6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Jean-Luc Godard's densely packed rumination on the need to create order and beauty in a world ruled by chaos is divided into four distinct but tangentially related stories, including the attempts by a young group of idealists to stage a play in war-torn Sarajevo and an elderly director's efforts to complete his film.
Starring: Frédéric Pierrot, Madeleine Assas (I), Ghalia Lacroix, Bérangère Allaux, Vicky MessicaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 90% |
War | 7% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: LPCM 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Is this some kind of joke? Or perhaps more accurately, several kinds of jokes? For Ever Mozart’s title famously puns in French (faut rêver Mozart). But perhaps more saliently, this is a film where master provocateur Jean-Luc Godard, a filmmaker who has spent much of his career intentionally upsetting the cinematic apple cart through disjunctive editing, nonlinear storytelling and bizarre sound designs, attempts to craft a film which is ostensibly about creating order out of chaos. Furthermore, Godard does this with a conceit that seems at least tangentially (and perhaps unintentionally) related to another master filmmaker, Ingmar Bergman, in at least one of that artist’s most singular visions, The Magician and perhaps even with regard to The Seventh Seal. Godard has obviously long been concerned with structure and certain “meta” issues which ironically inform his work on a sometimes subliminal level, but in the auteur’s rather singular filmography For Ever Mozart is certainly one of his stranger beasts, a film that often seems like the cinematic version of a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces have been scattered across the floor and the viewer is left to infer what exactly the completed picture is supposed to be. One of the oddest things about For Ever Mozart is its setting (or at least its putative setting), the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s which, as devastating as it evidently was, never really rose to the levels of public consciousness that other major conflicts of the 20th century did. The film was evidently inspired by a kind of snarky French article Godard read about an “unnamed woman” (whom commentator James Quandt identifies as Susan Sontag—Susan Sontag!) who attempted to bring supposed joy and light to the beleaguered Bosnians by putting on a production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Now that may strike many readers as patently odd, for the Beckett play is (unfairly in my opinion) often pilloried for being nearly as obtuse as any given Godard film, but the fact is the play is absolutely hilarious when seen in live performance (rather than simply read, which seems to be the default way many contemporary people experience it). One way or the other, the article suggested a more appropriate playwright might have been the 18th century French author Pierre de Marivaux. For some reason, that idea intrigued Godard, and he used that basic (if rather flimsy) foundation to support a quadrilateral collage of typically heady philosophizing and critique.
For Ever Mozart is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. As with Cohen's simultaneous release of Hail Mary, this high definition is a lustrous presentation of the film—with one important caveat (not transfer related). Unlike the summery Hail Mary, For Ever Mozart is often pretty wintry in ambience, with slate gray skies, snow, and trees barren of any leaves. That tends to make the color palette here relatively monochromatic, though bursts of hue still penetrate individual scenes. The somewhat pallid appearance of the film (which, again, is accurate to the source) is more than offset by the general excellence in both clarity and depth of the image. Contrast is also very strong throughout this presentation. As with Hail Mary, the image does not appear to have been digitally manipulated in any meaningful way, and the result is a beautifully organic and natural viewing experience.
For Ever Mozart's sound design is typically Godardian, and the LPCM 2.0 track here (in the original French) presents it cleanly and clearly. As with many films in Godard's oeuvre, the director seems to delight in abrupt changes in the soundscape, and the rendering here is flawless, with excellent fidelity and surprising dynamic range. With all of this said, aside from some brief bursts of gunfire and similar effects, the film is awfully talky, without much in the way of a sonic "wow" factor.
Jean-Luc Godard is a filmmaker who is incredibly easy to admire, but who is often hard to actually love. That's probably the case once again with For Ever Mozart. While some aspects of this film are relatively straightforward (at least in the arcane world of Godard), there's the typical Godardian obfuscation at hand in virtually every segment of the film. As mentioned above, "Art isn't easy", and evidently Godard isn't about to help make it any easier for his audience. This is a film that virtually requires repeated viewings, and the good news here is the Cohen's package offers excellent technical merits and some really good supplemental features. Recommended.
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