Rent Made in USA (1966)

Red, White and Blew My Mind - Made in USA review by griggs

Made in U.S.A finds Godard deep in his mid-60s groove: bold, political, and unconcerned with traditional storytelling. Styled as a detective tale in the spirit of The Big Sleep, it follows Anna Karina as she searches for answers about her lover’s death in a fictional French town. But if you’re expecting a coherent plot, abandon hope. Godard is less interested in solving mysteries than in dismantling genres—pulp fiction, American noir, Cold War paranoia thrillers, and Marxist cinema all get thrown into the blender.

The title is knowingly ironic. Though it borrows the surface trappings of American cinema, this is unmistakably a French arthouse film. It’s full of bright colours, abrupt cuts, and dialogue that shifts between political slogans and philosophical musings. The result is less a film than a cinematic collage—cool, cryptic, and cerebral.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but for fans of radical, heady cinema, it’s peak Godard.