Two small-time, self-conscious toughs Franz (Frey) and Arthur (Brasseur) begin a dalliance with local girl Odile (Karina) whose Aunt (Colpeyn) just happens to have a large pile of banknotes lying in a cupboard at home. Gently coerced into taking part in the robbery - largely because she has developed a sizable crush on the brutish Arthur - Odile's disillusionment soon turns to fear when her erstwhile lover physically chides her when the plan to steal the money unravels. To worsen matters, Arthur's ne'er-do-well family have got wind of his plans and seek to liberate the money of their own accord. Who will eventually get their hands on the loot and at what price?

Screened in a sparkling new print as part of a much welcome and exhaustive Jean-Luc Godard two-month season at the National Film Theatre, "Bande À Part" ("The Outsiders") is quite simply one of his most purely enjoyable films. Typically reflexive, Godard's infatuation with Hollywood - particularly musicals and film noir (the film transposes a conventional crime thriller to a grey suburban Paris) - and the coquettish Anna Karina (his future wife) is fully and playfully indulged, not least in the scene when the trio of miscreants perform an impromptu dance in a bar (an inspiration to Hal Hartley, who paid homage to it in "Simple Men").

Godard being Godard, the film also probes and questions the medium, with Godard himself interrupting in a narrator role to comment upon the wealth of possible physical attractions Odile may hold. There's a fine line in humour too (an often overlooked virtue in Godard's work), as when the record for exploring the Louvre - previously held by an American - is jubilantly broken.

Emphatically entertaining, provocatively self-assured - Godard lists himself as 'Jean Luc Cinema Godard' in the credits - it may well be the best re-release of this year or any other.

"Bande À Parte" is released on 22nd June.