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Clusters of surrealism being tossed from one moment to the next. Cinema is a deranged marionette and Godard is gleefully tugging at its strings, making it move in twisted, demented contortions. This marionette's movements are often dark, sometimes sad, and very funny. this marionette is Godard's hidden gem "Keep Your Right Up", an obscure avant garde comedy (?) that is in equal parts a surreal comedy and philosophical journey through Godard's unconventional and sometimes warped mind. It's also a musical at times, as well as a strange melodrama...it also works as cinematic poetry...it also works as an occasionally pretentious, symbolism infested art house film...this movie is many things.

Often entertaining and sometimes simply laugh out loud hilarious, this weird experimental flick is unlike almost any other film there is. Some may call it random, some may call it genius. Plenty will likely find it boring, but i found it to be uproariously entertaining, although flawed. The best thing this weird little movie has going for it is its sense of humor. Godard is able to inject jokes in the middle of this chaotic mess that range from the dark to the absurdist to the satirical to the witty. Both physical and verbal forms of comedy are utilized, sometimes at the same time, and it is endlessly fun to view some of these wacky, wildly unpredictable bits. The rest of the film shines with its great moments, but as a whole is a bit too messy to be hailed as a masterpiece. This is one of those movies that I really need to watch multiple times in order to even get the faintest idea of whatever Godard was going for. Perhaps this whole movie was one of his practical jokes; it has no meaning, it's just a bunch of silly fun that happens to be jammed with literary references, philosophical rambling, bizarre editing, music numbers, and graceful poetry. Considering the rest of Godard's insane filmmaking career, such a combination of mood and oddities would not be surprising if it was revealed to be some kind of puzzling prank.

Whatever Godard's intentions may be, he still created a damn fine avant garde-comedy-drama-fantasy-musical-satire-meta-whatever-I don't f*cking know film that is likely to at the very least amuse those who are used to more nonlinear and experimental filmmaking. It will warp your mind, and maybe even enrage you, but it will also tickle your funny bone in the process.

Godard is having fun here (fun is not characteristic of most of his work). He's playing the idiot of Dostoievsky's novel, a director who won't compromise his work. As he did in One plus One with the Rolling Stones, he's working with a band, Les Rita Mitsouko, as they put together the various strands of their new song. I suspect the challenge of constructing watchable material out of the recording studio chaos was the appeal for Godard.

The story is goofy; more like a Pierre Richard slapstick comedy than the intellectual films of the 60's. This must hold the record, for a Godard film, of cameo performances. The only really memorable sequence is on board a plane; with the passengers crammed in their seats and doing lots of shtick, it's a little like Duck Soup.

Don't you hate self-obsessed writers, directors and stars? Perhaps not after this. Jean-Luc Godard is all three in a wry drama looking very close to home. The lead character, y'see, is an annoyingly perfectionist film-maker determined to wring every last drop of the finest performance possible from his stars. No lengths are too long for this guy as he begs his players to put their souls into their performances. Perhaps it's an overdue, overwrought apology to the actors he's worked with, but Godard fashions a watchable, knowing drama. If you liked "Living In Oblivion", this is a good companion piece: it's not always the case that troubles are anyone's fault but the director's.

Keep Your Right Up (1987)

* (out of 4)

As is the case with a lot of the films from director Jean-Luc Godard, trying to describe the "story" is somewhat pointless because there isn't one. What little story you can get out of this film is that Godard plays a film director who is given twenty-four hours to complete a movie and he must then deliver the movie within that same time. Godard takes the film can and goes on an adventure to try and deliver the product.

KEEP YOUR RIGHT UP is a film that seems to get mixed reviewed even by the biggest fans of the director. If you enjoy Godard's style then I'd say you've got a good short of enjoying this picture but it just didn't work for me as you can clearly see from my rating. Is this an awful movie or a poorly made one? Absolutely not but at the same time it's rather maddening trying to watch it.

Perhaps maddening is the wrong word because I enjoy Godard's style when the "story" itself is something that interests me or at least holds my attention. The problem here is that the story is just one I found to be incredibly boring and I thought the various characters were boring as well. I've read that this here was an attempt to pay homage to Jerry Lewis and if so it really didn't work. The comedy and various gags just didn't work for me as I found them to be quite unfunny.

Godard is a natural on the screen so his performance was actually one of the bright spots of the film. As I said, if you enjoy Godard's style then you'll probably enjoy this more than I did.

If that was your belief you were wrong! Godard makes his most surreal film to date and outdo Bunuel's L'Age D'or. It is trying a bit too hard though that should be noted. Very little of this film makes sense though there are a few plots going on most of it is so overly weird that you have to laugh at times and that's what it's after. This is Godard's comedy. Now how will Godard make a comedy, I'll tell you how: WEIRD. Nothing I have ever seen, not even Cremaster (ok perhaps Cremaster but not much else) comes close to this. If you love weird just for the case of weirdness and a couple of silly gags this is the film for you!