Breathless (1960)
Breathless didn’t take my breath away. Well, not entirely.
Widely regarded as a perennial classic which kick-started the French New Wave Cinema in the early 1960s, the movie hasn’t aged well. However, it did provide a spectacular introduction to the art and technique of Jean-Luc Godard, The Legend.
Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmonda), a crook, is on the run after shooting a policeman. While he tries to patch up with an old flame Patricia (Jean Seberg, looking unbelievably gorgeous) and persuade her to run away, the police are after him for grand theft auto and a murder. What follows is a character study of the leads, with heavy philosophical undertones, with the chase as the backdrop.
However simplistic the story may sound, it’s the execution and the form which hooks the viewer. Godard puts the signature techniques of the New Wave to extraordinary use and, more often than not, enthralls. Look out for - the hand-held camera shots, tracking shots in the second half, natural lighting, the curious on-lookers as Michel and Patricia walk through the streets of Paris, and the jarring jump-cuts ,which have attained a legendary status in filmdom and are often used for ‘cool’ editing effects today.
However, the very uniqueness, these very aspects are very distracting at times. It does feel like as if the director is trying too hard to compose a classy or arty looking shot. The spontaneity of the improvised scenes, though pretty interesting the first few times, loses its charm towards the later half. And ironically, the same device gives us one of the most beautifully shot, performed and composed scenes ever. The 7-8 minutes long sequence towards the climax, when Michel and Patricia discuss their interpretation of love and truth and justify their own stands, is a masterpiece of dialogue and camera-work. The camera there is more like a hidden one, hanging from the roof and clandestinely recording the interaction. It’s cinematic realism at its best.
Now, let me be a bit sensible and put things in perspective. This was Godard’s first full-length feature. The dexterity with which he goes on breaking rule after rule of classical filmmaking certainly gives a hint on why he went on to become one of the legends of world cinema. Technical wizardry of this scale is not what debut movies are known for (barring the likes of Citizen Kane (1941), of course).
In conclusion, it was the perfect introduction to The French New Wave and to Godard. Couldn’t have been better than this. However, the wafer thin storyline and a few patience-testing sequences mid-way into the movie dilute the effect. But only by a little bit. The feature stands tall amongst the many of its time when filmmaking was all about plain and simple storytelling, without resorting to artifical thrills.
I am already looking forward to treating myself to many more movies by the likes of Godard, Rivette, Rohmer and Chabrol, who, as Wikipedia tells me, were the other glorious dreamweavers of the era.
A whole new territory and I am excited.
Widely regarded as a perennial classic which kick-started the French New Wave Cinema in the early 1960s, the movie hasn’t aged well. However, it did provide a spectacular introduction to the art and technique of Jean-Luc Godard, The Legend.
Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmonda), a crook, is on the run after shooting a policeman. While he tries to patch up with an old flame Patricia (Jean Seberg, looking unbelievably gorgeous) and persuade her to run away, the police are after him for grand theft auto and a murder. What follows is a character study of the leads, with heavy philosophical undertones, with the chase as the backdrop.
However simplistic the story may sound, it’s the execution and the form which hooks the viewer. Godard puts the signature techniques of the New Wave to extraordinary use and, more often than not, enthralls. Look out for - the hand-held camera shots, tracking shots in the second half, natural lighting, the curious on-lookers as Michel and Patricia walk through the streets of Paris, and the jarring jump-cuts ,which have attained a legendary status in filmdom and are often used for ‘cool’ editing effects today.
However, the very uniqueness, these very aspects are very distracting at times. It does feel like as if the director is trying too hard to compose a classy or arty looking shot. The spontaneity of the improvised scenes, though pretty interesting the first few times, loses its charm towards the later half. And ironically, the same device gives us one of the most beautifully shot, performed and composed scenes ever. The 7-8 minutes long sequence towards the climax, when Michel and Patricia discuss their interpretation of love and truth and justify their own stands, is a masterpiece of dialogue and camera-work. The camera there is more like a hidden one, hanging from the roof and clandestinely recording the interaction. It’s cinematic realism at its best.
Now, let me be a bit sensible and put things in perspective. This was Godard’s first full-length feature. The dexterity with which he goes on breaking rule after rule of classical filmmaking certainly gives a hint on why he went on to become one of the legends of world cinema. Technical wizardry of this scale is not what debut movies are known for (barring the likes of Citizen Kane (1941), of course).
In conclusion, it was the perfect introduction to The French New Wave and to Godard. Couldn’t have been better than this. However, the wafer thin storyline and a few patience-testing sequences mid-way into the movie dilute the effect. But only by a little bit. The feature stands tall amongst the many of its time when filmmaking was all about plain and simple storytelling, without resorting to artifical thrills.
I am already looking forward to treating myself to many more movies by the likes of Godard, Rivette, Rohmer and Chabrol, who, as Wikipedia tells me, were the other glorious dreamweavers of the era.
A whole new territory and I am excited.
posted by Anurag at 5:58 PM
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