Review of Breathless (2009) by Eric F — 25 Jan 2009

I'm not quite sure how to give a rating to a movie like "Breathless". On one hand, you must consider it's effectiveness as a narrative in 2009. On the other, however, you must consider it's revolutionary ideas that have inspired literally hundreds of films since it's release in 1960. Rating it in terms of cinema history, it seems like a surefire five stars. To me, however, I didn't find it as engrossing as some other films from the period that i'd consider perfect. I give it four stars because I didn't find some of the drama fully accessible and compelling, however it's a film that everyone should certainly see if only to appreciate it as a landmark in film history.

"Breathless" is considered one of the, if not the first film that launched the Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave), a film movement that revolutionized the movie industry through new ideas and voices. Jean-Luc Godard was a pioneer in this period, and the film's cast also contains a who's who of other innovative directors of the period. Francois Truffaut, for instance, is credited with the story.

Roger Ebert considers "Breathless" to be the most significant debut film since Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" in 1942, and undoubtedly the most influential. Godard introduced the modern technique of "jump cuts", cuts that occur in the middle of a scene and break the continuity. For instance, a man will be at the end of a sidewalk, and suddenly he'll be at the other side. It's said that Godard's technique was born only because of the excessive length of the original cut of "Breathless", but intentionally or not his use of this technique is many years ahead of it's time.

Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a wannabe gangster - idolizing Humphrey Bogart and pretending to shoot everyone in adjacent cars as he joyrides. His past is left mostly in mystery to the audience only because we know we shouldn't believe a single thing he tells us. It's not uncommon for Michel to literally scowl in the mirror and adjust his face to achieve the best thug persona. At the beginning of the film, Michel is chased by cops. He gets out of his car and shoots one of them. Michel is forced to retreat to Paris and get some cash that had been owed to him in order to make a clean getaway.

Paris is also the home to his former lover, Patricia (Jean Seberg), an American girl who sells the New York Herald-Tribune on the streets. Michel assumes Patricia will comply with being an accomplice to his escape. She's an accessory to him, just another piece of apparel to complete the gangster facade. Later in the film, Patricia will tell Michel that she believes she's pregnant with his child. Suspiciously, this note is ignored throughout the rest of the film.

The jump cuts in the film assist the relentless pacing and the uneasy feeling of pursuit. Much of the film feels hectic, save for a memorable scene that takes place in Patricia's room. This also was the one scene in the film where you forget it's a cat-and-mouse film. Perhaps it's my fault that my expectations were all wrong, but I had wanted a film with more scenes like this one.

The best thing about "Breathless" is how limitless it feels. The form is not concrete and there's breathing room despite centering around a familiar gangster storyline. In scale, it all feels so much smaller than it's American equivalents, and that's certainly for the better. It's through the relationship between Michel and Patricia that the film finds it's voice and it's charm.

"Breathless" is a pivotal film in history, and this is due more to it's technique than it's narrative. It's a good film with a gigantic scale of importance, however I didn't find that I saw the classic story that many other critics and acquaintances did. I'm glad I saw it, but I didn't find it as compelling as other works from the French New Wave.