For three years, Le Petit Soldat didn't see the light of day. shot in switzerland right after A Bout de Souffle was premiered, the film was banned upon inspection of the ministry of culture, apparently due to a number of violent torture scenes.It's not the follow up to A Bout de Souffle that Godard's growing fanbase had anticipated, that is for sure. Finally released in 1963, it can only be speculated what Godard's career would have looked like if this would have been released as his second feature, instead of the colorful and romantic musical comedy Une Femme est une Femme. Le Petit Soldat is bleak, political, demanding, intelligent and disturbing, and deals with questions about political intentions and their consequences as much as with film theory. It is shot on faded black and white film, and even though the cinematography is highly aestheticized, the film is nowhere near the beauty of A Bout de Souffle, and rather aims for a cinéma verité look.
It's also notable that this was the first film of Godard featuring his future wife, Anna Karina, who became his actress of choice and muse. It's also highly debatable what would have happened with Godard - the artist - if he wouldn't have cast her in Le Petit Soldat. As little as her role here is, she radiates with charisma and charm.
Our protagonist is a young french man: Bruno - 26 years old, a deserter of the algerian war who has fled to switzerland and works as an agent of the french government. At times even as an assassin. In flashbacks, which can hardly be discerned from the main narrative, the relationship of him and Karina's character is introduced: she, the girlfriend of a friend, asks the young man, who is a photographer and art-conoisseur, to take her picture. Upon agreeing, he is contacted by two agents, who force him to agree to assassinate a leftist activist that is working with algerian intelligence. Even though Bruno is suspected to work as a double agent he refuses, which leads the agents to plot an arrest warrant. Either the young man agrees to kill the target, or he is delivered to france by the police, where he will be charged for deserting his unit. But any attempt to assassinate the target fail, until Bruno is captured suddenly by arab intelligence, brought to an apartment and tortured.
Godard's focus in the main storyline lies with the lack of difference in the means of either side. Bruno himself is exploited both by the french and arab side, which use him for their means and care little for his own personal or political agenda. Even though the images of torture themselves are disturbing and repelling, the message that both sides are essentially the same and only differing in their political point of view (Bruno even mentions at some point that when the right gain power they reign like the left, and the left the other way around) was likely to be the true cause of the ban. In the end, in showing that the actions taken by both groups are more important than their agenda, Godard came up with a much dangerous message than any visualization of torture could be.
But apart from the political themes, the film also deals with art and cinema. During the photo shoot, Bruno talks a lot about his intention of photographing - how he thinks a photo has to capture the soul of the person in the picture, and that he refers to a photography as the truth (and continues that cinema is 24 truths per second - an often quoted statement). Throughout the film, he compares various things to paintings ("The sky looks like a Klee." "Her eyes were Velasquez grey.") and at some point even states he would like to open an art gallery. In those moments, Bruno is more than just a deserter or assassin - we see him as a young man of intellect with ambitions and dreams, who is caught in a web of international intrigue. During the last act, he even goes as far as to comment on the state of youth in politics. "Each generation had their revolution, but what have we?" This monologue shows Godard's lack of hope in politics, which led him to extreme socialism a few years later. From his point of view, the youth of the early 60s was tired and lacked a sense of purpose. Godard was hungry for a revolution (though one of art and intelligence instead of one equipping torture and assassination).
As for our protagonist, the entire affair ends in tragedy, rendering Le Petit Soldat even more bleak than it already is. Obviously, it didn't need a ban to make Godard decide that his next film would be the entire opposite. Le Petit Soldat, as great as it is, could only be followed by something light and optimistic.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10 - Very Good, should be watched
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