Miscellaneous Movie Musings the Sequel

[Alex]

I quite enjoy some of Jerry Lewis's movies.

As for Breathless, I'm not saying it was a bad movie, it isn't. I just don't quite get what was so brilliant about it but that may just be because I've not got the proper sense of the world into which it was released. Also, as one reflection I read recently said "it doesn't hurt that it has to two of the sexiest people ever on screen" and for neither one do I find that to be the case.

[3894]

Originally Posted by Alex

As for Breathless, I'm not saying it was a bad movie, it isn't. I just don't quite get what was so brilliant about it but that may just be because I've not got the proper sense of the world into which it was released. Also, as one reflection I read recently said "it doesn't hurt that it has to two of the sexiest people ever on screen" and for neither one do I find that to be the case.

Did you happen to catch the NY Times piece about this very thing a few weeks ago?.

“Breathless” was there first. Which is to say that it was already late. Seen from its most unflattering angle, it is a thin and derivative film noir. A generic tough guy steals a car, shoots a policeman, sweet-talks a series of women, hobnobs with his underworld pals and tries to stay a step ahead of the dogged detectives on his trail. His poses and attitudes seem borrowed, arising less from any social or psychological condition or biographical facts than from a desire to be as cool as the guys in the movies.

The wonder is that he surpasses them, and that “Breathless,” quoting from so many other movies (and shuffling together cultural references that include Faulkner, Jean Renoir, Mozart and Bach as well as Hollywood movies), still feels entirely original. It still, that is, has the power to defy conventional expectations about what a movie should be while providing an utterly captivating moviegoing experience. A coherent plot, strong and credible emotions and motivations, convincing performances, visual continuity — all of these things are missing from “Breathless,” disregarded with a cavalier insouciance that feels like liberation. You are free, in other words, to revel in the beauty of Paris and Jean Seberg, the exquisite sangfroid of Jean-Paul Belmondo, and the restless velocity of Mr. Godard’s shooting style. And style, for those 90 minutes, is — to phrase it in the absolute, hyperbolic terms Mr. Godard has always favored — everything.