Breathless (1960)
"À bout de souffle" (original title)

A young car thief kills a policeman and tries to persuade a girl to hide in Italy with him.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

François Truffaut (story)

Stars:

Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Daniel Boulanger

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Seberg	...	Patricia Franchini
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Michel Poiccard / Laszlo Kovacs
Daniel Boulanger	...	Police Inspector Vital
Henri-Jacques Huet	...	Antonio Berrutti
Roger Hanin	...	Carl Zubart
Van Doude	...	Himself
Claude Mansard	...	Claudius Mansard
Liliane Dreyfus	...	Liliane / Minouche (as Liliane David)
Michel Fabre	...	Police Inspector #2
Jean-Pierre Melville	...	Parvulesco the Writer
Jean-Luc Godard	...	The Snitch
Richard Balducci	...	Tolmatchoff
André S. Labarthe	...	Journalist at Orly
François Moreuil	...	Journalist at Orly
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Liliane Robin	...	Minouche

Storyline

Michel Poiccard, an irresponsible sociopath and small-time thief, steals a car and impulsively murders the motorcycle policeman who pursues him. Now wanted by the authorities, he renews his relationship with Patricia Franchini, a hip American girl studying journalism at the Sorbonne, whom he had met in Nice a few weeks earlier. Before leaving Paris, he plans to collect a debt from an underworld acquaintance and expects her to accompany him on his planned getaway to Italy. Even with his face in the local papers and media, Poiccard seems oblivious to the dragnet that is slowly closing around him as he recklessly pursues his love of American movies and libidinous interest in the beautiful American.

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Plot Keywords:

car | journalism | criminal | money | policeman | 

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Taglines:

The film that was banned for 4 years. Why..? (original Finnish poster tagline)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

7 February 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Breathless

Filming Locations:

11 rue Campagne Première, Paris 14, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,684 (USA) (11 August 2000)

Gross:

$336,705 (USA) (29 October 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Impéria, Les Productions Georges de Beauregard, Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Michel Poiccard uses the name Laszlo Kovacs as an alias. It is often wrongly assumed this was an homage to the cinematographer of the same name: the film was made long before Kovacs established himself in the movie industry. It was actually a reference to the character played by Jean-Paul Belmondo in Claude Chabrol's Leda, earlier the same year.

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Goofs

When Patricia (Jean Seberg) is going up the escalator, a plant beside it can be seen moving as if knocked by the cameraman going up in front of her.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michel Poiccard: After all, I'm an asshole. After all, yes, I've got to. I've got to!

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Connections

Featured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A francia új hullám (1990)

User Reviews

"If you don't like this film...then you can get stuffed!"

"À Bout de Soufflé" aka "Breathless", was the first full-length film directed by the controversial Jean-Luc Godard, and the first film of his long career that I've had the chance to see so far. "Breathless" is the landmark film of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), when young filmmakers such as François Truffaut thrilled the audiences and shocked the Establishment.

Although some people may not be as impressed with "Breathless" structure as they were in 1960, it remains a terrific, breathtaking film experience and has aged wonderfully. Such masterpieces live up to the hype and time, even though they're not as technically impressive as they were 40 years ago, and they're still powerful thanks to what great films consist of: passion. As another user rightfully stated, we have to look at "Breathless" from a historical point: it's different from any other previous film. Godard was truly a visionary and an incredibly talented, passionate "auteur".

"Breathless" plot is rather simple: Michel Poiccard/Laszlo Kovacs (Jean-Paul Belmondo), our anti-hero, is a young criminal on the run from the police, after stealing a car and killing a cop. He has an affair with a beautiful young American, Patricia (Jean Seberg), an aspiring journalist who sells the New York Herald Tribune in the middle of the Champs Élysées (her first scene here was paid a tribute by Eva Green in Bertolucci's "The Dreamers"), and is also expecting Michel's baby. Patricia helps Michel to dodge the police, while they steal cars together in order to raise money for a trip to Rome. But when you want to "vivre dangereusement jusqu'au bout" - or, live dangerously till the end, things may end up not so well.

When you see Belmondo touching his lips, trying to imitate Humphrey Bogart's trade mark, Seberg walking on the Élysées as lovely as a girl can be, the unforgettable final moments...you don't worry about theories on why this is a classic. "À Bout de Soufflé" is Cinema.