Breathless (1960)
These kind of very influential French classics can go either way for me. I was extremely taken with Jeanne Dielman, The 400 Blows was intriguing for its acting and unique narrative, and with Cléo from 5 to 7 that I was lukewarm to - I liked the experimental nature of it.
Breathless is similar in that I can’t deny there is something intriguingly fascinating with Godard’s ground breaking editing, but can’t really stand alone for me.
It is very fragmented, like “didn’t he just order breakfast?” - which you basically just have to go with. It is more vibe than straight narrative. I did like how it played on American noir aesthetics, sometimes almost to the point where it seemed like it was making fun of it in a way. But all that is just technique and style, I had a hard time accepting the characters. Michel is an asshole from start to finish, which as always I will assume has some meaning, though whatever it was didn’t get to me. Jean Seberg is charming and all, it is just hard to get a grip on who she is or why she is into Michel.
So mostly a miss for me, but it was fine crossing this off the list to understand that part of film history a little better.
Rating: 2.5