocky provocateur, breaks every rule of filmmaking he can muster…[it’s] a rejection of traditions–all of ’em, de qualité or otherwise–and an embrace of the new.
May 4, 2016
Henry Stewart
Brooklyn Magazine
Besides being a stirring portrait of a youth culture in crisis, the film is very charming and accessible – especially for anyone that’s experienced teen alienation…at once a snapshot in time and a timeless piece of cinema.
June 17, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Eric Melin
Scene-Stealers.com…
Plot
Besotted with cheap crime fiction, cinema, and popular culture, bored-to-death English language students Franz and Arthur love to live in a dream world. Indeed, the pair of layabouts fancy themselves to be a gang. But, in the meantime, Franz and Arthur vie for the attention of their romantic classmate Odile, who naively tips them off about a mountain of cash stashed in an unlocked cabinet in Aunt Victoria’s suburban house in Joinville-le-Pont. Of course, the amateur criminals take an immediate interest in wide-eyed Odile’s incidental mention and start to iron out the facts of an audacious robbery, just like in the movies. However, what happens if Arthur’s uncle and all-powerful love stand in the way of the perfect heist?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels describes Anna Karina’s performance in Band of Outsiders as “wonderful” and “beautiful.”
Jean-Luc-Godard.jpg
