Je vous salue, Marie

Hail Mary is done in the exact same style as the only other late Godard film I've seen, First Name: Carmen, which, I believe, he did right before this one. The narrative is fractured, much more so than even his classical films such as Breathless and Pierrot le fou, and it is impossible to understand exactly what's going on. Like in many of his early films, he plays with sound effects and music. It may have been clever and interesting in Une femme est une femme, but it has grown old here.

Still, Hail Mary, like First Name: Carmen, musters enough mood to make it well worth seeing. With First Name: Carmen, I was interested at the beginning and bored by the end. Here, although the prologue is quite good, the first half of the real film bothered me, and the second half grew more interesting as it progressed. What I'm saying here is that you have to stick with it and be patient. It can be rewarding.

Also, Hail Mary seemed to me one of Godard's more visually accomplished films, probably second to Vivre sa vie. You'll see some of the most gorgeous photographs of clouds and the sun, the moon, fields, flowers, and nude women. Some of the nudes are absolutely stunning and it never felt to me pornographic (unlike First Name: Carmen). They reminded me of beautiful paintings that I have seen by the likes of Lucien Freud (I don't know if people know him, but I was particularly struck by some of his sleeping nudes; I think he is the son of Sigmund, and I know he was a companion of Francis Bacon). Other more abstract photos reminded me of Picasso. 7/10.

Let's just get this out of the way: Either you "get" Jean-Luc Godard, or you don't. He's a little like some of the abstract expressionist painters: some find beauty within their works, others see nothing but washes of color. He also works in a very impressionistic manner, and for anyone looking for traditional storytelling, most of his films will be frustrating at best. It's not even so much a question of "intelligence" or not; more like some people relate to certain forms of poetry more than others.

The Review:

I saw Hail Mary when it came out in 1985 in the one indie theater in Wash. DC brave enough to show it despite threats and a line of protesters (none of whom had seen it, of course!) came away deeply affected, even if I didn't quite understand everything he was going for. It was like reading a poem by TS Elliot: lyrical, magical, circular, and certainly way "out there." But what "it" was I knew then as I do now: It never set out to be anti-Christian, blasphemous or disrespectful to the Biblical figure of Mary.

The movie starts from the place of the basics of the original nativity story but in the late 20th century: Average but chaste girl who is also strong-willed and independent being told that she will become pregnant via divine intervention. Disbelieving at first, she begins to feel that it is actually true, standing firm under the accusations of infidelity by her somewhat simpleton boyfriend Josef.

Almost everything from that point on is like a poetic and subjective meditation on womanhood, motherhood, and the transformation each goes through in order to bring us all into the world. There are some side plots and a few fairly comic storylines that thread through, but that to me is the central heart of what Godard is considering. Nudity when used is naturalistic and not of a sexualized nature. Mary as a character is depicted as one of the strongest of any of the characters even if there are moments of doubt and internal conflict. Much of the film is shown in short vignette style, often with voice-over of Mary's thoughts.

The one area I found distracting was how abrupt many of the transitions, especially the music and general sound design, but also visually from scene to scene. I understand that this was for the most part intentional, but personally feel like it might have been more effective to have overlapping sound edits or fade-off than such abrupt cuts. Either way, now as then, I came away feeling inspired and thoughtful both regarding her story but the more universal story of motherhood that the film so obviously celebrates.

So why the controversy anyway? Though in my opinion the movie does not seek to be disrespectful to the figure of Mary, it doesn't seek to venerate or worship her either. For the people who object to the movie therein will be the problem (again, assuming they even see it at all). But that's NOT really the problem of the movie, it's the problem with how the figure of Mary has been deified into something far beyond a mere mortal woman. That mythologizing, to me is completely at odds of what made the story original story compelling in the first place. If Mary was always something of a demi-god then how does anything she went through even matter?

NOTE: Most streaming platforms still won't show Hail Mary, but the public library streaming service Kanopy does, so that is one option if you want to watch it.

THE BOOK OF MARY (short film) I should also mention all original screenings in its initial theatrical release were accompanied by the 30 min. Short film The Book of Mary (French: Le livre de Marie) by Godard's longtime companion/collaborator Anne-Marie Miéville. This is still the case with many streaming platforms.

Despite both having "Mary" characters, there seems to be almost no relation from the one film to the other, which probably contributes to many viewers confusion. It's a great little short, but personally I can't see how they relate.

There is something about Godard that I find hypnotic. Even when you know it's not right, it still seems like it is perfect for the cinema! The way he moves his characters about within a frame. The mannerisms and political diatribe he allows his actors to divulge in, and sometimes the crude visual beauty makes for some mind stimulating cinema. And for this one, he pushes it that little bit further, as he does with all his work. The older he gets, the more eccentric he has become, and the more fascinating he is. To me, this is his last real masterpiece before he became the mad professor of the Wacky Cinema According To Godard!

When this movie came out in 1985, I was in high school and quite interested in seeing it. I was raised Christian, and have always had a special interest in Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

I recently bought a copy of the film for $1 at a local video store "going out of business" sale. I thought the film might not really be as bad as I remembered it (after all I was only 15 at the time!!!) and figured for $1, what do I have to lose. The answer was perfectly clear when I watched it last night....

This movie is neither inspiring NOR blasphemous...it's just NOTHING.

A movie asking the question "What if Jesus was born today?" could be a very interesting film. But "Hail Mary" never even tried to really tell the story of "The Virgin Birth". Instead, we are bombarded with countless images of teenage Mary (played by Myriem Roussel) caressing her nubile naked body and playing with her pubic hair. At one point the camera is so close to Roussel's crotch the whole world became her gynecologist! This doesn't move the story along or even come off as "artistic nudity". It's pure shock value and nothing more.

The characters are incredibly unlikable. Mary is a cold, rude girl. Joseph is a sex crazy cab driver. The Angel Gabriel is a violent b***ard who can only be calmed by a little girl that travels with him. Juliette Binoche plays "Juliette", the high school tramp who is trying quite hard to get into Joseph's pants. Seriously, this movie is a MESS!!!

There is also a pointless subplot of a college student named Eva (played by Anne Gautier)who is having an affair with her older married professor (played by Johan Leysen). There is a very random nude scene involving these two that I still can't figure out.

Seriously, don't even bother with this film.

I think most people fail to realise that what this film really does is look at the way in which images are constructed and i think it does so very effectively and interestingly and all who doubt that are missing the point. I think the use of sound+image in the film is worthy of study and should not be dismissed as merely boring, the scenes of mary naked are not pornographic or artistic they arte framing flesh and the body not fetishized objects that we are used to seeing on screen.