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Breathless

Breathless

1960
Romance, Drama
1h 30m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 68.54% from 4211 total ratings

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(4211)
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Rated 27 Aug 2008
4
70th
Nearly fifty years later, Breathless still feels very fresh and audacious, but as its influence has mostly been absorbed into the films that followed, it's easier to judge it strictly on its merits as a film - and while it is pretty great, it's not the transcendent masterwork its reputation might have you believing it to be. However, I had a damn good time watching it - Godard is very playful and the movie is carefree fun.
Rated 09 Nov 2008
88
92nd
Godard was on a rampage with this film, hacking away at scenes to the point of incomprehension thus creating a whirlwind that could very well cause motion sickness. This is not merely a masterpiece in editing, however. Of course it doesn't hurt that the film is slick as hell and Jean-Paul Belmondo oozes attitude, even though we know he's faking it every step of the way. Even the soundtrack is fantastic; that upbeat jazzy riff that's somehow able to frame the gangsters as cartoon characters.
Rated 10 Sep 2007
84
77th
This feels throughout like a movie about a guy who idolizes film noir and tries to live his life as if it were such a film. Watching it on this level I was very entertained and the movie was definitely a satisfying experience.
Rated 19 May 2012
47
43rd
Feels incredibly contrived and experimental. It might be an important film but I didn't get much out of it; disliked the characters and most of the dialogue. Hmmm let's discuss Faulkner and interview some bullshit pseudo-intellectual... *sigh* you aren't pretentious enough for me, I'm calling the cops on you.
Rated 20 Feb 2008
10
98th
Who doesn't like this movie? You can't really have a better debut as a filmmaker. So playful, so fun, i love it. Belmondo is my hero.
Rated 08 Jan 2009
4
83rd
Breathless lacks all but the faintest shadow of a dramatic impulse, yet it's surprisingly compelling. The script is snappy and flows naturally, even when it's completely inconsequential. It's also a veritable clinic on free-associative film making. Gleeful destruction of the fourth wall, lengthy tracking shots, unique framing, strange "burps" in continuity, jump cuts, and extreme close-ups are all thrown into the film with gusto. A unique and enjoyable experience.
Rated 30 Jan 2009
86
86th
A little bit of story and a hell of a lot of style. The fresh direction, the jazz soundtrack, the sauve and flighty performances all just bounce and blend together perfectly, with the editing capping the mood. All this does a good job of camouflaging what an obnoxious prick Michel is (even after he proclaims it with his opening line!). Some great dialogue mixed with some drivel does little to mar a classy package.
Rated 17 Apr 2009
93
98th
A shattering triumph of style over substance, this film is as enjoyable as crime films get, bathed in the peculiar style of the Nouvelle Vague and featuring some great camerawork.
Rated 08 Sep 2009
100
96th
Jean-Luc Godard's crime drama is more than just a crime drama. The film's two lead characters are full of depth and refuse to find easy ways out of things. This is the big link to "Breathless"' genius: and it shows at its strongest when Patricia has a drastic decision to make. Genuine and full of truth, "Breathless" is for the moviegoer who appreciates romance at its most brutally honest.
Rated 06 Jul 2007
71
42nd
Very cold to me. I don't really understand why either of these two do most of what they do. Reading some of the other reviews, I guess they are supposed to be unpleasant and foolish. That being the case, why should I care?
Rated 13 Jan 2008
92
88th
Breathless is just a lot of fun. Considering the short length, lack of variety in scenes, and rather simple plot, it's impressive that the characters' charm and witty banter is what keeps this movie so fresh and engaging. Cited by many as the foundation of the French New Wave, it's easy to see why Breathless is considered such a classic. Fun, upbeat, light and also thoroughly engaging, Godard and Truffaut created a masterpiece of 60's French cinema.
Rated 10 Jul 2008
3
45th
The film moves along with a carefree attitude, with sporadic editing and jump cuts that aren't so much jarring as they are playful. Much of the movie takes place on the bustling streets of Paris, and with all the handheld camera work it almost feels like documentary. Godard combines those verite stylings with Hollywood noir influences to create one hell of a good time.
Rated 08 Apr 2010
52
20th
Godard throws himself against the medium to find something different but at the same time neglects the basics, or perhaps doesn't even know what the basics are. The complete lack of tonality is shocking, a result of Godard valuing stylistic quirks above any kind of emotional core. The editing is horrible, and the characters, music, and camerawork only a little less so. There is no fun to be had here, nothing inspiring or riveting, only a load of dated postmodernist gibberish.
Rated 14 Oct 2010
57
32nd
This film is historically important, but I really hated the characters and I didn't have any fun watching this at all.
