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Breathless

Play trailer Poster for Breathless 1961 1h 30m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
95% Tomatometer 82 Reviews 89% 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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Breathless

Breathless

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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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Critics Reviews

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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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
Emiliano Basile EscribiendoCine Jan 13
10/10
The film stands as a testament to a time when art sought to transform the means of survival into a new way of thinking about the world. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Tom B Apr 8 Even taking into account that this film was done 65 or so years ago, I found it boring and trite. Hated it. See more Dustin Ornelas D @10dustinO 2d In this film, we see a reckless young criminal, Michel Poiccard, who kills a policeman and hides out in Paris with an American woman he’s trying to convince to flee with him. As their relationship unfolds, she ultimately betrays him to the police, leading to his sudden, tragic death and underscoring the film’s themes of freedom, alienation, and impulsive living. Very tragic watch. See more Patricia P @STARLATINA 6d Breathless was kind of cool because it felt different from normal movies. The camera work and editing were unique, and the dialogue felt natural. Sometimes the story was confusing, but the movie had an interesting style that made it memorable. See more Josue P @RT26164816 May 4 Breathless was a film about young criminal and also about an American girl in Paris. But, it feels very different from other typical movies. This film uses jumpsuits and also a but of handheld camera shots. This is what makes it a bit more messier then a Hollywood style type of film. See more Rebecca O. @Rebecca_Orona May 4 My face scene from Breathless was Jean Seberg slapping Jean-Paul Belmon across his face, that made me giggle every time I rewatch it because only because of that. See more Allison A @RT35810172 Apr 29 I thought this film was boring just because it was done so long ago. I would recommend it to my grandpa. See more Read all reviews
Breathless

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Movie Info

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