Bande à part (Band of Outsiders) poster & wallpaper
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Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur, Sami Frey, Louisa Colpeyn, Michel Delahaye ... see more see more... , Danièle Girard , Ernest Menzer , Georges Staquet , Jean-Luc Godard , Claude Makovski

One of pioneering director Jean-Luc Godard's most accessible films is this French spin on Dolores Hitchens' novel Fool's Gold. It tells the tale of three disaffected youths who plan a burglary, leadin... read more read more...g to deadly results. The alienated young trio is marvelous, particularly Anna Karina, and the early scenes of their clearly overdeveloped fantasy lives are splendidly handled. Something of a companion piece to Godard's classic À Bout de Souffle, its young characters have the same odd mixture of fatalism and starry-eyed naïveté that is, by turns, appealing and tragic. Trivia buffs should note that the film gave its name to Quentin Tarantino's production company (A Band Apart), and several of its scenes are echoed in his Pulp Fiction. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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90% liked it

11,451 ratings

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95% liked it

40 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard

Release Date: March 15, 1964

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DVD Release Date: January 7, 2003

Stats: 827 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (827)

  • fb1216165431
    September 10, 2011
    fb1216165431
    Band Of Outsiders is an influential French New Wave classic by Jean-Luc Godard that features a relaxed and youthful band of three scheming an inside robbery. Endearing. Appealing.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    December 11, 2010
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "A few clues for latecomers: Several weeks ago... A pile of money... An English class... A house by the river... A romantic young girl..."

    Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.

    ... read more=+2 face="Century Schoolbook">REVIEW
    Very much in the same vein as his break-out hit Breathless, Band of Outsiders works just the way it is supposed to, an homage to the pulp crime novels and B- movies of America. Here, however, it is all set to the gorgeous and timeless scenery of Paris along with three very bright and engaging people. Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur play Franz and Arthur, two young men who seem to be going nowhere in life except the occasional English class and cruising around in their speedy black, American car. They meet up with a girl they both admire, Odile, played wonderfully by the beautiful Anna Karina, and soon are setting up a plot to steal money from her aunt's boarding house.

    This is about all the plot there is and about all the plot there needs to be. Since this is based on a dime-store novel by Dolores Hitchens, Godard knew that the climax would be the actual crime. However, what to fill the rest of the time with? Perhaps a fantastic dance number right in the middle of a Parisian restaurant, or the famous scene of the three characters running through the great halls of the Louvre. There are also some very interesting dialog scenes, such as when Arthur and Odile discuss why they like each other, or Arthur and Franz exchanging morbid stories from the newspaper.

