First Name: Carmen(PRÉNOM CARMEN)

In this modernist version (set to music by Beethoven, not Bizet), Carmen reincarnates as a terrorist driven to bank robbery, and Don José is Joseph, a security guard who falls in love with her during the hold-up. Godard himself plays Carmen’s uncle Jean, a sick, washed-up filmmaker languishing in a lunatic asylum. Interspersed with interludes of a string quartet rehearsing the Beethoven works, it is another Godardian essay in sound and images, which tells a seriously funny story of love and death that recalls Pierrot le Fou with its apocalyptic finale.

Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion for Best Film and Technical Prize