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Breathless
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Jean-Luc Godard has been credited with revitalizing cinema in the early 60's with his interesting and unique style of filmmaking, a style that has bleed over into even modern cinema and continues to influence and inspire. To say that Jean-Luc Godard is one of the greatest directors of all time (in company with Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Ingmar Bergman) is perhaps too simple. The fact remains that Godard isn't simply one of the best, he's one of the most important. `A Bout de Souffle' (better known as `Breathless') is a sublime example of why he is so important. With his debut feature film he stunned audiences and critics alike by breathing a breath of fresh air into cinema and creating something new and intriguing and completely entertaining.

`A Bout de Souffle' is one of those films you have to be wary about `over-praising' because once you `get' it you totally fall head over heals for it, but until you `get' it you may find yourself baffled at all the praise. That was me upon my initial viewing. I was about halfway into the film and I was stumped as to why this movie was so well loved. Sure, it was stylistically exuberating and blatantly original in construction, but as far as being a great `movie', well, I just wasn't `feeling' it in that way. The third act though is a huge wallop to the viewer and completely changed my thinking on the entire film. In fact, upon my second viewing I was able to spot things throughout the films progression that only added to my admiration for it, and now I am completely and utterly in love with the film; so much so that I consider it one of the best ever made.

So, I don't want to raise your expectations so much that you become dumbfounded in the films first and second act. Please, realize that my praise belongs to the film in its entirety, and entirety that cannot be fully appreciated until the third act is through. You really need to judge the film on your second viewing, for it is only after you have put all the pieces together that you can really enjoy the film from start to finish.

The film is part crime noir, part romantic thriller. It centers around a thug named Michel who is on the run after killing a police officer. He hides out in his American girlfriend's apartment. The film sports a neurotic narrative that keeps the audience glued as Michel and Patricia (the girlfriend) go through their day as normal people in abnormal circumstances. The performances are fresh and believable, and the dialog (a lot of which was adlibbed) feels perfect for the situation. Godard brings a lot of his love for film into his construction of `A Bout de Souffle', a film that can be seen as an ode to the great film noirs that came before it. What is remarkable is that, but making this film completely his own, Godard created an ode that is superior to the films he was praising.

During a press conference with an author, Jean Seberg's character Patricia asks the author "what is your greatest ambition in life" to which he responds, after much thought, "to become immortal and then to die". The significance of this statement is seen, not only in this film, but in the idea that art makes the artist immortal. Godard has become immortal. In the context of the film though, the immortality comes from love. When one has become truly loved then they are in essence `immortal'.

The question raised at the end of this film is, `was Michel immortal?'

Through Godard's impressive way of telling a story within a story one really has to watch this film a few times to answer that question. The outcome with each viewing may be different than the last, and the fact that Godard keeps the answer an ambiguity is to the films advantage. Did Patricia really love Michel? Was her emotional reaction to the films conclusion all just an act? Piecing together Godard's point of view may reveal an answer you least expect, which makes this film all the more captivating. The films production notes mention that Patricia commits the ultimate act of betrayal; but exactly what that act is, is up to the audience to decide.