Based on The Jugger:

Made in U.S.A.
(1967)

Movie:

Depiction of Parker:

Parker played by: Anna Karina

Name in film: Paula Nelson

Written and Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard

Although my exposure to Godard's films is somewhat limited, I have yet to see one I like, even though he is highly regarded as a director.  I may not be the ideal candidate to review his films.  Having said that, let me state that Made in U.S.A. is boring and incomprehensible with little to recommend it except for some interesting visuals.

This film is so loosely based on The Jugger, one wonders why they didn't change a couple of plot elements and present it as a totally original work.  The only real similarities to the novel are the opening scene and a scene near the end.  The opening scene has the Parker character, Paula Nelson, approached by Typhus (Tiftus in the book) because Typhus thinks she knows something that she does not in fact know.  Paula (I can't bring myself to call her Parker) decks him on the head and moves him back into his own room.  The scene near the end utilizes the same exchange of confession letters device that was used in the novel.  A visit to the doctor that declared heart failure the cause of death and the death of Typhus are the only other similarities, and those are done very differently than in the book.

Paula is not a thief, she is a reporter.  She is investigating the death of Richard, an ex-lover, whom she suspects was murdered for political reasons.  She gets captured a couple of times, makes alliances, roughs up a few people, and finally the movie ends.  The movie is so completely tied to the 1960s French political situation that Americans like myself are likely to find it completely incomprehensible.  Although nominally a mystery, the mystery isn't the point, so mystery fans are unlikely to find it interesting as the film drums up no suspense whatsoever, instead preferring self-indulgent artiness that might have seemed cool in 1967 when it was novel but now simply seems insufferably pretentious.  Why, for example, does Marianne Faithfull keep cropping up, singing "As Tears Go By" a cappella?  Why do characters keep turning to directly address the camera and then narrate their conversation?  Why do we have to keep watching shots being fired into the word "Liberté"?  What on earth is the point?

A course in French politics might have somewhat improved my appreciation of the film, but I doubt it.  

Availability: Made in U.S.A. is available in French only, without subtitles, from Video Search of Miami.   It's not in their catalog; you have to ask for it via e-mail.  It's about $25.  Don't bother.  It is also available on VHS in Germany. 

Other Cast Members:

Donald Siegel--Jean-Pierre Léaud
Richard Widmark--László Szabó
Taxi Driver--Charles Bitsch
Inspector Aldrich--Claude Bouillon
Barman--Marc Dudicourt
Marianne Faithfull--Herself
Richard Nixon--Jean-Pierre Biesse
Workman in bar--Rémo Forlani
Richard Polizer (voice)--Jean-Luc Godard
David Goodis--Yves Afonso
Robert MacNamara--Sylvain Godet
Doris Mizoguchi--Kyôko Kosaka
Philippe Labro--Himself
Woman who gives Paula information--Rita Maiden
Edgar Typhus--Ernest Menzer
Man with notebook and red telephone--Alexis Poliakoff
Man with Marianne Faithfull--Claude Bakka

Back to The Violent World of Parker