Breathless (1960)

A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he reunites with a hip American journalism student and attempts to persuade her to run away with him to Italy.

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

François Truffaut (original scenario)

Stars:

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Seberg	...	Patricia Franchini
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Michel Poiccard a.k.a. Laszlo Kovacs
Daniel Boulanger	...	Police Inspector Vital
Henri-Jacques Huet	...	Antonio Berrutti
Roger Hanin	...	Carl Zubart
Van Doude	...	Self
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:
Jacques Lourcelles	...	(as Raymond Ravanbaz)

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 | journalist | stolen car | fugitive | love | 

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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:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Raoul Coutard later said because his background was in photojournalism he already knew how to shoot quickly and efficiently. "I had no reputation and nothing to lose. I wanted to see what would happen."

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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 Im Reich der Filme (2020)

User Reviews

Films You Remember

One of my dictums of reviewing is that the length of a review often reveals the interest of the reviewer of the subject matter. Was the reviewer reviled, ecstatic or somewhere in between? More or less text, piqued or not, we can make a guess. I note some pretty lengthy comments are provoked by reviewers of "Breathless". I suspect we like it more than we let on.

How can you not? Art house fare is not about pandering to mainstream tastes. So we see some physically stunning actors acting in a very counterculture manner, and are treated to the viewing a real film accomplishment - successfully delivering a product with "Risk" written all over it.

How anyone cannot accept that this was and is a film classic is beyond me. Great film is separated from the not so great and the poor by a few factors. They might be handsome stars, great lines, over the top "special moments" - how many Caddies and TBirds were in Paris in 1960 - small touches like Belmondo's use of a cigarette like Bogart could not have matched or nice musical touches or the neat use of the camera or two people idly chatting in bed as young people do about nothing and everything. So which of these things does the movie lack? If you want coherent straight ahead dialogue and action Gene Autry made a whole series of nice films for your delight.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

7 February 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Breathless

Filming Locations:

Brasserie La Coupole - 102 Boulevard Montparnasse, Paris 14, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,424, 30 May 2010

Gross USA:

$363,031

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$398,404

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:

1.33 : 1