A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse under the weight of its own consumer preoccupations.
Direction
Godard destroys cinematic grammar in real-time, scene by scene.
Editing
Jump cuts, title cards, and that EIGHT MINUTE tracking shot of gridlock.
Writing
Dialogue so savage it makes Buñuel look diplomatic.
Director
Jean-Luc Godard
Mireille Darc
Corinne Durand
Jean Yanne
Roland Durand
Jean-Pierre Kalfon
Le Chef du Front de Libération de la Seine et Oise
Yves Afonso
Gros Poucet (uncredited)
Yves Beneyton
Un Membre du FLSO (uncredited)
Juliet Berto
Une Activiste du FLSO / Jeune Bourgeoise Accidentée (uncredited)
Michèle Breton
Girl in the Woods (uncredited)
Omar Diop
Mon Frère Africain (uncredited)
Jean Eustache
L'Auto-Stoppeur (uncredited)
Paul Gégauff
Le Pianiste (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Godard filmed the legendary traffic jam on an actual highway without permits, causing real chaos he then incorporated into the narrative.
Released weeks before May '68, the film's revolutionary fervor accidentally predicted the largest general strike in French history—Godard spent the actual events making films with the students.
FR
