This was supposed to be Jean-Luc Godard's return to "mainstream film." Are you kidding? New wave had gone so far, this "return" to mainstream is still completely off the wall, incomprehensible, and totally obscene. Full of senseless and exaggerated graphic conversation, it tells more about Godard's twisted imagination than what was supposed to be a depiction of French sexual mores.If I thought all fathers talked about their pubescent daughters as is portrayed here, and all encounters with prostitutes were as mechanically detached as the "role playing" in this film, or that many gay men were as indiscriminate as he depicts, I would think that Godard had some useful social comment going, but I suspect this is all about "Godard" and nothing about "real life."

If you're a fan of film, a cinephile, or took film classes in school, you probably did an entire section on the iconic director Jean-Luc Godard. You might have heard your film buff friends or professors show you why Godard is one of the best filmmakers to ever grace the big screen. And if you've seen any of his films, you would have to agree, which is why Criterion loves releasing his films under the brand.His 1980 film, titled 'Every Man For Himself' was nominated for the Palme d'Or Award at Cannes that year and was almost nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars that same year. Prior to 1980, Godard's films were very experimental in nature and mostly done and a very small budget with small name actors. Godard himself has said that 'Every Man For Himself' was like being reborn again, as this was considered his return to mainstream filmmaking with a decent sized budget and well-known actors.While this film had those new aspects, Godard continued to revert back to his experimental ways with the use of movement and music, particularly using slow motion to elevate certain scenes. What Godard tries to convey and tell us with 'Every Man For Himself' is that no matter the choices you make in life or the paths you decide to go down, you usually end up looking after yourself only. Godard even said that a better title for this film would be 'Save Your Ass'. 'Every Man For Himself' plays out like three separate one-act plays that centers on a certain character in each act. We all know that Godard has influenced tons of directors, one of them being Quentin Tarantino, so it shouldn't be a surprise that each character here and story line cross paths at some point in the film, much like the characters did in 'Pulp Fiction'.We meet Paul Godard, who is a filmmaker who has been having a long affair with a woman named Denise. This ultimately led to his divorce from his ex-wife. Since Paul is a moody son-of-a-gun, and doesn't want to put in the time emotional effort to make Denise happy, she decides she needs move out and live in the country. But Denise also struggles with leaving the unhappy life in the city that she knows in order to make a change for the better. Meanwhile, Paul tries to appease her, but at a distance, as he seems to sabotage himself and relationships, because he wants to be alone.This is conveyed by his very unorthodox conversations and thoughts towards young girls, which is fairly creepy. Paul ends up meeting a prostitute named Isabelle, where after their session, she continues her evening of work with several other clients, who are not above abusing her. But she doesn't seem to mind her line of work or life. Even when her sister comes to town to look for help and money, Isabelle convinces her to become an escort instead of helping out. And while Isabelle looks over the girls under her tutelage and the clients that abuse them, she never breaks, but instead basks in her life choices. Godard perfectly weaves each of these characters into literally running into each other, where each person is forced to make a life decision and get on a better path.As we see Paul, who seems to be his own worst enemy try and be the better father and ex-husband he should be, it's just inevitable for dire consequences to catch up with him. It's quite a brilliant style for Godard too, as he uses the slow motion technique to upgrade these choices we make that influence the rest of our lives. 'Every Man For Himself' might not have the indie look or raw feel as his earlier films, but Godard sure made a great film that makes us look at our own lives and think if we've made the right choices.

Jean-Luc Godard's "comeback" movie is his best work since the 1960's, which is either saying a lot or a little depending on point of view of his work in the past thirty-five years. It actually tells *stories* while having the usual lot of bizarre play and dour commentary on commerce. The acting is also uniformly excellent, and they do a lot without always having to do too much; it's interesting to note Huppert here, the same year she got plopped into Heaven's Gate she got to play another woman 'of the night' as it were, but she fits much better under Godard's hand. It's the kind of movie that reminds me why I keep watching whatever the man does, even after I get burned by one of his more pedantic-semantic movies. It has energy, gusto, and I could put it on any time and feel like I got something new out of the experience.

Sauve Qui Peut loosely translates as "every man for himself" and as such I guess is Godard's acknowledgment that 1968's dream of a new society is gone and everyone has to get on with the daily grind. The three protagonists try and save themselves in different ways, Natalie Baye through getting back to nature, Huppert through selling herself and the director Paul Godard through his work. Everyone however is ground down by the social relations they must operate within.As ever Godard leverages as much of his library as he can into the film, with huge chunks of Duras, Bukowski and sundry other writers cut & pasted in. And he plays the usual games with sound and image, juxtaposing them sometimes to beautiful effect, sometimes dissonant, quite often very funny.A lot of people find Godard's later work somewhat depressing and it's true it mostly lacks the fizz of his early 60's stuff, however there are compensations; he seems to be putting more of his heart as well as his head into the work in later years. There is more than enough here to draw you in and keep you watching for several viewings.