An enchanting short, which tells the story of Charlotte and Veronique, two bright young things who share an apartment in the city and happen to meet the same man without realizing it (and the question ever being solved). One of Godard's earliest, before going into full-feature length films, this looks more like what Eric Rohmer would do -- and no wonder: he wrote the script. There's a naturalistic element to the way both girls interact with each other, although their approach to "Patrick" is quite different even when being slightly cagey in the beginning, yielding to a gradual openness that is much in part due to "Patrick's" charm which seduced them. There's also a strong, Silent movie tone throughout CHARLOTTE ET VERONIQUE'S entire run, enhanced not only by the quirkiness of the girl's performances themselves but also in Jean Claude Brialy's own manic presence (slightly suggesting Charlie Chaplin) who fits the time and place of the movie but would today garner a much different reaction. It's not hard, as a matter of fact, to delete any references to the late Fifties and incorporate the setting into the Twenties where the action had a sped-up quality and the meeting of the young man with his latest conquest was rife with the picaresque just brimming underneath. A cute little movie which is included in the DVD for UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME.
Review of All Boys Are Called Patrick
