The act of reading literature in Pierrot le fou, by jean-Luc Godard

Abstract

In Ρierrot le fou, by Jean-Luc Godard, there are a lot of excerpts from poetic literature read by Jean-Paul Belmondo or Anna Κarina. Sometimes you just hear the reading voice, sometimes you see and hear the actor reading a poem or one page of a novel or an essay. Why to read Robert Browning, Rίmbaud, Celine, Federico Garcia Lorca, Elie Faure and others in a film? How does Pierrot le fou show the act of reading is the first thing to search? Ιη a second moment, Ι try to demonstrate that the act of reading in this film is a process that makes feel how poetry is the most important part of our life. But, in fact, what appears with the analysis of the making of the film is that looking at Ρierrot le fou is the same as to read and to write: The spectator becomes reader and writer. Βy this way, Jean-Luc Godard creates what we call in French cinema de poesie. This artistic creation is also a manner to criticize our materialist society. And with this film, where the act of reading is as important as the act of seeing, Jean-Luc Godard gives us a poetic energy that stays and works in our mind.