How Cowboy Bebop Paid Tribute To Two Legends Of French Filmmaking
Netflix By Shae Sennett/Sept. 26, 2022 7:30 am EST
“Cowboy Bebop” may be the most classically cinematic anime out there. The gun-toting, cigarette-smoking main character resembles hard-boiled noir stars like Humphrey Bogart and Western icons like John Wayne. But those weren’t the only classic film genres that inspired the creators of “Cowboy Bebop.” The 20th episode of the series, “Pierrot le Fou,” was named after the 1965 film from French New Wave director Jean-luc Godard. The episode also pays tribute to the films of Jean-Pierre Melville, specifically “Le Samouraï” and “Le Cercle Rouge,” among other French New Wave classics.
Episode 20 was always my favorite “Bebop” episode. The villain is a superhuman assassin that has regressed to a child-like mental state. He is impossible to kill but, once wounded, devolves into hysterics. “Episode 20 is a weird one to like,” the series director Shinichiro Watanabe admitted (via SakuraBlog). “I guess French people live up to their reputation of being odd.” Watanabe concedes that the episode is probably so strange and cinematic “because it was inspired by many French filmmakers like Godard and Melville.” The episode takes obvious influence from Melville in its opening scene. “The billiards table in the episode is a reference to Melville’s ‘The Samurai,’ and I was sad to see that the reference flew over most people’s head in Japan,’” Watanabe recalled. The scene to which Watanabe is referring is actually in Melville’s 1970 crime film “Le Cercle Rouge.” The scene is remade almost shot for shot, mimicking memorable angles like the birds-eye view of the pool table.
How Cowboy Bebop Paid Tribute To Two Legends Of French Filmmaking
Netflix
By Shae Sennett/Sept. 26, 2022 7:30 am EST
“Cowboy Bebop” may be the most classically cinematic anime out there. The gun-toting, cigarette-smoking main character resembles hard-boiled noir stars like Humphrey Bogart and Western icons like John Wayne. But those weren’t the only classic film genres that inspired the creators of “Cowboy Bebop.” The 20th episode of the series, “Pierrot le Fou,” was named after the 1965 film from French New Wave director Jean-luc Godard. The episode also pays tribute to the films of Jean-Pierre Melville, specifically “Le Samouraï” and “Le Cercle Rouge,” among other French New Wave classics.
Episode 20 was always my favorite “Bebop” episode. The villain is a superhuman assassin that has regressed to a child-like mental state. He is impossible to kill but, once wounded, devolves into hysterics. “Episode 20 is a weird one to like,” the series director Shinichiro Watanabe admitted (via SakuraBlog). “I guess French people live up to their reputation of being odd.” Watanabe concedes that the episode is probably so strange and cinematic “because it was inspired by many French filmmakers like Godard and Melville.” The episode takes obvious influence from Melville in its opening scene. “The billiards table in the episode is a reference to Melville’s ‘The Samurai,’ and I was sad to see that the reference flew over most people’s head in Japan,’” Watanabe recalled. The scene to which Watanabe is referring is actually in Melville’s 1970 crime film “Le Cercle Rouge.” The scene is remade almost shot for shot, mimicking memorable angles like the birds-eye view of the pool table.
Episode 20 was always my favorite “Bebop” episode. The villain is a superhuman assassin that has regressed to a child-like mental state. He is impossible to kill but, once wounded, devolves into hysterics. “Episode 20 is a weird one to like,” the series director Shinichiro Watanabe admitted (via SakuraBlog). “I guess French people live up to their reputation of being odd.” Watanabe concedes that the episode is probably so strange and cinematic “because it was inspired by many French filmmakers like Godard and Melville.”
The episode takes obvious influence from Melville in its opening scene. “The billiards table in the episode is a reference to Melville’s ‘The Samurai,’ and I was sad to see that the reference flew over most people’s head in Japan,’” Watanabe recalled. The scene to which Watanabe is referring is actually in Melville’s 1970 crime film “Le Cercle Rouge.” The scene is remade almost shot for shot, mimicking memorable angles like the birds-eye view of the pool table.
Melville and Godard were huge influences
The “Bebop” episode takes inspiration from other French New Wave films as well. Mad Pierrot’s backstory is told in black and white flashbacks through still or stop-motion images. These flashbacks depict Pierrot hooked up to wires and surrounded by doctors in white uniforms. Their style and content resembles Chris Marker’s 1962 experimental science-fiction film “La Jetée.”
The “Pierrot le Fou” episode also references its namesake when Mad Pierrot causes a huge explosion. Such an explosion was the cause of death for the French film’s main character. There are also smaller nods to the 1965 classic, like the lights on the sign of Spike’s billiards club, which resembles the sign for the Las Vegas club in the film.