Rated 10 Dec 2010
50
23rd
Avant-garde masterpiece? More like a self-serious bore. A milestone of cinema? More like a static, tiring experiment that perceives action sequences (I mean scenes where people do things) as fillers. The dialogues are so pompous that you don't have the mental strength to analyze them in order to find a piece of truth. I watched this hoping it'd give me something. It didn't.
Rated 27 Jan 2013
64
21st
I've never really gotten the praise for the French New Wave and, frankly, found this movie to be boring and all the characters to be annoying, at best. Furthermore, Belmondo ain't that hot in more than one sense of the word.
Rated 14 Mar 2013
70
28th
A commendable film for its innovative style which inspired countless filmmakers to come. The story was decent enough but the characters irritated the hell out of me and I didn't enjoy watching them (besides a couple of - I believe - unintentional laughs). What am I supposed to give a movie like this? I guess I'll give it a 70.
Rated 25 Feb 2015
70
65th
I always preferred Truffaut to Godard so I don't know if this movie is better because of the former or worse due to the latter. And I'm pretty sure I just outed myself as ignorant. But when it comes to overly long scenes taking place in Parisian apartments...never mind. You can take the Schwarzenegger fan into the French New Wave, but you can't make a movie worse with rippling biceps. I didn't know how to end that. Sorry it got weird.
Rated 09 Jun 2007
73
79th
Historical mumbo-jumbo aside, Breathless is a mesmerizing movie, directed with great ingenuity and edited with ferocious courage, and has a neat vibraphone-heavy jazz soundtrack. Its text, admittedly, is uneven: Sometimes there are lines that are awkward and stupid, other lines are brilliant. The script is pretty good, but it's the way it was filmed that's visionary.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
73rd
It may be mostly remembered today for being one of the first examples of "modern cinema" and helping start a cinematic revolution, but I happen to think Breathless is also a very entertaining movie and one of Godard's best.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
81
69th
More notable for its astonishing influence on the cinema that followed it rather than for any value it might provide to the modern viewer. It's still an excellent movie and I enjoyed watching it a lot, but I doubt I'd watch more than once or twice.
Rated 12 Oct 2007
100
83rd
Under no circumstances don't mix this 1960 French New Wave masterpiece - À bout de souffle by Jean-Luc Godard - with the 1983 Richard Gere remake. À bout de souffle changed the face of the cinema in so many aspects it's hard to imagine many others alike. Jump-cuts, to point one example, was considered as a mistake when this movie was released to the screens. Thus, along with making À bout de souffle Godard had also invented the video clip. Seberg and Belmondo make you want to fall in love.
Rated 18 Jul 2008
45
25th
Boring, overrated and annoying are just a few words I can think of to discribe this film.
Rated 10 May 2009
71
79th
I Somehow Cant Find Really Access To The Movies By Jean-Luc Godard, It Is Good, But I Am Unable To Appreciate It As Much As The T10 Bombardments On The Ratings Box.
Rated 17 Jul 2009
4
93rd
Playful and "light", but it also has something to say on love and gender differences in sexuality. Still it's perhaps a bit too light-hearted for me to appreciate this as the masterpiece many claim it to be.
Rated 08 Aug 2009
92
95th
A work of utter style and hypocrisy.
Rated 25 Oct 2009
9
90th
Godard could've easily been a great writer or musician, his style is so different and at times frustrating yet peerless and pleasing at the same time. I'm sure that when I revisit the film, it'll be like watching it for the 1st time all over again (much like Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'). Although its style overpowers the narrative, it's one of the most fun you'll have at the movies. An audacious and entertaining piece of work.
Rated 16 Nov 2011
15
3rd
I'm simply going to have to accept that me and Godard don't get along. At all.
Rated 19 Jun 2012
30
8th
An excellent score is the only saving grace for what is an incredibly juvenile and superficial film. The main character is an unlikeable scumbag and the "cool" style (although effective) aims to compensate for complete lack of content. There is some attempt to tack on ideas about gender roles and alienation in modern society, but it feels like a 16 year old, obsessed with boobs and money, making an utterly bland version of what Antonioni would create in his masterpieces of the following years.
Rated 05 Sep 2015
93
99th
Genre: Whatever. Story: I don't give a shit. Starring: Me and my camera. Action! Jum--------------p Cut. Fin.
Rated 30 Jan 2022
95
96th
Yeah, I love this. What are you going to do about it? If I had to summarize the plot, it's about a Frenchman who is overly persistent in his desire for an American woman. So, it's basically the story of Pepe Le Pew.
