Synopsis
During the Algerian war for independence from France, a young Frenchman living in Geneva who belongs to a right-wing terrorist group and a young woman who belongs to a left-wing terrorist group meet and fall in love. Complications ensue when the man is suspected by the members of his terrorist group of being a double agent.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Michel SuborBruno Forestier
- Anna KarinaVeronica Dreyer
- Henri-Jacques HuetJacques
- Paul BeauvaisPaul
- László SzabóLaszlo
- Georges de BeauregardActivist Leader (uncredited)
- Gilbert Edard(uncredited)
- Jean-Luc GodardMan at Railway Station (uncredited)
Recommendations
- 100
Time Out
Even this early in his career, Godard knew how to make audiences viscerally experience and contemplate things they might otherwise not have wanted to. - 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Starting with Le Petit Soldat, Godard was forging his own individualistic art and becoming the most relevant director of our time. - 100
Los Angeles Times
Beyond the timelessness of the story itself, the film is beautifully shot and though early in Godard’s career already showcased his ability to capture emotional intensity in the very way he frames the shots. - 90
Village Voice
It’s a classic espionage plot shot through with a typically heady mix of art and literary references: Klee and Velázquez, Bach and Haydn, Bernanos and Musil. - 88
Slant Magazine
Compared to "Breathless," Le Petit Soldat's images suggest a stronger sense of place, as characters seem inextricably linked to their environment. Overall, the film lacks the artifice of Hollywood cinema, which Godard admired but was looking to move past after catching flack from the French left wing.
