(1960)
directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Modern movies start with “Breathless.” Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, the film’s great breakthrough was the technique of “jump cuts.” This technique came about almost by accident when distributors insisted that the film’s running time be shortened. Godard simply took a pair of scissors and started cutting out “the boring parts” without worrying about maintaining the continuity of each scene. What is also revolutionary about “Breathless” is its attitude of youthful rebellion. No debut film since “Citizen Kane” has been so influential. “Breathless” is also spectacularly entertaining.
There is a direct line from “Breathless” to the Hollywood movies of the sixties and seventies. Characters played by Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, and Sean Penn owe a huge debt to Michel, Jean Paul Belmondo’s youthful outlaw. Michel is a narcissistic car thief who acts tougher than he really is. Michel practices his tough guy persona by posing in front of mirrors and by never, never appearing without a cigarette.
Patricia, played by twenty-one year old Jean Seberg, is fascinated by Michel’s gangster persona. She is an American student who sells newspapers while waiting to start classes at the Sorbonne. She learns that Michel is married and that he is on the run. Nevertheless, she is attracted to him. There is a particularly beautiful scene with Michel in bed. The scene is backlit by windows behind the bed. Patricia is sitting beside the bed and both are smoking. The smoke rises in front of the windows. She quotes Faulkner, “Between grief and nothing, I will take grief.” Michel says he would choose nothing, “Grief is a compromise.”
When Patricia learns that Michel has killed a policeman, she betrays him to the police. Michel is shot as he flees on a crowded street. In the confusion of filming on location, a real gendarme joined bystanders in rushing to the dying man. In that moment, the real world merged with the imaginary world of film. For Godard, who once said, “All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl,” the key to “Breathless” was its simplicity.
In “Breathless,” Godard created something fresh and new. “Breathless” is a classic gangster film to which Godard has added new elements. Patricia’s youthfulness and pixie haircut are something new. Michel’s air of toughness combined with vulnerability is also something new. Michel and Patricia are intoxicated by life. They have interesting conversations. They quote philosophy. Life on the run has never been more gripping than it is in Godard’s masterpiece. “Breathless” was a huge success with audiences and critics alike. It was immediately recognised as revolutionary. Audiences embraced the film’s rebellious attitude and its grainy, black-and-white cinematography.