Rated 13 Apr 2007
0
8th
Intellectually I can appreciate how groundbreaking this film is, but it's no fun to watch at all
Rated 21 Jun 2007
85
85th
I loved the editing, I adored the main story but I disliked the philosophy.
Rated 01 Mar 2008
99
98th
# 29
Rated 12 Jan 2009
99
92nd
best Godard for sure.
Rated 17 Aug 2009
85
76th
A fun and surprisingly "cool" film whose strengths - the editing, the style, the dialog, the story's simplicity, the emotional detachment - may also be seen by some as its weaknesses. This is the first French New Wave film I've seen and it definitely piques my curiosity in the movement.
Rated 29 Jan 2010
85
92nd
cinema in its purest form
Rated 12 Mar 2010
90
97th
Wow! What a ride. The trigger-happy jumpcuts and the high tempo alone make the viewing a wonderful experience. So filled with life and energy and desperation that it might burst at any time.
Rated 19 Jul 2010
8
47th
I was surprised by just how enjoyable Breathless is. Even now it feels fresh and original and the characters are a joy to watch. In particular, the movie's high point is a 24-minute scene of the two main characters sitting in an apartment bullshitting and flirting. Seriously. Godard knows how to make such mundane things interesting to watch.
Rated 30 Sep 2011
2
3rd
ugh
Rated 30 Dec 2011
85
88th
I think that's the grandfather of 'Pulp Fiction' in the sense that it marks a crisis of the cinema in general and tries to be a formal essay on that crisis, deconstructing the tradition prior to itself and give a reflexive account for what cinema is capable and not. It is not the superificality or ignorance of Godard as some argue, it is that deliberate effort of his who was of course competent on the history of cinema. However his later films were only repeating that nihilistic games on form.
Rated 02 Mar 2013
78
54th
Quite beautiful occasionally noir-like photography. Together with its creative editing, it helps to move the film to greater directions than its plot allows, which leaves much to be desired. Though it highlights certain truths in cultural shifts, the plot development can be quite unbelievable and feels a little contrived, making me care less for the characters which to me, feel a little cold. Lively cinematography with cold characters.
Rated 29 Apr 2013
85
72nd
This awesome movie left me completely -- Wait for it! -- ....Satisfied.
Rated 02 Dec 2015
50
7th
It's hard enjoying this film when you're stuck with an aggravating, cocky young man and his boring chick-friend while they talk endlessly about nothing (and there's some flimsy story about a murder going on as well). Not sure why people go on about this being so experimental -- jump-cuts and talking to the camera are seen in the most mainstream of TV shows nowadays, so this film didn't stun me technically either.
Rated 18 Jun 2016
70
51st
A breathless experience... it was... once upon a time sadly
Rated 29 Jan 2017
73
78th
Godard's debut was the original exercise in stylistic cool and a genuine gamechanger for its pioneering use of jump cuts and its radical inversion of genre conventions, but its elevated reputation, at least to this viewer, has always seemed like a by-product of its cultural impact rather than its actual quality. It's an energetic film brimming with invention and youthful exuberance, but like most 60's Godard it's also a little cold and calculating and too enamored with its own cleverness.
Rated 12 Apr 2017
54
17th
I hated all the characters, the pacing is piss poor with probably the longest overdrawn scene in a hotel that adds literally nothing to the characters except for my hatred of them. The story just goes nowhere, the editing and score is cool I guess, but I zoned out by the end.
Rated 27 Nov 2017
78
85th
The jazz and the editing create a wonderfully lighthearted and free-form atmosphere. The story doesn't really stick with you, but the tone of it does.
Rated 02 Jul 2020
32
0th
A film with some interesting editing and music which reflects the theme of nihilism and being carefree but, I hated the characters and the story. The characters just seem to talk endlessly about sleeping around, and there is no real relationship development. I did not relate or sympathise with them at all, and there is a murder investigation going on too? In this film there isn't an ounce of intensity, humour, drama or even any entertaining qualities. Don't think about it or your head hurts.
Rated 16 Jul 2020
28
8th
I don't get it. The movie oozed style, and there was good chemistry among the actors, but there was nothing else to recommend. It may have been ahead of its time, but the story took a back seat to an irritating, casual, playful tone that didn't jive with the urgency that the plot needed. Get me engaged! Please! I wanted to care, but I couldn't.
Rated 30 Nov 2006
100
98th
A film that has set new standards in cinematographic techniques. Seeing today it might not be as spectacular as it had to be 1960, but still - this is pure film history.
Rated 07 Jan 2007
70
66th
A classic - if you consider yourself a film buff, you have to see it, casual viewers will find it boring.
