Charlotte and Her Boyfriend
Early Short Films of the French New Wave
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13m
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard • Drama • 1958 • 13 minutes
“Let me finish,” Jules (Jean-Paul Belmondo, voiced by Jean-Luc Godard) repeatedly tells his ex Charlotte (Anne Colette) without ever pausing long enough for her to actually say anything. When Charlotte appears in his apartment eating an ice cream cone, Jules assumes she has come to beg forgiveness and launches into a 12-minute rant. While chomping on a cigar, he berates her for leaving him for someone in the movie business, raves about the stupidity of cinema, repeatedly calls her an idiot, and begs her to come back to him, promising to buy her an Alfa Romeo — one day. What could have been an exercise in misogyny becomes a wry and funny commentary on toxic masculinity and relationships, with a wonderful twist at the end.
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