Made in U.S.A

The title insinuated that the political left and the right were created in the U.S.A. In the ending scene it was said that the right is simply cold and mindless, while the left is compassionate and understanding. The film was a political statement, promoting leftist politics. Since these statements were constantly interrupting the loose plot, it was often difficult to understand. However, this was Godard’s intention—the plot was simply another element included in this collaboration of politics, metaphors, interruptions, vibrant colors, beautiful shots, and all around bizarre sometimes incomprehensible random events.

Anna Karina played a very different role in this film than the two prior films. Instead of an innocent and naïve little girl, Karina was a powerful leftist investigative reporter that wasn’t afraid to kill of her cause. I enjoyed her character and found it out of the ordinary that Godard made his female lead have power. However, I did not enjoy the film.

Yes, aesthetically the film was very pleasing, but conceptually it was all over the place. I am aware that Godard often has a loose plot, but this film did not even have the metaphors and political statement organized—making them lost in the confusion. It seemed thrown together and self indulgent while relying on passing as “artsy”, “different” or the statement “oh that Godard is making us think again.” It seemed as if twenty ideas were carelessly injected in one tiring script—which burned any hopes of making a plausible argument of radical idealism to ashes.