The first two episodes of 'Histoire(s)' are closely tied together, and the second just feels like no more than a logical continuation of the first. That is not to say Godard doesn't delve into any more topics, as he does, it's just that the style is very much consistent w/the episode previous. The second episode may be somewhat easier to comprehend only b/c at this point Godard has made the viewer more used to his wildly experimental antics, but Godard still refuses to make his film any less difficult to penetrate and even remotely understand. It's the closest thing I've seen to a collage on film, w/sounds layered atop music, all of it fading in and out, some of the music including songs by Otis Redding and Leonard Cohen, as words, often quotations, film titles, or the names of various famous cinematic figures, are layered atop images of things that range from images of the Lumiere Brothers and Natalie Wood to images of Adolf Hitler and warfare, and there's all these constant clips playing from all sorts of movies, lots of transparent imagery, some shots of Godard near the bookshelf and smoking a cigar, rambly voice over work by Godard, it just takes what the first episode did and gets perhaps even more dense and confusing. It seems, however, that the following episodes may lead to some sort of change of pace considering how many years later they were made, and I'm honestly extremely curious to see where Godard takes me next. As difficult and dense this journey has thus far been, it's also been oddly enjoyable and, for me, extremely, and surprisingly, compulsively watchable.
Review of Une histoire seule
