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My 2nd viewing of La Chinoise was revelatory. The Enlightenment. (I would rather chew tinfoil on the first viewing.)
Of the 20 Godards I've seen, I find this one to be the most......yes, I shall say it.......suspenseful. It's almost King Kongian (1933) in it's slow and careful buildup. ("We don't see the monster until 60mins in.") We endure lecture / parody / satire / skit / confusion / contradiction / naivetee / Communism 101 / The Politics Of 1967 (or May 1968, wow!!) for what seems an eternity, but all the while something is brewing / ready to boil.....and when that decision/course is reached, I sat there Spellbound, in awe of the Hitchcocian journey in disguise that I was taken on to this point. The train dialogue with Jeanson serves as breather and teaser....(get that monster over to New York!) It's such a brillaint scene, static camera on the window view, conversants.....until the plot is revealed. OK I'm slightly drunk. But this admittedly very dated film must certainly be one of Godard's most gloriously calculatingly paced / structured / inclined (ie uphill slope) works. When push comes to shove, plotwise, I was Breathless. It was....dare I say it....Mansonian in it's horrificness.
I shall be crucified for this post, I know it. But La Chinoise really hit me on viewing #2.
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