# Bande à part (film)
**Bande à part** (English title *Band of Outsiders*) is a 1964 French black-and-white crime film directed and written by [Jean-Luc Godard](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-luc-godard), in which two young men and the naive young woman they both court plan to steal a stash of money hidden in her aunt's house near Paris.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291) • [2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48838.html) It stars [Anna Karina](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-karina), then Godard's wife and muse, as Odile, with Claude Brasseur as Arthur and Sami Frey as Franz.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291) • [3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/bande-part) The film is famous for two scenes that stand apart from the plot: the three characters dancing the [Madison](https://www.edgepedia.org/madison-dance) (a 1950s line dance, danced without partners) in a café bar, and a sprint through the galleries of the Louvre.[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/3db2a35f-aa01-5b9e-a6d8-2ab5a148a5bc/bande-a-part)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Jean-Luc Godard, who also serves as the film's narrator[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291) |
| Source | A free adaptation of the novel *Fools' Gold* (published in French as *Pigeon vole*, 1958) by the American writer Dolores Hitchens[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48838.html) • [5](https://www.lacinetek.com/lu/film/bande-a-part-jean-luc-godard-vod) |
| Cast | Anna Karina (Odile), Claude Brasseur (Arthur), Sami Frey (Franz), Louisa Colpeyn (Madame Victoria)[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291) |
| Key crew | Raoul Coutard (cinematography), Michel Legrand (music), Agnès Guillemot (editing)[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291) |
| Format | France, 1964, 96 minutes, black and white, 1.33:1, French language[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291) |
| French release | CNC visa 28712 dated 17 June 1964; CNC lists a theatrical release date of 8 August 1964, while Cineuropa lists 5 August 1964[6](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=28712) • [7](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401097/) |
| Production | Shot in 25 days on a budget of $120,000[8](https://offscreen.com/view/band_a_part) |
## Spoilers
### Story and characters
Odile meets Franz in an English class and tells him about a cache of money hidden by a lodger, M. Stoltz, at the house of her aunt, Madame Victoria, outside Paris. Franz shares the secret with his accomplice Arthur, and the two petty criminals plan a robbery while each also courts Odile.[5](https://www.lacinetek.com/lu/film/bande-a-part-jean-luc-godard-vod) • [9](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/fr/cinema/bande-a-part/) The Cinémathèque québécoise synopsis adds that their scheming is complicated by the pull of the love triangle and by Franz's chatter, which puts a more serious criminal on the same trail.[9](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/fr/cinema/bande-a-part/)
The heist does not go according to plan. Arthur's criminal uncle learns of the scheme and forces the pair to act before they are ready, with disastrous consequences.[10](https://www.newwavefilm.com/french-new-wave-encyclopedia/bande-a-part.shtml) In the ending, Arthur dies in a shoot-out with his uncle at Madame Victoria's house.[8](https://offscreen.com/view/band_a_part) • [16](https://filmuforia.com/bande-a-part/) The BFI describes the film as a tale of a girl assailed by two suitors who plan to rob her aunt of a fortune, noting that the heist has its downside.[4](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/3db2a35f-aa01-5b9e-a6d8-2ab5a148a5bc/bande-a-part)
## Style and set pieces
Godard conceived the film as a lighthearted homage to 1940s Hollywood pulp crime cinema, acting on [D. W. Griffith](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-w-griffith)'s dictum that making a film requires nothing more than a girl and a gun.[3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/bande-part) [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) calls it a radical reimagining of the gangster film, four years after *Breathless*, that is at once sentimental and insouciant, effervescently romantic and melancholy.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291)
Two set pieces anchor the film's reputation. In the Madison dance sequence, the three leads dance in a café with the sound dropping out for a stretch, a sequence the Viennale festival catalog calls one of the most exhilarating dance sequences in film.[3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/bande-part) • [8](https://offscreen.com/view/band_a_part) In the Louvre sequence, the trio runs hand in hand through the museum galleries; a panning shot loses them, and a cut catches up with them at the end of the run, with the camera pausing briefly on [Jacques-Louis David](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacques-louis-david)'s *The Oath of the Horatii*.[11](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/02/24/sept-films-pour-retourner-au-musee-avant-l-heure_6070981_3246.html) Other collage-like episodes include Odile's song, the stories the men tell, and a minute of silence in a café that actually lasts 36 seconds while the sound mix drops out entirely.[12](https://globalfilmbook.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/bande-a-part-the-outsiders-france-1964/) • [13](https://thecinemaarchives.com/2021/04/24/band-of-outsiders-1964-godard/)
