A day in the life of a Parisian housewife/prostitute, interspersed with musings on the Vietnam War and other contemporary issues.A day in the life of a Parisian housewife/prostitute, interspersed with musings on the Vietnam War and other contemporary issues.A day in the life of a Parisian housewife/prostitute, interspersed with musings on the Vietnam War and other contemporary issues.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Narrator
- (voice)
- Young Man
- (uncredited)
- Girl Talking to Robert
- (uncredited)
- Girl in Bath
- (uncredited)
- Christophe Jeanson
- (uncredited)
- Meter Reader
- (uncredited)
- Marianne
- (uncredited)
- Monsieur Gehrard
- (uncredited)
- Girl
- (uncredited)
- Man in Basement
- (uncredited)
- Author
- (uncredited)
- Pécuchet
- (uncredited)
- John Bogus
- (uncredited)
- Woman in Basement
- (uncredited)
- Bouvard
- (uncredited)
- Robert Jeanson
- (uncredited)
- Roger
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Juliette drops off her daughter at the day care/brothel, there is a painting on the wall of a screen shot of Nana Kleinfrankenheim, portrayed by Anna Karina, in Vivre sa vie (1962).
- Quotes
Narrator: Since social relations are always ambiguous, since my thoughts divide as much as unite, and my words unite by what they express and isolate by what they omit, since a wide gulf separates my subjective certainty of myself from the objective truth others have of me, since I constantly end up guilty, even though I feel innocent, since every event changes my daily life, since I always fail to communicate, to understand, to love and be loved, and every failure deepens my solitude, since - since - since I cannot escape the objectivity crushing me nor the subjectivity expelling me, since I cannot rise to a state of being nor collapse into nothingness - I have to listen, more than ever I have to look around me at the world, my fellow creature, my brother.
- ConnectionsEdited into Notes pour Debussy - Lettre ouverte à Jean-Luc Godard (1988)
There is little plot to the film, and instead Godard uses every film-making technique in his arsenal to take the audience on a journey through the Paris suburbs, having his characters delve into rambling monologues, often responding to questions or regurgitating lines fed through an ear-piece by Godard himself. The main focus is Juliette (Marina Vlady), who occasionally prostitutes herself so she can buy pretty clothes or perhaps just to relieve herself of the boredom of the consumerist lifestyle, while her husband Robert (Roger Monsoret) listens to speeches on the radio regarding America's involvement in Vietnam.
It's with his over-simplified characterisation of Juliette that 2 or 3 Things fails to hit the mark. She is beautiful and intelligent, but seems to only truly love shopping or catching the eye of a handsome man in a cafe. There's little of the free-spirited charisma that Karina embodied in her various roles under Godard, but perhaps that's the point. Themes are often explored with a remarkable lack of subtlety, with the director's obvious opposition to the illegal war in Vietnam cropping up many times throughout the film, with photographs of victims of the war spliced into a rather silly scene involving an 'American' photographer (with a heavy French accent) and his odd fetish with placing bags over ladies heads and having them act out a routine.
Far more impressive are the visuals, with the celebrated shot of a swirling espresso while Godard whispers about his own inadequacy being the most memorable image, and the sheer ambition of a project shot so quickly. Godard is both criticised and adorned for being simply too intellectual and obtuse for film, and 2 or 3 Things is one of the greatest examples of his unwillingness to craft a digestible film for his select audience. The dialogue is often wonderful and poetic, yet sometimes it's rambling nonsense, spoken by characters who have no place in the story, almost as if Godard got bored and moved his camera to a conversation he found more interesting. It's both frustrating and fascinating to see a director of such singular vision, and while there is little of the excitement and energy of his early New Wave work, 2 or 3 Things is an experience like no other.
- tomgillespie2002
- Aug 30, 2016
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- 2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihr weiß
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $104,038
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,214
- Nov 19, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $104,038
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1