Talking To The Screen
Breathless
Wednesday 2/12/03, 10:08pm
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If you?re a film buff, you?ve seen Godard?s classic, ?Breathless?. That?s what I?ve heard for years. Film students across the world watch it in class and discuss its merits. My sense was that it was to be as esoteric as films come. Moreover, Goddard is French; this movie, in all likelihood, was to be not only esoteric, but obnoxious in being so.
?Breathless? was a pleasant surprise. All the trappings of a great French existential film are present, but also are the makings of a wonderfully enjoyably film. Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as Michel Poiccard a.k.a. Laszlo Kovacs, the quintessential existential anti-hero. Jean Seberg plays Patricia Franchini an American in Paris who has been on a few dates with Michel. ?Breathless? tells a story over two days of Michel and Patricia falling in love. Michel is a brash young man on the run from the police who steals what he wants but doesn?t have. Patricia is an aspiring journalist who is taken by Michel, perhaps by his bravado or his mystique.
The existential themes in ?Breathless? are obvious and crystal clear. The camera work and auteur-ship that Godard is famous for is apparent and only support the validity of his reputation. But what makes this film captivating is the way Godard and Truffault?s existential tropes are played out through a relationship. They become real through example in Michel and Patricia. Their love enables the film to be a story and not a philosophical explication.
?Breathless? is a great movie, not only for the reasons that everybody knows, but also because it?s a good story told well.
As a brief aside, while watching ?Breathless? I developed a crush on Jean Seberg (or perhaps Patricia Franchini). Unfortunately, she died in 1979, less than two months before I was born.
Home
If you?re a film buff, you?ve seen Godard?s classic, ?Breathless?. That?s what I?ve heard for years. Film students across the world watch it in class and discuss its merits. My sense was that it was to be as esoteric as films come. Moreover, Goddard is French; this movie, in all likelihood, was to be not only esoteric, but obnoxious in being so.
?Breathless? was a pleasant surprise. All the trappings of a great French existential film are present, but also are the makings of a wonderfully enjoyably film. Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as Michel Poiccard a.k.a. Laszlo Kovacs, the quintessential existential anti-hero. Jean Seberg plays Patricia Franchini an American in Paris who has been on a few dates with Michel. ?Breathless? tells a story over two days of Michel and Patricia falling in love. Michel is a brash young man on the run from the police who steals what he wants but doesn?t have. Patricia is an aspiring journalist who is taken by Michel, perhaps by his bravado or his mystique.
The existential themes in ?Breathless? are obvious and crystal clear. The camera work and auteur-ship that Godard is famous for is apparent and only support the validity of his reputation. But what makes this film captivating is the way Godard and Truffault?s existential tropes are played out through a relationship. They become real through example in Michel and Patricia. Their love enables the film to be a story and not a philosophical explication.
?Breathless? is a great movie, not only for the reasons that everybody knows, but also because it?s a good story told well.
As a brief aside, while watching ?Breathless? I developed a crush on Jean Seberg (or perhaps Patricia Franchini). Unfortunately, she died in 1979, less than two months before I was born.