Every Man for Himself

Released Oct 8, 1980

1h 29m

Drama

List

90%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The lives of a man (Jacques Dutronc), a woman (Nathalie Baye) and a prostitute (Isabelle Huppert) intersect.

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william k

Godard's 'return' to mainstream cinema, if you dare call it that, reveals a new, sovereign handling of image, sound, music and editing; the result is a complex, irritating, but likewise fascinating work of art.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Godard's "second first film" intertwines narratives with the filmmaker's distinctive style.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

Welcome to a semi-autobiographical tale by Jean Luc Godard. One of the principal actors is indeed Godard himself (Jacques Dutronc). It's a multiple plot tale, revolving around the central theme of failed relationships. That of his on and off again girlfriend (Nathalie Baye) , his ex-wife (Paule Muret) and daughter (Cécile Tanner) and a one-night stand with a prostitute (Isabelle Huppert). It was hailed as his return to linear storytelling (being his other films can be quite esoteric). But it is still classic Godard with some outrageous dialogue (with the Italian car attendant) and unsettling frank discussion about entering prostitution (Huppert and Anna Baldaccini) being just two examples. The cinematography adds to the film's mystic, periodically having "slow motion" shots to illustrate loneliness and desperation sometimes met in life. The surprisingly strong performance of Huppert not as a femme fatale but that of a dispassionate woman trying to just make ends meet. Dutronc does a good job of being a man trapped in misery trying to end the cycle of failed relationships, while a brief but all too real performance of Paule Muret and Cécile Tanner were scene stealers. Nathalie Baye does give a strong performance as the "other woman" or "wronged lover" role, trying to move on literally (her ex-lover is taking forever to rent out their former love nest). Figuratively (most shots she is alone, e.g: long biking, walking shots, her moving out the country, away form the city). She even tries desperately to seduce her photographer friend (Michel Cassagne) who ends up finding her repulsive. Carefully crafted we find how all of these multiple plot points coalesce into a linear denouement that is abrupt but also gives a bittersweet conclusion to to this menagerie of lost souls. With everything said and done this might be one of my favorite yarns spun by Mr Godard. It's uncluttered design both intrigued me and kept me watching. While being a more conventional story it also gives the audience "shock factor" in ways that thickens the plot with twists and turns similar to Nathalie Baye's bicycle in the French countryside. There is once again no small scene in the masterstroke by Jean Luc Godard.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

good return to film from the master director Goddard

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

"I don't feel like having ideas anymore." A post-revolutionary (after a *failed* revolution), post-La Chinoise, post-Weekend, post-marriage/relationship Godard movie. And the most explicitly self-critical (critical of Godard), and female (from a female perspective), Godard movie I've seen.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

There were better films releases in 1980, but this film might be the most artistically unique.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Jean-Luc Godard

Director

Isabelle Huppert

Isabelle Rivière

Jacques Dutronc

Paul Godard

Nathalie Baye

Denise Rimbaud

Roland Amstutz

Actor

Fred Personne

Actor

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

With his formal, four-part ordering of the narration, the tension he establishes and exploits between sound track and image, and his use of slow motion to analyze and abstract the action, Godard pulls an aesthetic victory from the jaws of utter nihilism.

Nov 9, 2021

Full Review

Jesse Cataldo

Slant Magazine

Is Godard the prostitute or the pimp?

Rated: 3.5/4

Nov 11, 2010

Full Review

Kenneth Turan

New West/California

Godard's new work is certainly arresting, audacious, provocative and all the rest, but it is also tedious, difficult to sit through, a film made for critics and dissertation writers and almost no one else.

Jun 17, 2022

Full Review

Sean Burns

Crooked Marquee

A brutal examination of transactional relationships that feels eerily prophetic today, as if Godard had already seen the dire ends to which the 1980s would bring us.

Jun 11, 2022

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It's the real deal for true movie lovers.

Rated: A-

Jun 9, 2022

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

SoHo Weekly News

In the latest lovely, desperate film by one of the most brilliant filmmakers alive, Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man for Himself should be seen by everyone interested in movies or in life, without hesitation or delay.

Nov 9, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

The lives of a man (Jacques Dutronc), a woman (Nathalie Baye) and a prostitute (Isabelle Huppert) intersect.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Claude Carrière, Anne-Marie Miéville
Distributor: New Yorker Films, MK2 Diffusion
Production Co: Zoetrope Studios, CDIC
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 8, 1980, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 27, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $56.0K
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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