Review of Breathless (2009) by Blake P — 01 Feb 2012
Young hood Michel (Jean- Paul Belmondo) is living in France, and going with the full of life Patricia (Jean Seberg), a worker for the "New York Herald Tribune". The longer the two spend time together, even the stone-hearted Michel develops feelings for her, the same with Patricia.
When Michel asks her if she wants to move to Italy with him, she doesn't realize that he's actually wanted by the police for killing a cop out of fear. Will Patricia make the good decision? "À Bout de Souffle" or "Breathless" just might be the most groundbreaking film in the New Wave genre, and maybe even the movie that changed the '60's completely.
Why? One answer: it introduced the world to French director Jean-Luc Godard in his feature film debut. End of story. Known for having films either innovative, daring, or philosophical, Godard spent the decade making films like "Le Mepris" or "Masculin Feminin" that would either become smashing successes or classics among the New Wave genre.
"À Bout de Souffle" is what started it all. It has a basic French thriller plot, but Godard uses quick editing cuts, improvisation by the actors, interesting camera angles, and a score ranging from modern day jazz to Mozart.
None of these things had never been done before and they really haven't since, and it ends up that the film still feels new and hasn't aged even a little bit. If it were to come out tomorrow, I'm sure it would be just as groundbreaking.
Filled to the brim with excellent performances as well (especially as Jean Seberg, an American actress who spoke all the french herself), "À Bout de Souffle" is just one of those films that I'll never forget.
Recommended.
This review of Breathless (2009) was written by Blake P on 01 Feb 2012.
Breathless has generally received very positive reviews.
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