Day 3 - Breathless

Breathless (1960) directed by Jean-Luc Godard

It's a film like Breathless that's going to really expose me as the movie critic fraud I am. I didn't get it. Well, what I mean by that is that I don't understand what I was supposed get out of it. On its surface, Breathless is about a car thief that shoots a police officer forcing him to hide out in Paris where he spends the rest of the movie trying to convince a girl to sleep with him and run away together to Italy, endlessly professing his love for her along the way. It's a light hearted romance that doesn't seem to have much more substance than that. But maybe that's the point?

From the three minutes I spent on wikipedia researching French New Wave (who needs to go to film school?), I was able to gather a couple key points about the movement:
1) It was a rejection of the traditional norms of cinema.
2) There was a distinct style that was unique to the director.
3) They were highly influenced by existentialism which after another three minutes on wikipedia tells me that we give our own lives meaning. I am now officially smarter than Nietzsche.

Regarding the first point, I didn't find Breathless particularly wacky, though that is probably because I am influenced by modern movies I've been watching my whole life that Breathless helped pioneer. I read somewhere that this was the first modern film and I can definitely see that. The pacing and feel is definitely different from older movies that I've seen. It is full of whimsical dialogue that doesn't really have to do with anything and the plot is rather sparse and loose. It's simply there for us to watch the characters do and say stuff. Part of this rejection of traditional cinema was the style the directors used. The most noticeable technique Godard uses is the jump cut. For example when the two main characters Michael and Patricia ride a taxi together you can see the rapid change of scenery along the ride to signify time and distance. Another scene where Patricia has lunch with a potential suitor seamlessly yet jarringly uses jump cuts mid-conversation. Godard had actually intended this film to be over two and a half hours but pressures from the studio forced him to trim it down to 90 minutes. The jump cut was an innovative way to retain bits and pieces of the footage he wanted to keep and gave Breathless it's uniquely fresh feel. It is something we take for granted today as its used extensively in commercials, MTV and many modern films.

One of my favorite directors Quinten Tarantino's favorite directors is Jean-Luc Godard and his influences on his movies is obvious from Breathless, namely the whimsical dialogue that doesn't really pertain to the plot. It is a nice way for the characters, and the director himself, to give their views on life, philosophies, politics or whatever, or to simply tell a funny joke for the hell of it, being witty for the sake of being witty, something that Tarantino does extensively in his movies. In Breathless, Godard has his actors saying stuff like:
"Don't use the brakes. Cars are meant to go, not stop!"
"It's sad to fall asleep. It separates people. Even when you're sleeping together, you're all alone."
"What's your greatest ambition in life?" - "To become immortal... and then die."
"Informers inform, burglars burgle, murderers murder, lovers love."

So in many ways I can see Breathless as the landmark film that is, the first modern film, yet it is because of that I guess I expected more in terms of an underlining message. I don't really see how it connects to any sort of philosophy though I am neither a philosopher or film or literary critic. I guess it's just not enough these days to simply make a good well crafted movie.

Grade: A-

Oh before I forget I guess I should talk about the characters! See, I just pulled a Godard there with a jump cut by violating traditional continuity! Some might call this lazy and disorganized, I call it genius and innovative. The protagonist Michel, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, is a petty car thief that seems to be simply coasting through life, bouncing around from girl to girl, even stealing from their purses when they're not looking. He idolizes Humphrey Bogart, copying his mannerisms. (Does this say something about Godard's view on classic Hollywood cinema or is it simply because Bogart is a bad-ass? Ahhh, the pains of being a critic!)  He then settles upon one of his previous encounters, Patricia, proclaiming to be madly in love, but is he really? Maybe it's a French thing but you don't really get that impression from the way he speaks to her. He relentlessly tries to get her to sleep with him, constantly ignores her questions and dismisses her when she says she is pregnant, yet they do have a playful repoire with each other. That is where the magic happens as they have tender moments which is worth the price of admission alone. Patricia, on the other hand, is unsure of her feelings towards Michel. One moment she thinks she may be in love with him, the next not so much, like the ending of Closer when Natalie Portman tells Jude Law she doesn't love him anymore out of the blue. Patricia is even unsure of herself, lamenting "I don't know if I'm not free because I'm unhappy or unhappy because I'm not free." Yeah, I got nothing else on her. =(

On a side note, I think Michel might set the record for most cigarettes smoked in a movie. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there wasn't a single scene in the entire movie where he didn't have a cigarette in his mouth. Times sure have changed about the attitudes of smoking but damn, he looks effing cool. Just look at what smoking has done for Jon Hamm's career!