La Chinoise (1967) was the thirteenth narrative feature film by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. This is a political film that takes place at a small apartment in Paris and centers around the interactions of four students. Thematically, the film concerns late 1960s left-wing political interest in theorists/leaders Mao, Marx, Lenin, Althusser; and the role certain objects and organizations (such as Mao’s Little Red Book, the French communist party, and small leftist groups) play in this group’s ideology.
The early scences are washed out full-color shots of The Rolling Stones in a sound studio, recording and rerecording various parts to their song, “Sympathy for the Devil.” The Rolling Stones portions of the film are generally held of high regard, since “Sympathy for the Devil” is one of their classic songs. The dissolution of Stone Brian Jones is vividly portrayed, and the tragic chaos of 1968 is made clear when a line referring to the killing of (John F.) Kennedy is heard changed to the plural after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June.
Interwoven through the movie are outdoor shots of Black Panthers milling about in a junkyard littered with the rusting bodies of Chryslers and Oldsmobiles heaped upon each other. There are also scenes of Black Panthers tossing their rifles to each other, from man to man, as if in an assembly line, readying for an impending battle.
The rest of the film is riddled with political diatribe in the form of a voiceover about the need for revolution, Marxism, and other topics that Godard took a fancy to. One scene involves a camera crew following a woman about, played by Anne Wiazemsky, in an outdoor wildlife setting. She’s dressed in a flowing white gown, but no matter what she is asked, she always answers “yes” or “no.” As can be seen from the chapter heading to this scene, she is supposed to be a personification of democracy, a woman named Eve Democracy.
Lenny Flatley is not a Wiccan, a Scientologist or a registered Democrat. He will never finish his long promised account of the six months he spent on the Womens PGA Tour (for liability reasons). He is currently listening to the song "Words" by Doves. If you must contact him, he prefers that you do it on myspace.
“To the Sirens first shalt thou come…”
This country will give you a war if you want it, and it will give you all the consumer benefits of a system that creates war, if you want it, while keeping the war itself safely stashed away. And if you’re not satisfied, you can always get a lap dance.
