Review of Breathless (2009) by Alvin Y — 10 Aug 2010

â??Breathlessâ?? is considered one of the films of the French cinema during the early 1960's by Godard and I think it is. It's a short documentary-like-film. There are parts where it becomes difficult to sit through as the conversation in the hotel becomes longish though it is fascinating and interesting.

The whole movie is a police-convict chase and nothing much happens through out the movie. There are just interesting dialogs and a good narration. Psychology of a criminal and his girlfriend is portrayed effectively by Jean-Paul Belmondo (Michel) and Jean Seberg (Patricia).

The most notable aspect of this film is the detailing of each and every scene. The outside traffic noise inside an apartment, lights of moving object filtering in through windows, police chase etc looks real and interesting.

'Breathless' is also one of the initial 'New Wave' films which started the whole MTV style like for example jump cuts, fractured sound thing. It's so weird that when you look at it you wonder what's great about the film as these things are now done by amateur film makers.

It's like listening to Chuck Berry and wondering why is he respecting over Keith Richards. The reason is simple- improvisation and it is easier than invention for example â??Once upon a time in the westâ?? by Sergio Leone and â??North by Northwestâ?? by Alfred Hitchcock because it's easier to reproduce a finished product with extra ingredients but creating a product from the scratch is difficult.

All in all, â??Breathlessâ??is an invention and will remain in the history of cinema as a path breaking invention. Although, it is not a movie to really enjoy and make you entertain but it is a good lesson and study about how most filmmakers these days uses the same elements that this film uses like for instance, Quentin Tarantino, whose films are so unpredictable which is like this film that it is so unpredictable that you would never know if the character Michel will turn himself in to the cops or not.

I probably think that it is a movie that must be rewatched again to fully understand and get the sense of the director's intention to this movie.