Breathless

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Breathless

1961

1h 30m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

81 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Petty thug Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) considers himself a suave bad guy in the manner of Humphrey Bogart, but panics and impulsively kills a policeman while driving a stolen car. On the lam, he turns to his aspiring journalist girlfriend, Patricia (Jean Seberg), hiding out in her Paris apartment while he tries to pull together enough money to get the pair to Italy. But when Patricia learns that her boyfriend is being investigated for murder, she begins to question her loyalties.

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Critics Consensus

Breathless rewrote the rules of cinema -- and more than 50 years after its arrival, Jean-Luc Godard's paradigm-shifting classic remains every bit as vital.

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Oliver Stone

Village Voice

05/02/2024

Nine years ago, I fell in love with Breathless. Time has aged her since, but poems of chaos, having little structure, are gloriously free from decay.

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Roger Angell

The New Yorker

01/22/2024

The camera in Breathless, which was wielded by Raoul Coutard, is jumpy, fluid, irritable, and comic -- alive with glimpses, sudden turns, rude stares, and angry changes of mood.

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Archer Winsten

New York Post

08/11/2022

It is a thin story, filled to the brim with extraordinary character of the modem, wild, criminal youth, as exemplified by Belmondo.

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JD Duran

InSession Film

08/19/2024

B-

The cold demeanor of Breathless isn’t very effective and as a result, it feels conceited and in a word; fake.

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David Harris

Spectrum Culture

02/27/2024

In an era before social media, Breathless presages the hyper-narcissistic age we embody where everyone with a phone and an Instagram account can create and curate whatever type of existence they choose.

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Penelope Gilliatt

Observer (UK)

01/22/2024

Breathless seems to me the most original, insolently gifted and shattering work the young French directors have, yet produced.

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Kyle M

5d

Godard’s cinematic innovation is defined by unique frameworks and speeding up scenes in eternally impressive, attentive presentation, which is an early case of visual splendor over an actively engaging story that doesn’t heighten its influences nor performances. (B)

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Alec B

Nov 16

Still feels revolutionary. The film's erotic energy is palpable and mysterious. A true masterpiece.

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Ghalib D.

@Gdhalla Sep 21

Groundbreaking? Yes. Interesting? Sure. Captivating? No.

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Shane C

Jul 25

One of the most famous art house films to date

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jun 10

Success in 1.5 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In French (France) and English versions with English subtitles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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jacob c

Jun 6

Breathless is at once straightforward and enigmatic, using its contrasting, fleshed-out, terrifically-acted characters and their cheeky interplay to create a bold, innovative, and seminal work of the French New Wave, and cinema in general.

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Jean-Luc Godard

Director

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Michel Poiccard alias Laszlo Kovacs

Jean Seberg

Patricia Franchini

Daniel Boulanger

Police Inspector

Jean-Pierre Melville

Parvulesco

Henri-Jacques Huet

Antonio Berrutti

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Synopsis

Petty thug Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) considers himself a suave bad guy in the manner of Humphrey Bogart, but panics and impulsively kills a policeman while driving a stolen car. On the lam, he turns to his aspiring journalist girlfriend, Patricia (Jean Seberg), hiding out in her Paris apartment while he tries to pull together enough money to get the pair to Italy. But when Patricia learns that her boyfriend is being investigated for murder, she begins to question her loyalties.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Producer: Georges de Beauregard
Screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut
Production Co: Imperia, Les Films Georges de Beauregard
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 7, 1961, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 29, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $47.1K
Runtime: 1h 30m

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