Allemagne année 90 neuf zéro

Shot in 1990, in the wake of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, ALLEMAGNE ANNÉE 90 NEUF ZÉRO traces the footsteps of Lemmy Caution (reprising his ALPHAVILLE role) as he makes his way west from East Germany, where he’s lived for 30 years. Dubbed “the last spy”, Caution is a relic among the ruins of history. As he travels through the countryside, Godard invokes the names of one German past (Bach, Schiller), even as he summons up another past both real and imagined (Hitler, THE DAMNED ). Funny, ironic, brilliant and unbearably sad, the voyage is at once a form of radical historiography and resistance. Like Godard, Caution is journeying through a landscape crowded with remembrance, one that finally leads to a Berlin hotel room where a chambermaid fluffs the pillows, smiles bleakly and utters, “Work makes you free”. (Manohla Dargis)