Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard (Review)

It’s easy to see how this was revolutionary in its day as part of the French New Wave.
Breathless

When most people think of pretentious French cinema, it’s quite likely that Breathless is the movie they have in mind. You’ve got snooty, amoral characters engaged in conversations that seem more like contests to outdo each other in terms of wit than attempts to build rapport. There’s something rather pedantic about the whole thing, as if you’re not quite cool enough to really understand what’s going on, and if you have to ask, it can’t be explained.

Michel is a young thief and gigolo who kills a police officer on his way back to Paris. He meets up with Patricia, his American girlfriend, and waits for a friend to repay a loan so they can escape to Rome. In the meantime, they fritter away their time with nonsensical dialog full of existential mumbo-jumbo. (Sample dialog: “I don’t know if I’m unhappy because I’m not free, or if I’m not free because I’m unhappy.”) And when they don’t do that, they question each other’s love and commitment.

They yearn for peace and happiness but not, it seems, at the expense of dropping their “tres chic” facades. I know that Godard is trying to convey a sense of ambivalence, to drive home his character’s amorality. Too bad it’s all so “deep” and “philosophical” so as to be completely uninteresting.

Well, I can’t say that about the entire film. Breathless does contain some great sequences, ones that rise above the “hipper than thou” vibe that carries throughout much of it. In particular, the scene of Michel and Patricia lazing around one Sunday afternoon in her apartment while talking about nothing (literally) speaks volumes about their relationship, but also contains a loose energy that holds your attention. (Unfortunately, very few other scenes have that affect.)

Like so many great original works, it’s easy to see how this was revolutionary in its day as part of the French New Wave. However, now it just feels extremely dated and outstripped by those it influenced (e.g., Quentin Tarantino, Wong Kar-Wai).

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