The film is dense with references to the American gangster movie. Arthur's stylized fake death echoes [Jean-Paul Belmondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-paul-belmondo)'s death in *Breathless*, itself a parody of [James Cagney](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-cagney)'s death in *The Roaring Twenties*, and Arthur's light punch to Odile's chin is a Cagney trademark.[8](https://offscreen.com/view/band_a_part) Godard shot near Joinville-le-Pont and Vincennes in the Paris suburbs, paying homage to earlier filmmakers such as [Mack Sennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/mack-sennett) and Louis Feuillade; a study of Godard's suburban settings argues that location choice shaped the film's form as much as its screenplay.[14](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/screening-the-paris-suburbs/godards-suburban-years/EED3EA3BEEBBB796A9E94CC8A6E4EDE5)
## Production and release
Godard made the film in 1964, after *À bout de souffle* and five further features, returning to the crime genre of his debut.[12](https://globalfilmbook.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/bande-a-part-the-outsiders-france-1964/) • [10](https://www.newwavefilm.com/french-new-wave-encyclopedia/bande-a-part.shtml) According to *Le Monde*, François Truffaut suggested the Série noire novel on which the film is based, and Godard, two years after Truffaut's *Jules et Jim*, made his own love triangle in response.[11](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/02/24/sept-films-pour-retourner-au-musee-avant-l-heure_6070981_3246.html) The production companies were Anouchka Films and Orsay Films of Paris, with Godard and Claude Ganz as producers, Raoul Coutard as director of photography, and the original distributor Columbia Films.[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48838.html)
The CNC record shows visa number 28712 issued on 17 June 1964, a runtime of 96 minutes, a length of 2,606 meters, and a Tous publics (all audiences) classification.[6](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=28712) Cineuropa dates the French release as 5 August 1964, followed by the UK on 27 October 1964, the Netherlands and Finland in March 1965, and [West Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-germany) on 29 August 1965.[7](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401097/) At the time, the film received little critical support.[12](https://globalfilmbook.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/bande-a-part-the-outsiders-france-1964/)
## Reception and influence
The film's standing has grown since its release. The New Wave Film Encyclopedia describes it as one of Godard's most accessible and enjoyable films.[10](https://www.newwavefilm.com/french-new-wave-encyclopedia/bande-a-part.shtml) Its influence is visible in later cinema: [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino) paid homage to the dance sequence with [John Travolta](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-travolta) and [Uma Thurman](https://www.edgepedia.org/uma-thurman) in *Pulp Fiction* and named his production company, A Band Apart, after the film.[15](https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-bande-a-part-1964-online) The Criterion Collection released it on Blu-ray from Gaumont's 2010 high-definition restoration, with interviews with Coutard and Karina and a visual glossary of the film's references and quotations.[1](https://www.criterion.com/films/291)
A 2021 *Le Monde* retrospective placed the film between the monumental *[Le Mépris](https://www.edgepedia.org/contempt-film)* and *Pierrot le fou* and called it probably Godard's most playful film, farcical rather than novelistic, fragmentary rather than linear, and a possible definition of the New Wave at the moment that movement began to fade.[11](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/02/24/sept-films-pour-retourner-au-musee-avant-l-heure_6070981_3246.html) Godard himself said in 1964: "These are real people, and it is the world that makes bande à part, the world that makes cinema for itself, which is not synchronous."[2](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48838.html)
## References
1. [Band of Outsiders (1964), The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/291)
2. [Bande à part (Jean-Luc Godard, 1964), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48838.html)
3. [Bande à part, Viennale (Vienna International Film Festival)](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/bande-part)
4. [Bande à part (1964), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/3db2a35f-aa01-5b9e-a6d8-2ab5a148a5bc/bande-a-part)
5. [Bande à part de Jean-Luc Godard en VoD, LaCinetek](https://www.lacinetek.com/lu/film/bande-a-part-jean-luc-godard-vod)
6. [Visas et Classification, fiche BANDE A PART, CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=28712)
7. [Bande à Part, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/401097/)
8. [Band à part, Offscreen](https://offscreen.com/view/band_a_part)
9. [Bande à part, Cinémathèque québécoise](https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/fr/cinema/bande-a-part/)
10. [BANDE A PART, Jean-Luc Godard, New Wave Film Encyclopedia](https://www.newwavefilm.com/french-new-wave-encyclopedia/bande-a-part.shtml)
11. [« Bande à part », « La Ville Louvre », « The Square » : 7 films pour retourner au musée avant l'heure, Le Monde (2021)](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/02/24/sept-films-pour-retourner-au-musee-avant-l-heure_6070981_3246.html)
12. [Bande à part (The Outsiders, France 1964), The Global Film Book Blog](https://globalfilmbook.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/bande-a-part-the-outsiders-france-1964/)
13. [Band of Outsiders, 1964 Godard, The Cinema Archives](https://thecinemaarchives.com/2021/04/24/band-of-outsiders-1964-godard/)
14. [Godard's suburban years, in Screening the Paris suburbs (Cambridge University Press)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/screening-the-paris-suburbs/godards-suburban-years/EED3EA3BEEBBB796A9E94CC8A6E4EDE5)
15. [Watch Bande à part online, BFI Player](https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-bande-a-part-1964-online)
16. [Bande À Part |Band of Outsiders, (1964), BFI Retrospective - Filmuforia](https://filmuforia.com/bande-a-part/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1960s films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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