Tragicomedy Dell’Arte, or Pierrot Games à la Godard
Abstract
Nadgrodkiewicz reflects on the phenomenon of the durability of a culture model, i.e. commedia dell’arte with its central characters – Pierrot and Columbine. He detects this pattern in Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le Fou. In Godard, this variant takes on the form of a peculiar tragic-comedy dell’arte. Ferdinand, the main hero, and his lover Marianna hide their true faces under masks isolating them from the world. They permanently get involved in absurd and grotesque situations but a series of circumstances leads them inevitably towards the tragic end. Their flight from Paris, car thefts, arms scandals, assaults and unhappy love lead towards death, their final fate. The film is strongly placed in Mediterranean tradition and the pop culture of the 1960s, and its heroes are young people of their time. There have no illusions, are witty and smart, ruthless and self-ironic but desperately helpless in the face of society-imposed commands. Their clownish revolt is doomed to disaster.
Keywords:
commedia dell’arte, Jean-Luc Godard, jesterReferences
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Authors
Grzegorz Nadgrodkiewiczkwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
University of Lodz Poland
Student specjalizacji filmoznawczej na kulturoznawstwie Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego. Interesuje się związkami filmu i teatru.
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Copyright (c) 2000 Grzegorz Nadgrodkiewicz
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