Rated 18 Jan 2007
87
82nd
Há exatos 60 anos Acossado estreava na França e o resto é história. Falando sério, acho que não via esse filme há uns 25 anos, na época o achei o epítome do cool e revendo hoje fica ainda mais evidente sua enorme influência na história do cinema, mas cá entre nós, Michel Poiccard era um macho chato do caralho de primeira linha, credo. Plus: Jean Seberg é absolutamente perfeita. Coleção Folha Cine Europeu.
Rated 17 Apr 2007
97
97th
# 30
Rated 14 Aug 2007
82
76th
A sad salute to the influence of gangster pictures.
Rated 02 Dec 2007
100
94th
I love the French New Wave era. Godard is one of my favs. quirky, funny and deep.
Rated 26 Apr 2008
75
67th
If not highly interesting beyond it's bold spontaneity, Godard's debut is a fascinating play with the medium. Very good stuff.
Rated 03 Jun 2008
92
90th
why the hell i liked this movie? i dont know :) i just did
Rated 05 Jul 2008
90
85th
Excellent cinematography and direction. Has some seriously slick catch lines. Acting is superb. Gotta love the French. Good artsy stuff.
Rated 03 Oct 2008
90
88th
#856 & 03 Ekim 08, 01:40am. & "-hayattaki en buyuk hedefiniz nedir? -olumsuz olmak sonra da olmek!" bu filmde aslinda hicbisi yoktur..kural yoktur..duzen yoktur... hayat gibi savrulursunuz bu filmi izlerken, ruhu ozgurlestirici bir yani vardir... en onemlisi dogaldir.
Rated 19 Dec 2008
98
96th
33
Rated 30 Dec 2008
95
96th
The ending isn't up to snuff with the bedroom scene. The bedroom/hotel scene(whatever you want to call it) is perfect. The film itself, however, is not.
Rated 19 Mar 2009
40
96th
"...a deliberately unpolished gem, all the more beautiful for its refusal to play by the rules."
Rated 13 Apr 2009
4
71st
"An enervating intro to the French New Wave, this remains one of Godard's finest films."
Rated 23 Sep 2009
82
86th
similar to bande a part, breathless is an anti-americanization movie in godard's own style of satire, of which i am not a big fan.his directing is brilliant though.
Rated 13 Oct 2009
60
49th
I appreciate it's place in movie history, I just don't find it particularly interesting...
Rated 19 Oct 2009
6
95th
Much in what I said about The Last Laugh is true here.
Rated 19 Nov 2009
70
65th
I don't know. It has spunk.
Rated 22 Nov 2009
68
58th
The only Godard I could get into. Seaberg is fascinating.
Rated 06 Dec 2009
70
29th
The lead actor kinda annoyed the piss out of me; though SHE was great. 400 Blows is better.
Rated 09 Dec 2009
89
45th
godard is god.
Rated 10 Dec 2009
100
91st
Not only the key film in the French nouvelle vague, but the first by this era's greatest filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard. Featuring Belmondo in his screen debut as a befuddled French gangster. Godard cast Seberg as the quintessential American, epitomizing seductiveness in our society.
Rated 22 Dec 2009
92
89th
Stylish and innovative New Wave.
Rated 13 Jan 2010
98
96th
34
Rated 12 Apr 2010
92
99th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJFFy3soy9Y - le meilleur film actuel.
Rated 16 May 2010
98
98th
awesome.
Rated 18 May 2010
84
80th
It took me a few days after watching this movie to like it. At every turn a cinematography/narrative convention is intentionally broken. In this way the audiences realizes they HAVE these assumptions, and recognizes the tropes in every other film they watch. Not necessarily a good "casual" film, but a good example of how best to break the rules of cinema.
Rated 07 Jun 2010
75
34th
I can't bring myself to enjoy it that much. Sure, jump cuts are fun and I can recognize its influence of style, but the drama is distractingly uneven. The characters are unlikable to the point where I just don't care what's going on, especially when it's trying to subvert or send up the gangster genre. I'm sorry, inner film snob.
Rated 20 Jul 2010
96
98th
Poster child for the French New Wave, this film is the catalyst for exotic cinematography and referential cinema we experience today.
Rated 22 Jul 2010
80
94th
Godard's jazzy, highbrow homage to Monogram gangster movies, which of course it only remotely resembles; in fact it is nearer to being the Citizen Kane of the Sixties, if you measure it by reputation and influence and don't let its improvisational style obscure the comparison. It features Belmondo as a two-bit Parisian thug with a rare aesthetic affinity for Humphrey Bogart, and Seberg in a devastating portrait of An American in Paris, a not unique specimen of brat-bitch-bloodsucker.
