Breathless Review: A Man Who Cannot Stop Moving and a Woman Who Cannot Stop Thinking

Breathless is a film about a man who cannot stop moving. Michel Poiccard, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, steals a car in Marseille, crosses a solid line on the Route nationale 7, and kills a motorcycle policeman in a moment of panic. He is wanted now, and he tries to persuade Patricia Franchini, an American student and aspiring journalist played by Jean Seberg, to run away to Italy with him. The film is 90 minutes long, and it moves with the breathlessness of its title. It is a crime drama, a romance, and a manifesto rolled into one.

Godard made Breathless in 1960, and it was his first feature-length work. Belmondo, who plays Michel, was the film’s breakthrough performance. Together they turned a simple chase into something that changed how movies were made.

Trailer, via StudiocanalUK.

Michel and Patricia

Michel is a wanderer, a criminal, and a romantic. He steals cars, owes money to everyone he knows, and lives in hotel rooms and Patricia’s apartment. He idolizes American movie gangsters, and he speaks in a fast, broken French that sounds like it is being spoken for the first time. Belmondo plays him with a physicality that is almost choreographed. He walks fast, leans into doors, and holds his cigarette like a weapon.

Patricia is the opposite. She studies at the Sorbonne, sells the New York Herald Tribune on the Champs-Élysées, and wants to be a journalist. She is uncertain about Michel, and she is unwilling to leave everything behind for him. She sleeps with him, but she does not want to run. She contacts the police and tells them where he is hiding. She watches him die, and she does not know what she feels.

Their relationship is the engine of the film. It is not a love story in the usual sense. It is a story about two people who cannot agree on what they owe each other.

The Style

Breathless is the kind of film that makes you sit up in your seat. Godard uses jump cuts, which were then considered unconventional. The camera follows Michel and Patricia in long takes, and the film is shot on location in Paris, giving it a sense of urgency that studio-bound films could not match. The performances are strong, and the editing is sharp.

The film was influential when it came out, and it remains so today. It is an example of French New Wave cinema, along with François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows and Alain Resnais’s Hiroshima mon amour, both released a year earlier. These three films brought new styles of French filmmaking to audiences around the world.

Pauline Kael, the American film critic of the time, called Breathless the most important New Wave film to reach the United States. That is a strong statement, and it holds up. The film’s influence can be seen in later works, from Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets to Jackie Brown.

The Chase

The film opens with Michel stealing a car in Marseille. He drives it across France, and he is stopped by a motorcycle policeman on the Route nationale 7. He shoots the policeman in a moment of panic, and he is wanted now. He arrives in Paris, and he finds Patricia. He tries to persuade her to run away to Italy with him, but she is not sure. She sells the New York Herald Tribune on the Champs-Élysées, and she studies at the Sorbonne.

The chase begins in earnest when the police identify Michel as the RN7 murderer, and his photograph is published on the front covers of major newspapers. Patricia is followed by a detective, and she loses him. Michel hides out in a friend’s house, and Patricia contacts the police. She tells them where he is, and she does not know whether she wants to protect him or destroy him.

Michel refuses to flee. He is shot in the back when the police arrive, and he runs through the street. He collapses, mortally wounded. As he lies dying, he speaks a few cryptic words to Patricia, which she struggles to understand. She then looks directly into the camera and touches her lips, mirroring Michel’s frequent gesture.

The Verdict

Breathless is a film about death, love, and the speed of life. It is not a comfortable watch, and it is not a neat one. The film is full of contradictions. Michel is a criminal, but he is also a romantic. Patricia is a journalist, and she is uncertain about Michel’s behavior. The film itself is a New Wave film, but it is also a crime drama. It refuses to settle into a single mode, and it asks the audience to keep up.

The film’s technical achievements are notable. The jump cuts were unconventional at the time, and they remain striking today. The use of location shooting gives the film a sense of urgency that studio-bound films could not match. The performances are strong, and the editing is sharp.

The film’s themes are timeless. It is about the gap between what we say and what we mean, and it is about the difficulty of staying still. Michel cannot stop moving, and Patricia cannot stop thinking. They are two people who are moving in different directions, and the film watches them until one of them stops.

The Legacy

Breathless has been considered one of the best films ever made. It has appeared repeatedly in critical polls. In May 2010, a fully restored version of the film was released in the United States to coincide with the film’s 50th anniversary. The film’s influence can be seen in the work of Martin Scorsese, Jackie Brown, and many others. It is a film that changed what was possible in cinema, and it remains a touchstone for anyone interested in the medium.

“Wild! Violent! Outspoken and Honest!”

That is the tagline for the film, and it captures the spirit of the thing. The film is wild, violent, outspoken, and honest. It is a film about a man who cannot stop moving, and it is a film about a woman who cannot stop thinking. It is a film that asks the audience to keep up, and it rewards those who do.

The film’s final scene is a masterstroke. Patricia touches her lips, and the camera holds on her. The film ends without resolution, and that is the point. Michel is dead, and Patricia is left with the memory of him. The film does not offer comfort, and it does not offer closure. It offers only the moment, and the moment is over.

Breathless is a great film. It is a film that deserves its reputation, and it is a film that rewards repeated viewings. It is not an easy film, and it is not a comfortable one. But it is a film that stays with you, and that is the highest praise a film can receive.

Breathless is a film that demands attention, and it gives attention in return. It is a film that is honest about its characters, and it is a film that is honest about its own construction. It is a film that is wild, violent, outspoken, and honest. It is a film that is worth seeing, and it is a film that is worth remembering.

Breathless · French cinema · Jean-Luc Godard · Jean-Paul Belmondo · new wave