This starts out with a lot of energy and quick wit, but when things get so obtuse that you just can’t follow any narrative at all, the mind can’t help but wander. Even at 85 minutes, this felt very long. Still, the few scenes that do sparkle (this is, ostensibly, a tone poem about art and its relationship to warfare) are very entertaining. There is a subplot of people screaming “Oui!” and “Non!” at each other that is downright perfect. Also, there are some actual battle sequences here – with explosions! That’s pretty new to the Godard canon. People screaming about Victor Hugo, Albert Camus and socialism, well….that has its own charm, I suppose.
