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 song playing when Michel goes to visit the first girl in Paris is "Pity Pity" by Paul Anka (released in 1959).

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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

Referenced in When Brendan Met Trudy (2000)

User Reviews

French New Wave for Dummies

This is the one that started it all kids, the daddy of post-modern cinema. MTV jump cuts, fractured soundtrack and images aplenty

Self reflexive to the point that it not only acknowledges its own existence, it revels in it.

All style and no substance is considered a bad thing today, unless its Tarantino. Well, if it wasn't for Godard, chances are there would be no QT.

All the characters and images, and dialogue and sets are constructed from all aspects of life - Michel is a Bogart collage. Patricia apes everything she sees, from her Interviewee's facial gestures to Michel's own.

Don't let all this technical mumbo fool you, I did my thesis on Godard and would happily bore the ass off you with a lecture in great detail about this film, but the fact is, it's a stormer.

Grips you by the throat and shakes the hell out of you, and it doesn't let go until the final breath.

Fantastically, artistically magnificent. If Godard wanted to make his debut picture to show how well he understood American ideals and the history of cinema, he couldn't have made a better picture.

Top stuff French guy.