Made in U.S.A. (1966)
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 19
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 1,658
My Rating
Movie Info
Jean-Luc Godard directed this brightly colored, pop-art homage to American crime cinema, which somehow finds room for extended commentary on leftist politics and the corrupt nature of advertising. Paula Nelson (Anna Karina) is a mystery woman (Is she a reporter? Perhaps a spy?) who used to be involved with Richard, a man who is now an outspoken Communist and has been linked to the murder of a foreign agent. Paula wants to silence Richard before he starts making trouble for her, but she can't
Dec 3, 1966 Wide
Jul 21, 2009
Cast
-
Anna Karina
Paula Nelson -
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Donald Siegel -
Laszlo Szabo
Richard Widmark -
Kyoko Kosaka
Doris Mizoguchi -
Claude Bakka
Man with Marianne Faith... -
Jean-Pierre Biesse
Richard M. Nixon -
Jean-Claude Bouillon
Inspector Aldrich -
Marianne Faithfull
Herself -
Remo Forlani
Workman in Bar -
Philippe Labro
Himself -
Rita Maiden
Woman Who Gives Paula I... -
Ernest Menzer
Edgar Typhus -
Alexis Poliakoff
Man with Notebook and R... -
Jean-Luc Godard
Richard Politzer's Shad... -
Yves Afonso
David Goodis -
Marc Dudicourt
Barman -
Charles Bitsch
Taxi Driver
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All Critics (19) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (2) | DVD (1)
Gorgeous, minor, and pivotal.
Top CriticIn terms of Godard's body of work, the 1966 film is as challenging as it is important.
If Made in U.S.A doesn't merit a place, with Weekend and Band of Outsiders, on the Godard's Greatest Hits compilation, it is still a great lost B side.
It's still essential for those interested in watching the filmmaker take cinema to new levels of allusion and modernist game playing.
Jean-Luc Godard's Made in U.S.A. is not the celluloid holy grail, but it's close enough.
The film takes the premise for an interesting 15 minute short, and tries to turn it into a 90 minute feature, and stretch marks are evident in almost every scene
This is Godard redefining image in his uniquely cheeky spontaneous pop art style.
While in theory it all sounds very interesting and intriguing and, well, Godardian, the whole never really comes together
A celebration of cinephilia and a blueprint of the writer/directors obsessions, personal and political.
The DVD release of this bold, long-unavailable tour de force should be an event to Godard-heads everywhere.
Godard's films are records (documentaries, even) of personal interests, ecstasies, and agonies at a particular time in the artist's life.
The fresh bombast of U.S.A.'s abnormal groove may not measure up to the other elaborate, beautiful contraptions that were made in Godard's peak years, but it makes many current films look stagnant, if not outright dated.
Few filmmakers can match Godard's abilities with color, composition and movement.
Godard fires dozens of ideas at the audience, and switches weapons in mid-stream, but if you only pick up a few ideas along the way, then Made in U.S.A. has succeeded.
The foreground drama ends on a query, while the Gallic hills and highways stretch to eternity. FIN.
In a time of severe economic uncertainty, it's questionable whether even the most esoteric of New Wave adherents will want to wallow in this kind of Godardian excess -- though it's also quite possible that the film has never been more timely.
Made in U.S.A. is a tonic experience; its style is both vibrant and severe like Godard's 1985 Detective. But it's also Godard's most soulful movie.
While not one of Godard's best films, Made in U.S.A. does have its moments, many of them comic, such as the absurd dialogue in the bar scenes.
Audience Reviews for Made in U.S.A.
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On a gem-within-a-pile-of-shit/looking-on-the-bright-side note, I liked the subtle post-structuralism here: the characters frequently refer to the fact that they're in a film, and some of the landmarks are named after famous film directors. This is how I think post-structuralism is effective.
The mystery plot, which I suspected might dominate the film's action, is almost unintelligible. I normally try to guess the culprit, but even at the end I didn't know who did it. The main problem with the film is that by that point I didn't care. I'm just happy I got blackjack.