Rated 08 Aug 2010
5
3rd
Slow, too much weird editing, and somewhat pointless. I guess I just don't get New Wave cinema. Some lovely shots of Paris, though.
Rated 12 Sep 2010
8
88th
There's plenty of movies with general themes shown here (love mixed with crime, the eternal modern contrast of gender & sexuality etc) but Godard's portrayal, a landmark at the time, is basically the triumph of style over substance. His editting, and camera work, set the mood... it very nearly comes close to hiding the fact that Michel, is indeed, in his own word's an arsehole. He fools us very well, up to his "unfortunate" downfall. Godard once again; playful, charismatic, in complete control.
Rated 25 Sep 2010
81
66th
In general I don't like the disconnected style over substance of Godard films, but in this case it's a pleasure to watch, even if it's impossible to judge the characters as Godard obviously wants you to.
Rated 02 Oct 2010
70
41st
It's kind of fun to watch Godard play with the form, but Michel has to be one of the most repulsively unpleasant protagonists I've ever come across in a movie, and not in an interesting way. Made me want to take a bath, particularly after the scene where he gets his disgusting cigarette ash all over the stupid girl's bed. I just don't want to spend time with these empty-headed posers, even while the movie they're posing in is kind of enjoyable.
Rated 08 Oct 2010
100
93rd
Magnificent.
Rated 17 Oct 2010
73
52nd
I really want to love this. And I do love the first hour or so. The scenes between Belmondo and Seberg are wonderful! But unfortunately I find the last act, which is oddly enough much more plot driven, rather boring. So in the end it is for me an unbalanced but pretty good film.
Rated 21 Oct 2010
40
97th
"The actors don't inhabit characters so much as occupy a middle ground where play-acting and fan ardor replace the embodiment of set emotions and personality traits." - Matthew Connolly
Rated 22 Oct 2010
1
0th
A personal favourite of mine. Don't think of it as a crime movie and just think of it as a goofy romance "movie" movie (if that makes sense), and it's genius, but only accidentally. I wouldn't attribute too much to skill here, I mostly contribute it to enthusiasm and originality. Score is not a grade.
Rated 04 Nov 2010
89
89th
Innovative use of editing makes this movie really stand out, add to that a really likable anti-hero and a equally likable free spirited girl, you get a very cool, fast paced Nouvelle Vague classic.
Rated 01 Dec 2010
5
0th
Though rarely discussed as either a love story or a political film, Breathless maintains fascination because it is equally both.
Rated 17 Dec 2010
86
50th
I wish this movie had leaned a little more in one direction, rather than lightly touching on a bunch of directions.
Rated 24 Dec 2010
66
64th
it's funny to see how connected the film is to Hollywood practices of the time, either by emphasizing or undermining them. take all that away and you're left with Godard's views on love and fate, which would be expressed more interestingly in later films.
Rated 19 Feb 2011
80
81st
watched: 2011, 2012, 2022
Rated 20 Mar 2011
73
66th
I think it is valuable if considered in its context and visceral revolution for Cinema...
Rated 01 Apr 2011
83
72nd
The cold detachment of the characters - both from each other and from everyone around them - was initially off-putting to me. But on reflection, it's become clear to me that that's a characteristic perfectly suited for style of the film. The whole thing has sort of a narcissistic "up yours" mentality. I think I liked that about it. I also liked its unique cinematographic style; the story moved relatively slowly, but in front of it was a layer of kinetic stylish directing. Very interesting.
Rated 21 Jun 2011
90
85th
I was surprised by Breathless. The film is having more fun than I ever imagined it would. For some reason I had Bicycle Thieves on the brain going into it. I don't know why. But Breathless is more snappy, fast, and light-hearted than its Italian counterparts. I really liked the breakneck speed editing style, as well as the super hip Jazz soundtrack. It's strange to say about a 50 year old film, but I found it refreshing.
Rated 01 Jul 2011
60
29th
The intellectuals of this world have gathered to make "À bout de souffle" a pleasantly snobbish and playful little fable, whose seminal visual innovations (the fun jump cuts) largely overshadow a forgettable plot. The two leads are charming and some of the opaque dialogue is compelling. Of course, there is no substance, but the film is influential and almost never boring, which is a relief. Calling it a masterpiece borders on the preposterous, but it's endearing all right.
Rated 26 Jul 2011
95
93rd
I want to become immortal, then die.
Rated 13 Aug 2011
65
21st
I have great respect for the influence that this movie had but i simply didn't like it that much.
Rated 02 Sep 2011
89
84th
Highly stylized film about a man's philosophy of living day to day.

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