The Miraculous Manu Memorial Movie Month, Mmmmm!

Breathless (1960)

Breathless strikes me as sort of an anti-Citizen Kane. (Mind you, I consider myself in no way qualified to make that claim, and the enormity and ubiquity of the reference point makes the comparison immediately trite to the point where I can hardly even read it without rolling my eyes, and I wrote the damn sentence!) They are both auteur's debut films, notable for their disproportionate influence and number of innovations, but where Citizen Kane is precisely, immaculately staged, Breathless has a loose, low-budget DIY feel and is possibly (probably, even) improvised, shot on location, using only natural light. Citizen Kane attempts to condense an old man's entire life into 2 hours, Breathless extends a meandering, aimless afternoon in a hotel room past all sense and relevance (sacrificing the "drive" I so worshiped last entry.) Citizen Kane marks the beginning of cinema's mature, classic period, Breathless (I've read) marks its end, and the beginning of the next era, a postmodernist one reflexively aware of how it slots into the tradition of film and culture and chock full of references and contradictions to such.

Befitting this theme, it is enamored with reflection:

In the glasses.


The real deal.

A pity that such an important film is... kinda a mess. It aimlessly meanders — contrast with Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, which POINTEDLY meanders — content to listlessly proceed through gangster film cliches it can hardly even summon the energy to lampshade, much less supply evocative character motivation. Not to throw shade, but it considers its plot a nuisance that gets in the way of cultivating an atmosphere of breezy, intellectual (or, in parts, pseudo-intellectual) cool. It's strange that Godard, consummate film-critic with over a thousand watched under his belt before he even touched a camera, would angle to create with his debut film (with no money, but endless creative freedom) a mediocre film noir when he doesn't seem even halfway invigorated by the concept. Perhaps that's just the way of the french, though.

I happen to know for a fact Jean-Luc Godard would go on to make more interesting, thought-provoking films in the future, though, and the experimental innovations and spirit contained within Breathless is inspiring enough to garner optimism about checking out other films of the French New Wave, if they can follow through.