Anthony Lane in The New Yorker (print) reports that Film Forum in NYC is showing a new print of one of my all-time favorite films, and one of my favorite Godard films: A Woman Is a Woman. Lane is precisely right about why this film is great and deserves to be seen. It's actually gratifying to hear an established critic articulate exactly how I've always felt about this film.

Sometimes derided as slight compared to some of his other films, and alternately, as pretentious, cold, and any other number of things, I've always thought it was one of his most engaging and exuberant films, one that anticipates some of his more cerebral and difficult work later while maintaining the sense of warmth, color, and sensitivity that things like Pierrot Le Fou, and Breathless have.

It also helps that it celebrates--and also exposes as potentially shallow--certain things I love in life: cycling for one. The scene of Emile riding his bicycle around the apartment is a beautiful image; a wonderful example of the poetry of moving images. It's also an example of how masterfully Godard is able to both seduce and gently mock the viewer; a silent laugh is the finest response I can think of.

I've sometimes wondered if the archival footage of whom I think is Federico Bahamontes and the figurines of cyclists in a mock race in Amelie weren't a subtle homage to this film. In fact, I dare say that Amelie in general owes something to the spirit of earlier Godard...that playfulness and freedom that borders on anarchic; less astringent than Godard of course, but indeed wonderful.