Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Lee Eisenberg The cinema movement know as the French New Wave (nouvelle vague) arose in the late 1950s. Leading the charge was François Truffaut, whose semi-autobiographical movie "The 400 Blows" shocked people with its intensity. But another major player was Jean-Luc Godard, whose "À bout de souffle" ("Breathless" in English) was a new kind of crime drama. Jean-Paul Belmondo's suave crook comes across as a nice guy but will stop at nothing to get what he wants, while Jean Seberg's naive journalist just wants to do what she thinks is the right thing.I understand that the movie is a tribute to some US movies that Godard liked. Apparently, he and Truffaut felt that a number of French movies were pleasing to the eye but otherwise empty (Truffaut later interviewed Alfred Hitchcock, whose clever storytelling techniques he admired; while writing for Cahiers du Cinema, Godard praised Otto Preminger's works). Just as important as "Breathless"'s plot is the soundtrack. The smooth jazz drives the movie as Michel goes from place to place, with or without Patricia. The jump cuts are distracting at times, but they don't subtract from the movie. Everything about this movie bears analyzing; you should see it at least once. Outstanding.

Dalbert Pringle For starters - I certainly am quite clueless as to why this film earned the title of "Breathless" for itself. The events that took place in its story were certainly far from being an exhilarating (breathless??) movie-experience.If this b&w, 1960 film is actually considered to be the one that initiated the whole French New Wave movement in cinema - It's really got me wondering what French cinema was like prior to this (apparently) revolutionary transformation in film-making.All-in-all - Even though I wouldn't say that "Breathless" was great movie-making - It certainly turned out to be considerably better than I had expected it to be.And - Last, but not least - I sure do wish that this film's protagonist, Michel Pioccard, hadn't been portrayed as being such a lousy, despicable, and untrustworthy bastard that he was. For me - This guy's rotten-to-the-core character really marred the story, big-time.

Uriah43 After stealing a car and subsequently killing a motorcycle cop who is pursuing him, a young thug named "Michel Poiccard" (Jean-Paul Belmondo) goes to Paris to see a young American student named "Patricia Franchini" (Jean Seberg) in the hope that she will escape with him to Rome. His desperation increases when he learns that he has been identified as the killer and so he turns on the charm even more in his attempt to have Patricia accompany him. But in order to do that he needs to get his hands on some money that a friend happens to owe him and that requires something he doesn't have much of—time. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film definitely has its share of accolades which includes a Silver Bear Award for "Best Director" (Jean-Luc Godard) at the Berlin International Film Festival that same year. That being said, however, I don't think the picture has aged very well and for that matter I didn't particularly care for the lead character either. For those reasons I have rated this film accordingly. Average.

wheretheskiesaresoblue It's an absolute criticism like Godard's himself. It's unique and impressive. However, it's not a masterpiece. Just because it's different and experimental in some ways, doesn't make it a really good movie. The dialogues are natural, that's alright. But do they get you? Get you into the movie? Unfortunately, for me they are not working at this way. Jump-Cuts are revolutionary, admiring by many people. For me, it just looks it a bit amateur. Alright, may be that was the idea (it helps to make it unique) and it works in that way. However, it could be done in a more professionally way. I like the sarcasm in that movie. "You are the audience and it's a motion picture" is clearly defined. What about emotions? I have to say that, it's sentimental, the background music just make it better. The theme is great. All these powerful jazz instrumentals make me want to cry. Especially, New York Herald Tribune scene is just so deep and powerful. It gets you; actually the only scene gets me in that movie. As a personal statement by myself, A bout de soufflé will always have a sad way for me. It's because of the person who recommended to me. Unfortunately, there are no connections between us anymore. I didn't want to, it just happens sometimes. Like the relationship between Patricia and Michel. "But l can't do without you. Yes, you can. Maybe. But l don't want to"