Running Through the Louvre
Godard's own narration near the beginning of the film sums the picture up — "A pile of money. An English class. A house by the river. A romantic girl." The femme in question is Odile, and as played by Anna Karina, it's easy to see why fellow outsiders Arthur (Claude Brasseur) and Franz (Sami Frey) would fall for her. Adding to her allure is the stash of francs she claims is hidden away in the house where she stays and which her two suitors plan to steal, with her assistance.

None of the three characters in Band of Outsiders is very nice — Franz initiates the burglary scheme, Odile says she hasn't patience or kindness, and Arthur suggests to Odile that she become a nurse in order to bump off some old guy and take his money — but Godard manages to endear them to viewers nonetheless. Rather than revealing them as the antiheroes they actually are, their romantic and mercurial qualities are highlighted so that they become almost noble. Noble fools, at the very least.

The film is just as frivolous as its three main characters, featuring a priceless café scene with a delirious melee of seat-switching and Madison-dancing, a sequence where the triumvirate gallops through the Louvre, and a moment where Odile randomly feeds a tiger. But though Band of Outsiders is playful, it also has its serious side. One of the main characters dies, and the futures of the other two remain in doubt at the close. More significantly, writer-director Godard demonstrates how to effortlessly re-invent certain notions of cinema, and what can be of more import than that?

Band of Extras
Though it's perhaps surprising that there is no commentary, the extremely interesting 18-minute visual glossary serves as a mini audio track. The unnamed narrator walks through 31 different allusions and plays on words from the film, from in-joke references to Francois Truffaut and Charlie Chaplin to the sources of the characters' names.

Of equivalent delight are the 1964 brief interview with Godard and present-day reminiscences from Karina and the film's director of photography, Raoul Coutard. Karina offers some insight into the working practices of Godard while Coutard discourses fascinatingly on the various shooting techniques he employed.

Rounding out the extras are Agnès Varda's charming silent short, "Les Fiancés du Pont MacDonald" which uses the comic techniques of Godard, Karina, and Frey to amusing ends, two trailers, and a 16-page booklet featuring Godard's priceless character descriptions and a reprinted interview with the director. Band of Outsiders is presented, gorgeously remastered with improved but optional English subtitles, in the film's original aspect ratio (1.33:1). Getting on this Bandwagon is one of the first cinematic joys of the new year.