DANdy Debrief I: Godard’s “Breathless”

Throughout the 50s, a young Jean-Luc Godard wrote for the now famous Parisian film magazine, Cahiers du Cinema. He, along with other soon-to-be influential filmmakers Truffaut, Chabrol and Rohmer, revolutionized what came to be respected as film criticism and film theory. These men established the term “auteur”, recognizing the director as the true author of the film , and the film as a piece of art to be contemplated instead of merely consumed. Godard and the others went as far as to state that some directors were true auteurs, creating films with a unique perspective and style that was recognizable from film to film. Other directors simply created traditional pulp entertainment, which the Cahiers team referred to with contempt as “daddy’s cinema.”

Godard finally got around to organizing his first feature film, A Bout de Souffle (aka Breathless) in 1959 and it was released in March of 1960. It would become one of the first films in the movement known as the French New Wave. Breathless is hardly an original story, it is an ode to classic Hollywood B-movies. But what is important is how the story is told.  Instead of being action oriented, Godard is strictly character-oriented. Michel is a stylish, though petty, crook who falls for an American girl, Patricia, and is eventually betrayed by her. Most of the film centres around the two characters discussing philosophy. French New Wave films in general carry existential themes. The New Wave movement existed to challenge traditional understandings of film, often re-working or completely ignoring previously thought unbreakable rules of film construction.

There are two important trends to come out of Breathless. For one, Godard’s original cut was far too long and he was told to trim it. When he asked a friend for advice, he was told to remove any scenes that didn’t further the plot. Instead of following this advice, he hacked at scenes here and there, creating what is now the infamous jump cut. The film looks obviously discontinuous, with characters jumping across the screen, with only the dubbed-in audio linking the scene together. This technique is now far from uncommon and is used intentionally, think Guy Ritchie’s Snatch. Second of all, Godard deliberately makes you aware of the fact that you are an watching a film. From cuts between Michel and a photograph of Humphrey Bogart, to characters looking directly into the camera, the audience is constantly aware that watching a film is a relationship between looker and object. For me, the most impressive scene at communicating this is when Patricia interviews Parvulesco at the airport. Both of these trends in Breathless are complete reversals of the traditions of daddy’s cinema.

Breathless was the beginning of an extensive filmography for Godard. To this day, he is heavily referenced and his style is consistently borrowed from by some of the most respected modern-day auteurs. Specifically, Tarantino does not hide his respect for Godard. Tarantino fell in love with Michel and Patricia’s philosophizing and now all of QT’s gangsters discuss the mundanities of everyday life. Tarantino took the name of one of Godard’s later films, Bande a Part, and reworked it to name his own film company; A Band Apart. Indeed, the respect for Godard surpasses the film world; Bande a Part translates into Band of Outsiders, which inspired the now famous men’s fashion company.

To a few viewers who are new to European art cinema, these films can often be exasperating because of their vague nature and sometimes slow moving plot. Remember, film is art. Multiple viewings of Breathless, or any art cinema, can unlock amazing realizations that will challenge your preconceptions about film.

If you live in the Toronto area, you can view the newly restored 50th anniversary print of Godard’s directorial debut at the stunning new Bell Lightbox at King and John as part of the Essential Cinema series. Breathless will have a limited run starting September 30th:  http://t.co/iKXhDLy

-DGD

~ by thatsadandyidea on September 1, 2010.