Breathless

Introduction:

In this journal, I would like to talk about my review upon French New Wave. The film I watched is Breathless and it was published on 16 March 1960 in France and it is directed and written by Jean-Luc Godard which is a French-Swiss director. The French name of this film is À Bout De Soufflé which means out of breath.

Theory Discussion:

In 1959, French New Wave was emerged by Jean-Luc Godard with the film Breathless. French films were the generally literary adaptation which the films were normally made based on books, novels, fictional tales and other materials. A new generation of French filmmakers was low-budget and went against the literary period being made in France in the 1950s. They were desired to shoot more social issues on location. At the social and political turmoil era, they engaged this issue with the radical experiment of visual style, editing, and narration. The motion against traditional French cinema which is documentary was explained by French New Wave with more literature than cinema. French New Wave was ended in 1969, possibly with Weekend by Jean-Luc Godard.

The policy of the author and the importance of mise-en-scene were stressed by the French New Wave (Bordwell & Thompson, 2010). It was an idea that sprung out of Astruc’s ideas on camera-style; basically “the author ‘writing’ with a camera” was used to convey a message or vision by the director. French New Wave movement was propelled forward by this kind of action. Besides that, they borrowed many techniques from the neo-realists and the filmmakers often used handheld cameras to shoot on location. The cameras allowed for cheap and quick shoots but also gave a less static and structured feel that was more reminiscent of the “cinema du papa.” This kind of filming also shows the invention by using jump cut. The jump cut is a scene that cut forward in time, no matter how many seconds. Besides, there is also a lack of establishing shots and use a lot of close-ups in the film (Hayward, 2013). The filmmakers weren’t as concerned about establishing spatial and contextual relationships as they were about the mise-en-scene.

Synopsis:

The film is about a youthful criminal, Michel Poiccard an irresponsible sociopath and small-time thief, who steal a car in Marseille and murders the motorcycle policeman. Now wanted by the authorities and he tries to escape from the police forces and falls in love with an American girl who studying journalism at the Sorbonne named Patricia Franchini at the same time. Before leaving Paris, he plans to collect a debt from an underworld acquaintance and Patricia hides him in her apartment as he simultaneously tries to seduce her and call in a loan to fund their escape to Italy. Patricia says she is pregnant and most probably is Michel’s. However, she notices that Michel is on the run when questioned by the police. In the end, she chooses to betray him, but before the police arrive she tells Michel about this. The police shoot him in the street end, after a long run, he dies out of breath.

Film Analysis:

In this film, they use a lot of jump cut. For example, Michel shoots the motorcycle police who have followed him onto a country home. Throughout the whole scene, the audiences can only see the gun is pointing toward the police then come with a jump cut to the police failing over. In this case, audiences still able to understand what is happening during the jump cut scene. Besides that, a lot of close-ups were used and lack of establishing shots used. In the opening shot, the shot was focus on Michel’s newspaper as he is holding up, a close up to the newspaper then pulled down to reveal the face of our character. Lastly, most of the scene are using handheld to shoot. For example, the shakiness and an unsteady shot of the scene were shown at the end of the film when Michel is run away from the police because the whole scene was shot by the handheld. 

Next, aesthetics of French new wave was founded in this film which meta-cinema means self-reflexivity and it is shown when the part Patricia meets the American girl in the restaurant. In this particular scene, the conversation between them with the lip sync failed and force the audience to think what is going on in the restaurant.

Additionally, this film was filmed with available light only and exhibited direct sounds while shooting. For example, we can hear the ambulance siren passes by twice while Michel and Patricia are having a conversation in the room. Next, this film is also showing the female archetypes. For example, Patricia was an independent girl who doesn’t depend on men and she comes to France by herself. Although she was engaged in a criminal such as joins Michel stealing car but she betrays him as well by revealing his location to an inspector. An independent woman is able to choices and makes a decision by herself. Other than that, Patricia feeds herself by selling the newspaper on the street and has a job in France as a student and aspiring journalist.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, French New Wave is a rebellion to traditional film. Breathless was a success French New Wave’s film. After 57 years published, the film’s impact and its popularity with critics have no diminished. It continues to influence directors and also the culture. A lot of styles that actually traditional film will do but French new wave choose to not.