First Take Classics: A Bout De Souffle (Breathless)- and so the French New Wave begins

SYPNOSIS: 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.

Jean-Luc Godard. Critic. Cinema ‘terrorist’. And a damn good director. This is one of the most groundbreaking films I’ve ever seen, setting the conventions for films to follow.

Sure, it may be from 1959, but a lot of the elements that make a film stand out are evident here. Godard directs this film with a lot of flair and style, and combined with Francois Truffaut’s screenplay,  the narrative packs quite a lot into 93 minutes, putting the clunky exposition to shame (there’s more action in the first 6 minutes than there was in the entire duration of a modern day action film).

The performances from Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg make the pair of Michel and Patricia to be a great pairing, and Godard makes sure that they are incredibly well developed. Raoul Coutard’s cinematography is just flawless, and considering the age of the film, almost revolutionary, and the music from Martial Solal puts you in the world of Paris during the early 60′s. This is how films should be made- albeit not in French for obvious reasons.

THE VERDICT

There is a reason why Roger Ebert spoke highly of this film over the years- it is the rarest thing of them all: a perfect film.

Rating- 5/5