loading...
Breathless
1959
Godard's first feature has been widely hailed as one of the most influential motion pictures ever made. On the run after killing a cop, a small-time crook (Belmondo) hides out in Paris with an American girl (Seberg). After she betrays him, he chooses to face his fate with an absurd stoicism modelled on his hero, Humphrey Bogart... Read more
| Starring | Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Melville, Laszlo Szabo |
|---|---|
| Director | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
loading...
Breathless
Godard's first feature has been widely hailed as one of the most influential motion pictures ever made. On the run after killing a cop, a small-time crook (Belmondo) hides out in Paris with an American girl (Seberg). After she betrays him, he chooses to face his fate with an absurd stoicism modelled on his hero, Humphrey Bogart. BREATHLESS is the arguable cornerstone of the French New Wave, exhibiting the trademark documentary shooting style, natural sound design, and thematic interest in the detritus of American popular culture. (Rereleased theatrically in April, 2000.)
| Starring | Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Melville, Laszlo Szabo, Jeanne Moreau, Eddie Constantine, Samuel Fuller, Anna Karina |
|---|---|
| Director | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Studio | OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 26 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 26 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French Blu-ray: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 09 Oct 2000 Blu-ray: 15 Feb 2010 Production year: 1959 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (2)
View all -
"...Forty years on and BREATHLESS remains a stylistic tour de force..."
-
"...[An] homage to American B movies." -- Rating: A
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
29 out of 30 people found this review helpful
The day the New Wave began
Jean-Luc Godard's first feature film, shot on a tiny budget, makes a virtue of necessity.
The hand-held camera and monochrome film stock were all the crew could afford, and the on-street locations, the scruffy apartments, the cafes, and the car interiors all look real because they were. But between them these images created the nouvelle vague.
"Breathless" made Jean-Paul Belmondo into a star. The ruthless, shiftless young criminal, who is nevertheless a glamorous anti-hero, has become a movie cliché, but here Belmondo is doing it perhaps better than anyone else since.
However, the real star of this movie is Jean Seberg as Patricia, the American ex-pat who is Belmondo's lover. She is intelligent, moral and independent, but she is also inexplicably under the misogynistic spell of her untrustworthy and jealous lover. It's Seberg's finest role and it gets better as the film proceeds.
The DVD has some interesting extras, including a short film Godard made just before the main feature, "Charlotte et son Jules". This was an early try-out for Belmondo's garrulous male chauvinist pig, the victim this time being the endearing Anne Collette. It's a gem, and so is the main movie.
Great films don't show their age. Instead they define the age in which they were made. This is Paris in 1960, and cinema was about to change. -
Most recent members' review
View all -
9 out of 11 people found this review helpful
Pure 60's cool
Godard's debut feature is a ground-breaking classic that still feels suprisingly fresh today (possibly because today's youngbloods are still unimaginatively either ripping this off or can't even manage a fraction of the creativity). It's a lesson in film-making on the cheap, and has a laid-back, easy-going camera style that just washes over you, particularly in the extended scene of Belmondo and Seberg hanging out in her bedroom. There's a definite cruel streak in the film, especially given Belmondo's nihilistic character, but it doesn't prevent him from being incredibly iconic even to this day.
-
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
Related user collection
They Shoot Pictures, Don't They Greatest 1000 Films... (321)
79.2% from 13 members
by:
Tolis
from Kent
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
-
-
-
Breathless - BLU-RAY Version
Godard's first feature has been widely hailed as one of the most influential motion pictures ever made. On the run after killing a cop, a small-time crook (Belmondo) hides out in Paris with an American girl (Seberg). After she betrays him, he chooses to face his fate with an absurd stoicism ...
-
-
-
-
Breathless
Godard's first feature has been widely hailed as one of the most influential motion pictures ever made. On the run after killing a cop, a small-time crook (Belmondo) hides out in Paris with an American girl (Seberg). After she betrays him, he chooses to face his fate with an absurd stoicism ...
-