(Directed by Jean-Luc Godard | Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina | France-Italy 1965 | 110min | Cert 15 | Newly restored print)

'An explosion of colour, sound, music, passion, violence and wit' - Jonathan Rosenbaum

Jean-Luc Godard's exuberant, infinitely playful tale of lovers on the run formed a magnificent climax to the first phase of the director's filmmaking career.

Pierrot le fou tells the story of Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a young Parisian who leaves his wife and child for beautiful babysitter Marianne (Ann Karina), an old flame. Following a night together in her apartment, which contains a crate of guns and a bloodstained corpse, the two hit the road in a series of stolen cars, heading south in flight from bourgeois existence and in search of a romantic utopia. The Mediterranean idyll they find on the coast, however, quickly turns sour...

Pierrot le fou is full of cultural references and brilliantly explores different narrative genres, mixing crime, adventure, musical and comic strip elements. Filmed in beautiful primary colours, Godard's masterpiece is still one of the most energising, exhilarating experiences the cinema has to offer.

For more information and to watch the trailer, visit www.bfi.org.uk/newwave

Find out more about the French New Wave