Breathless

The French New Wave is probably the most famous cinematic movement of all time. I'm ashamed to admit that my knowledge of the movement is far from sufficient and right now I'm trying to fix that. Along with Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1959), Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960) is the most important and popular film of the entire movement. Initially the film seems like a thriller or a gangster film because a murder sets the story into motion. However, it becomes something totally different - and something so much more satisfying and fascinating - after a while.

The story is hard to get a grasp of. It is the "spontaneity" that makes the film as great as it is. There is no clear rising and falling action in the film apart from a few moments, which makes it more "anti-cinematic". There is a natural tone in the dialogue - partly because the actors didn't know the lines beforehand and partly because the dialogue doesn't drive the plot forward most of the time. Despite this incoherency the film manages to deliver us with something tangible that will linger on our minds for some time after we have seen the film.

Godard's form is even more bewildering and energetic than the content of the film. The camera moves in erratic ways and the editing is even wilder - you can figure that out when you know that this film created the jump cutting technique.

It was a weird experience to write this review: initially I thought I would give this film a 9, but the more I think and write about it, the more I love it. I ended up appreciating it even more after I wrote this review. This film is rightfully praised and popular. Go watch it. Now.

Score: 10 out of 10