Thursday, March 17, 2022

ON THIS DATE IN 1960...FRENCH NEW WAVE FILM "BREATHLESS", A BOUT DE SOUFFLE

ON THIS DATE IN 1960 One of the first French New Wave films, "Breathless", directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg was released in France.

Click on the photos and links.

The French crime and drama film also written by Godard is the tale of a wandering criminal (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his American girlfriend (Jean Seberg). It was Godard's first feature-length work and represented Belmondo's breakthrough as an actor. 


Breathless was one of the early, more influential examples of French New Wave (nouvelle vague) cinema.  Along with François Truffaut's The 400 Blows and Alain Resnais's Hiroshima, Mon Amour, both released a year earlier, it brought international attention to new styles of French filmmaking.

At the time, the film attracted much attention for its bold visual style, which included unconventional use of jump cuts. 

A fully restored version was released in the U.S. for its 50th anniversary in May 2010.  

Prior to that, it was also an annual "for one week only" staple at many of the smaller Manhattan movie houses specializing in foreign films.  And tickets always sold out/

When originally released in France, the film attracted over 2 million viewers.   READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE.

Our friends at European Film Star Postcards have an excellent article on American actress Jean Seberg (1938-1979).   She appeared in over 30 films in Hollywood and Europe.    READ AND SEE MORE ABOUT HER HERE.

They also have an excellent post on Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933). A big comedy and action star in Europe from the mid-1960s till the mid-1980. 

Despite his unconventional looks, including a broken nose, he was often polled as one of the sexiest men in the world. For some 50 years he now remains one of the most popular and best-loved personalities in France. READ AND SEE MORE ABOUT HIM HERE.


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1 comment:

  1. One of my favorite films and my first introduction to Seberg, films in another language with subtitles, and Raisenettes. Up until that night at the movie house, I had never tasted them.
    That started the life-long addiction to chocolate-covered stuff! The funny thing was Breathless was finally supposed to come to the Starlight the year that it closed down. We were all looking forward to seeing an art film in our sleepy little town.

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