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Les Carabiniers (1963) was the fifth narrative feature film by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.

“Les Carabiniers” (1963) tells the story of two poor men called to serve in battle, lured by promises of the world’s riches. Ulysses (Marino Mase) and Michelangelo (Albert Juross) receive letters from the king of their fictional country that allow them to have complete freedom from consequence while fighting in the war, in return for anything they desire-- swimming pools, Maseratis, women-- at the enemy’s expense. The pair leave their wives (Catherine Ribeiro and Genevieve Galea) and cross the battlefields and villages, destroying and pillaging as they wish. The pair’s exploits are recounted through postcards sent to their wives, telling tales of the horrors of battle. The previously idealistic idea that the men have of war disintegrates, as they are still poor and now wounded. They return home with a suitcase full of postcards of the splendors of the world that they have fought for, and are told by army officials that they must wait until the war ends to receive their pay. One day, the sky explodes with sparks, and the couples race into town, believing that the war has ended. Ulysses and Michelangelo are informed by their superiors that their king has lost the war, and that all of the war criminals must be punished. The two men are then shot for their crimes.

This film adamantly shows Godard’s anti-war sentiments. The film was clearly made to solidify the feelings of disgust that Godard felt towards battle. The look of the film was carefully selected. Godard used footage from newsreels to splice together with his own film; the new scenes were shot on grainy, black and white film and purposefully developed to look even grittier. The effect is very similar to an old wartime newsreel, and is not forgiving on the actors’ images.

Godard’s political views become glaringly apparent in an execution scene. A young revolutionary and her companion attempt to shoot Michelangelo, but his comrades capture the two. The girl is very young and quotes Lenin, and tells a fable of the falseness of war as the soldiers prepare to shoot her. The girl appears to be Godard’s representation of a voice of the true nature of war. The commander orders that Michelangelo cover her face with a handkerchief before she is executed, or else the soldiers wouldn’t shoot. She says that “The gas mask is a simple toy,” and likens killing in battle to a carnival game with arbitrary rules. When the men do finally shoot her, they overcompensate, riddling her body with bullets long after it would be apparent that she is dead. This can be seen as a metaphor for the ignorance that the soldiers maintain; if they see the truth, that their fighting is useless, they must destroy any trace of the evidence.

Another social commentary that Godard seems to be expressing is his feelings towards materialism. The men are tempted into battle with empty promises of riches, that their letters from the king will give them the leverage to gain whatever they want. When Ulysses goes into a car dealership and tries to exchange his letter for a Maserati, he is brutally rebuffed by the salesman. “That won’t do,” he says, “You need a lot of money.” The cruel brush-off of the rich man to the poor is clear here. When the two soldiers return home with a suitcase of postcards, the women are fascinated, but not for long. Soon they are asking when they will have the real possessions that the images represent. They are more excited by the prospect of riches than by their husbands’ return. Another topic is how easily the poor are duped by notions of grandeur. The soldiers and king certainly take advantage of those with nothing, just as a capitalistic society does.

The film, while it does has its fictional elements, has an ending that is sadly realistic. The betrayal that Ulysses and Michelangelo face seems almost like a fate that could have come from a true political decree. Cleopatre and Venus are also punished, as soldiers grab them and chop their hair off. They are truly innocent, yet are treated the same way as the true criminals. The ultimate paradox of the film is that the various atrocities the two soldiers perform in the king’s name is what does them in.

• Les Carabiniers at the Internet Movie Database

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