HI, I'm Steph, 20 from Warrington! I also write on the review site DooYoo under the same name :) Th...
HI, I'm Steph, 20 from Warrington! I also write on the review site DooYoo under the same name :) Thanks to everyone who rates me, especially the E's! I am very grateful for all rates! :o)
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Film Only Review
A Bout De Souffle (translated to Breathless in English) Details: Directed By: Jean Luc Goddard Release Date: 7 February 1961 Runtime: 90 minutes Language: French (English Subtitles) Starring: Jean-Paul Delmondo Jean Seberg
Plot: Filmed in black and white despite the use of colour coming into use in the film industry in 1935 with the film Becky Sharp by Rouben Marmoulian (this was the first film which was considered a real full length film, but colour was used before this too between the 1920s and 1930s.) A Bout de Souffle is about a small time criminal Michel Pioccard, who is living in Paris. He has stolen a car, and in the mix he killed the police officer persuing him, no longer a small time thief, he then tries to persuade a young American journalist working in Paris to run away to Italy with him, Patricia is someone he has met before,
and he quickly renews this releationship when he sees her selling the Herrald in the street.
The film is famous for not following a particular plot line, but the important word in that sentence, is famous, and it has made it's name and made the director Jean-Luc Goddard famous in French film making.
Michel and Patricia go though the city, evading the french Police and collecting debts from someone who owes Michel money before trying to flee the country.
But will they manage it without been caught by the police?
Opinion: I watched this film in my Film Studies class last year, it isn't the type of film which I would chose to watch for myself, but I found I did kind of enjoy the film, and it made great evaluating for various essays in class. Especially the final scene, anybody who has watched the film will know what I mean!
The fact the film is filmed in black and white, it is made that way by the director to try and make the film seem older, seeing as the film is set in around the 1940s when alot of films would still have been black and white. For a 1960s film, the filming is excellent, and if you were watching it now, you wouldn't think it was made that long ago, everything about it seems modern and new, I suppose the word you could use is classic, it will never go out of date. Even almost 50 years on, the film is enjoyable and seems too new world to be so old, if that makes sense! It's the kind of film which film makers today strive to produce, one which will last a life time without going out of fashion, without going out of date and seeming very aged. That is something which I liked about A Bout De Souffle. If I compare the film to the British film, The Italian Job which was filmed in 1969, although also a very famous film which will also never go out of date, and never go unwatched, the filming is completely different, with the Italian job you look at screenshots and think 1960s, whereas you could mistake A Bout de Souffle for a modern (80s/90s) film.
The acting in A Bout De Souffle is to be desired, Michel is weird in the film, and he acts in strange ways which are just not at all believable, when he shoots the Police Officer in the beginning of the film, he just hops in the car and drives off, lights a cigarette (a popular feature with him in the film!) and gets on with it, he isn't speeding away from the crime scene and acts completely relaxed despite it been the first time he has ever killed anyone! And again the final scene is just crazy in the way it's shot!
This film is not for everyone, I wouldn't have watched it if it hadn't been for college, but I found I did enjoy it in the end, and it has made me stop been so fussy about the films I watch.
I wouldn't watch the film if you have trouble reading, especially if your watching it on a small screen as unless your fluent in French you will need the subtitles! I have watched this film about 20 times now, with the re watching and analysing of every scene, and I must say when you have watched it twice in one day, it does get very annoying!
If you like the Indie type films, the new world films, the likes of City of God then you will love this film, and I would give it a try even if you don't normally watch these films!
Surprisingly good film if a little weird in places!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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It's a great film, and was ground-breaking in many ways when it first appeared. Unfortunately, Goddard seemed to lose his way after it and never fully fulfilled his promise.
denella 07.09.2009 18:37
I love this film and would happily watch it again.
xKatieeex 07.09.2009 16:31
I had to watch this for my French film class too, I quite enjoyed it apart from when I had to write an essay on it...lol... Good review :)
Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), an ex-airline steward turned hoodlum, steals a car ... more
and heads to Paris. Discovering a gun in the car's glove department, he uses it to shoot and kill a cop who tries to wave him down. He wants to escape to Italy wit...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), an ex-airline steward turned hoodlum, steals a car ... more
and heads to Paris. Discovering a gun in the car's glove department, he uses it to shoot and kill a cop who tries to wave him down. He wants to escape to Italy wit...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Landmark French movie that turns the tragi-comic story of small time criminal Michel ... more
Poiccard/Laszlo Kovacs (Belmondo) obsessed with both Bogart and an aspiring American journo (Seberg) into a major masterpiece of fickle hedonism. Cigarettes hats su...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Stylish and sexy, 'Breathless' (A Bout De Souffl? in the original French) is the epitome ... more
of cinematic cool. A fast tale of a young man on the run in Paris at the end of the 50's, the film shook up the film world upon it's release and has made a lasting...
Advantages: one of the best crime movies ever, a gem which has'nt aged at all, with superb perfomances from Belmondo and Seberg. Disadvantages: dont watch it if you dont like wobbly cameras
![Breathless [DVD] [1959]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78528860.jpg "Breathless [DVD] [1959]")
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