Breathless
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À bout de souffle (Breathless) | |
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IMDB Page (http://imdb.com/title/tt0053472/) (external link) | |
| Director: | Jean-Luc Godard |
| Writer: | Jean-Luc Godard & Francois Truffaut |
| Starring: | Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg |
| Music by: | Martial Solal |
| Distributor: | Films Around the World, Inc. |
| Release Date: | March 16 1960 (France) |
| Runtime: | 108 min. |
| Language: | French |
| Awards: | 1960 Berlin Internation Film Festival, Silver Berlin Bear |
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Breathless was the English language title given to the French film À bout de souffle, (literally, At the end of breath), directed by Jean-Luc Godard and released in 1960, becoming one of the best-known films of the French New Wave.
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Plot summary
Michel is a young thug who romantically models himself after Humphrey Bogart. While driving a stolen car, Michel shoots a policeman who follows him onto a country road. Penniless and on the run from the police, he turns to his American girlfriend Patricia, a student and aspiring journalist. The ambiguous Patricia agrees to hide him and the two spend their time evading the police, making love and stealing cars to raise money for a trip to Italy. As the police net tightens, Michel's bravado and desperation increase...
Awards
Other versions
A rare 1976 film by Amos Poe, featuring a cameo by Blondie singer Deborah Harry (playing a woman named Blondie) called Unmade Beds was an homage / satire to the original.
The film was remade in an English-language version in 1983, starring Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky, directed by Jim McBride.
Movie Connections
The film references many other movies. In one scene, "Bob the Gambler" is mentioned which is an apparent reference to Bob le Flambeur (1955). A few American movie posters are seen in the streets, including Humphrey Bogart's The Harder They Fall and Ten Seconds to Hell with Jack Palance.