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No Waves (Excerpt) by Andrew
Sarris Jean-Luc Godard's A Woman Is a Woman (1961)
is being revived in a new 35-millimeter print at the Film Forum
(209 West Houston Street), from May 16 through May 29. Mr. Godard's
musical romp served as an extension of his critical revaluation
of Hollywood musicals as significant contributions to the artistic
heritage of world cinema. I was in Paris in 1961 (a year that changed
my life), and A Woman Is a Woman was one of my two cinematic
epiphanies on the Champs Elysées-the other being the glorious
widescreen revival of the uncut Lola Montés (1955)
from Max Ophüls. It was a heady time for a newly formed auteurist
critic like moi, and though I still remain in the hunt, I
doubt that I can ever recapture the careless rapture of that period,
when the medium seemed to be reborn before our eyes. But as Claude
Chabrol-another luminary of the nouvelle vague-once remarked,
there are no waves, new or otherwise; there is only the ocean. But
if Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo, the recorded
voice of Charles Aznavour and a thrilling glimpse of toplessness
(circa 1961, at least) in a sleazy strip joint called the Zodiac
Club don't turn you on, then tant pis! for you. You may reach Andrew Sarris via email at: asarris@observer.com.
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This excerpt is from a column that ran on page 27 in the 5/19/2003 edition of The New York Observer.
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