Though I have some serious reservations about [Every Man for Himself] and the post-modern tradition it exemplifies, it is nonetheless an important work of art, a signal event in film history.

Godard's most impressive achievement is to refashion the formal tools of naturalism. Until now, the approach has been not to call attention to the medium but to focus attention on the development of plot and characters. He expands the mode by employing a whole range of cinematic devices—slow motion, freeze-frames, intertitles—that in the hands of lesser directors typically announce the triumph of empty form over trivial content.

I initially suspected that Every Man for Himself was also pretty inconsequential. We follow the meandering misadventures of a trio of seemingly negligible individuals without, at first, having a great deal of interest in their fates….

As the film unfolds, instead of engaging our emotions, Godard overcomes our...