Breathless (1960)

Breathless

• I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard about this until I went to watch ‘Nouvelle Vague’, which is Richard Linklater’s new film. It turns out, it’s about the making of ‘Breathless’ and the French New Wave, so I knew I needed to watch this first, so I can appreciate ‘Nouvelle Vague’ more. Of course, I’ve heard of Jean-Luc Godard, just not this particular project. You can definitely see the impact it’s had on cinema as a whole, and how American gangster films influenced this. It’s cool to see how this reflects American films, and now a lot of films reflect this one. It’s a strong blend of crime and romance, with a quick story and lots of cuts and fast pacing. I think this is one of my favorite edited films I’ve ever seen. There’s so many cuts in each scene, and it really livens up the mood and keeps everything moving forward. It also makes this whole thing feel extremely home made and crafted with love. You can see the vision very well. The performances were all great, and the chemistry between Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg was quite lovely. You can see how they connect and bounce off each other in each scene. Everything felt so natural and down to earth, without much exaggeration or forced moments. It just felt like real, authentic life, with a slight whimsical touch. The cinematography was interesting, with the grainy, black and white look that was handheld, yet everything was so sharp and precise at the same time. It was very aesthetically pleasing. Lastly, the score was my favorite thing besides the editing. I was reminded of a lot of classic work from Nelson Riddle, or Henry Mancini. The music is what kept this so lively. Not only was it fun to listen to, but it was very heartfelt. Overall, this was a very solid film that I’m glad I discovered. I will say that there’s a couple scenes that were hard to pay attention to, just because I kept focusing on the characters rather than the subtitles, so I occasionally got a tiny bit lost. But besides that, it’s great, and I can’t wait to watch ‘Nouvelle Vague’. I would recommend this to all crime/romance fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!