Trying to determine what Godard believes film should be may be difficult to pinpoint. But after analyzing just one scene in Masculin Feminin, it’s easy to make a few assumptions. Look no further than the bathroom scene between Paul and Madeleine twelve minutes into the film.
When Paul and Madeleine ask each other philosophical and societal questions they really reflect and demonstrate a lot of what Godard thinks film should do. They ask each other questions in various ways but the real questions being posed are by Godard; “Why search for love?” “What do men and women want from each other?” “Why must their always be this sexual tension hanging between a man and a woman?” Godard is using the character’s dialogue to make the audience think about their own philosophies and question social norms.
One particular question that seemed to stand out was when Madeleine asks Paul what the center of the world is for him. Godard uses Paul’s response to caricature what he believes men of the region and era view as the center of the world: Love. Likewise Godard follows the same model and uses Madeleine’s response: “Me” in much the same way to make a point about what he believed women of the time thought.
The whole scene is a tribute to the idea that the world doesn’t revolve around you, except in the way Paul says: “By living, being, and seeing with your own eyes.” By playing up the background noise of the magazine workers’ dialogue, Godard is trying to subtly answer the question they’re debating. That is that the world goes on the other side of the walls, with or without them. But at the same time, the world doesn’t exist to them without their ability to see, be, and think with their own head. For this scene, that’s just a bathroom, and each other. So they’re left to question each other.
Godard’s lengthy shots create an interview –like environment that highlights the differences in the characters by showing them in their most vulnerable state, fumbling to voice their beliefs. The environment he creates is the perfect forum for demonstrating the main idea of what he thinks cinema should do; make the audience question how they perceive the world.
