Two or Three Things I Know About Her / Band of Outsiders

TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER (2 OU 3 CHOSES QUE JE SAIS D’ELLE), 1967, Rialto, 100 min. Is she Marina Vlady or Juliette Janson? asks the narrating Godard in a conspiratorial whisper. She’s both: an actress in a film and a housewife from the Paris suburbs who turns tricks in the city to make ends meet. With characters casually addressing the camera, a conversation between complete strangers in a bistro – all underscored by relentless thuddings of a pinball machine – and an unblinking gaze at the cosmic whirls of foam in a coffee cup.

BAND OF OUTSIDERS (BAND À PART), 1994, Rialto, 97 min. In the dreary suburb of Joinville, Claude Brasseur and Sami Frey, and mutual girlfriend Anna Karina, horse around with the idea of burglarizing the villa where she’s staying, but then things go memorably awry. A true jeu d’esprit, with set pieces including the trio doing the Louvre in record time.