    Like most of Godard's other work, many people will be turned off by his eccentric, offbeat cinematic version of the human condition. Indeed, although he was heavily inspired by American crime tales such as Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, there is a definite French twist here which is all the more entertaining for us. Still, this is certainly one of Godard's best work; completely original and thought-provoking as well as shot in beautiful, stark black-and-white cinematography that captures the rough and rugged era of Paris. Keep your mind open to the possibilities and you may just learn something... or nothing.
  • sanjurosamurai
    January 13, 2010
    sanjurosamurai
    godards cool and sleek robbery film is a unique addition to the genre. its hard to call this a heist film since the actual robbery is poorly planned and takes very little running time, but the circumstances surrounding the robbery make for a very interesting film. the dance seq... read moreuence in the cafe had charm and the characters were so flawed that i couldnt help but wonder how things would turn out for all of them. karina played her character with a great blend of sex appeal and innocence, and the "real time" layout of the events made for a very realistic experience. with the solid dialogue as the main feature, godards most melvillian film is a good one.
  • tsigur
    September 23, 2009
    tsigur
    I liked the style of the film, but it didn't blow me away. It's a fairly simple story and I liked the narrator aspect making it feel like a novel. Yes, the dance sequence in the cafe is cool.I just think the fact that there are some breaking of the rules by Godard just to be diff... read moreerent kind of takes away from the simplicity of the story and takes away from the movie. I understand that half the point of French New Wave was to add to modern day cinema by deconstructing it, but this had a couple of things that I felt were unnecessary. Either way, the acting is good and I have always been a Truffaut guy over Godart. I really don't get why everyone loves Breathless either. It's really just a shitty crime film with a scene in a hotel that lasts forever. This is kind of the same, but at least it's actors make it charming.
  • mjgildea
    November 2, 2006
    mjgildea
    Worth it alone for the dance scene. A fun movie.
  • gator681
    August 19, 2005
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Band of Outsiders" is a movie directed by Jean Luc Godard about a trio of young adults. Odile(Anna Karina) meets and becomes quite friendly with two wannabe gangsters, Arthur(Claude Brasseur) and Franz(Sami Frey), in an English class. Odile is living a clo... read moreistered existence with her aunt who is living with a very wealthy man, Mr. Stolz. Together, Odile, Arthur and Franz plan to rob Stolz.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]"Band of Outsiders" is an aimless movie about the aimless lives that young people live. This is an improvement over most other Godard movies I have seen because it is actually about something - the influence that America has on France, specifically Coca Cola, B-Movies and the need to learn English. The definite highlight of the movie is a dancing number in a cafe.[/font]
  • fb1266827685
    December 25, 2010
    fb1266827685
    This film is not your standard film, even compared to Godard's other work (at least what I have seen of it).
    Compared to films like "Breathless" or "A Woman Is A Woman", this film does not have as well of a developed plot, but it is quite fun to watch.
    Jean-Luc Godard would w... read morerite pieces of the script every night during production and then reveal the next piece of the plot to the cast and crew the next morning, and that method of work itself may have definitely been what made the film feel as if it were bouncing about, but at the same time it made it feel like life. A lot of the film dabbles with concepts of Americanization, and poverty which is pretty interesting.
    The entire film is narrated quite poetically, and sometimes it feels out of place, but at the same time, the narration is one of the best parts of the movie. The film relied upon sound and editing (or the lack of) for a lot of its humor, and the actors were sensational.
    Sure, the story could have been stronger, but it was a lot of fun.
    Godard's influence on several of today's directors (Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson) is quite clear through this film as well.
  • alanjayh
    August 9, 2009
    alanjayh
    this movie was suposedly wai's inspiration for chungking express, my fave all time movie..however this movie jut is not all that...its watchable yes..just not that interesting...Karina is alluring to say the least..but overall the movie just so-so
  • smootysveen
    August 9, 2009
    smootysveen
    Doesn't force aesthetic distance as much as many of Godard's other works. By the time the heist goes down, I'm right there with the characters.
  • mattsigur1
    June 14, 2009
    mattsigur1
    There are scenes that are great, but the narrator takes away from the subtlety of this film.
    The dancing scene is great, and the comedy of the table scene is also nice, but the way it unfolds seems forced. And the "the end" type ending really seems half-assed, even for a 1966 film.

View All Bande à part (Band of Outsiders) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
March 3, 2008
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

This 1964 feature remains one of Godard's most appealing and underrated films, relatively relaxed and strangely optimistic. Full Review

Philip Wuntch
January 17, 2002
Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News

As charming as seasoned film buffs remember and as refreshing as initiates expect. Full Review

John Monaghan
January 4, 2002
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

Delivers one clever idea atop another. Full Review

Steven Rosen
December 7, 2001
Steven Rosen, Denver Post

The structure of the film feels like freedom. And truth. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
December 6, 2001
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

Watching it, you can almost sense the way the world looked and smelled back in the heyday of the young Beatles and the dying Hollywood Golden Age. Full Review

Chris Fujiwara
September 7, 2001
Chris Fujiwara, Boston Globe

An inexhaustible meditation on how the world is formed by desire.

Andrew Sarris
August 31, 2001
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it before. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
August 21, 2001
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Shows [Godard] at his most amusing, and that is no small thing. Full Review

Charles Taylor
August 21, 2001
Charles Taylor, Salon.com

Perhaps Godard's loveliest movie, certainly his tenderest and most accessible. Full Review

John Anderson
August 17, 2001
John Anderson, Newsday

A masterpiece of mood, nuance and emotion. Full Review

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