Breathless is one of those films that us studying film are basically required to watch as we’re learning about the French New Wave movement of the ’60s. However, regardless of the history, the movie is interesting enough for regular moviegoers as well.
The film’s storyline is about Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a petty thief who kills a policeman and, while on the run in Paris, tries to get his on-and-off girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg) to hide in Italy with him.
While the storyline seems straightforward enough, the presentation isn’t. The director of Breathless is Jean-Luc Godard, one of big players in French New Wave. The main qualities of French New Wave, as well as the other New Wave movements that happened in other countries, are to go against the classical “Hollywood” style of filming, using visible, extreme cuts, and to use non-linear storytelling. Also, storylines aren’t as strict in New Wave; the story can be dropped and come back to, or ignored altogether. New Wave is also not shot on a soundstage (again, in response to the Hollywood way of doing things); New Wave films are filmed documentary-style, outdoors, making use of the natural light, people unaware they’re being used as extras, etc. The main goal behind New Wave was to capture the reality in the stories they’re trying to tell while making aware to the audience that the film is just a film, not actual reality (this is in response to the traditional Hollywood movies and epics, which wants the audience to believe the story being told is real, even though everything about the movie looks fake and stylized).
Even if New Wave isn’t your type of movie, the beautiful shots of Paris and other places in France is enough of a selling point for this movie. Every shot of this film could be a postcard. You’ll literally feel as if you’re walking the streets along with Michel and Patricia.
Speaking of Michel, another quality of New Wave is to have leading characters that confused the audience. You can’t tell whether the leading character is actually good, bad, or somewhere in between. Michel’s characterization follows this idea point by point. At some times, he’s playful and funny; at other times, he’s foul and murderous. But throughout the entire movie, he’s enigmatic and captivating. Similarly, Patricia seems light on the surface, but she can change from being coy to being deviously alluring. And one action that she does toward the end of the film makes you wonder about her motives as well.
Overall, this film is great if you’re an art-house fan or film history buff. But for the regular audience, it will still be enjoyable, even if it could be considered a type of litmus test.
