Godard set out to very purposely break the rules of classical cinema, from its production norms to its stylistic grammar. Other classic films have continued to grow in popularity since their release – Casablanca being one example – but these don’t also match Breathless‘s lasting influence on films and filmmakers. The story of the death-obsessed, amoral yet likeable crook Michel (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) convincing an American girl to leave France with him stays fresh. It struck a chord with its audiences and continues to do so and has entered the popular discourse. But people still like it and even love it, whatever they know about Cahiers du cinéma, jump cuts, auteur theory, or any of the other big ideas associated with Breathless. This may be true of Breathless – to those unfamiliar with film history, the importance of its aesthetic innovations might go unnoticed. One has to work to see Welles’ genius and it becomes a critical task to give it its due. On facebook or in conversation, it is rare that someone, even the artful, intellectual college students that I’ve been around for the past four years, cite Welles’ film as their favorite, and many haven’t even seen it. This seems obvious, but many critically important films leave audiences and even critics underwhelmed. ![]() So why Breathless? Why is it one of the key films in cinematic history? Why is it so fascinating for critics but equally so for average intellectually-minded audiences? What mark has it left? 1. ![]() I thought that it was kind of a cliché to be so into it – some of the other students who had seen it even told me that – but I realized that even if that was so, Breathless was still resonating with young audiences, and there was something about it that distinguished it from other landmark films. But I was still surprised when some students who hadn’t seen it before passionately claimed that it was their new favorite film. After having studied the film very closely, watching it upwards of 15 times, and reading a lot of secondary literature, I knew why it was so important. Recently, I helped teach it to some undergraduate college students. Over fifty years ago, Jean-Luc Godard made his first feature film,- A bout de souffle- (which literally means “at the end of breath”) or, in the English translation, breathless.
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