This film is part of Rentals
Breathless [À bout de souffle]
Jean-Luc Godard’s extraordinary debut feature, an insouciant and iconoclastic crime film that paved the way for the French New Wave.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Overview
Jean-Luc Godard’s extraordinary debut feature was this insouciant and iconoclastic crime film, which almost singlehandedly changed the face of French cinema and went on to inspire countless New Waves around the world. Ostensibly a laid-back homage to Godard's beloved Hollywood B-movies of the 1940s, this simple story of an American student's (Jean Seberg) relationship with a charismatic young hoodlum (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is steeped in naturalistic and innovative touches, from pop-culture references and Seberg's androgynous haircut to the then revolutionary adoption of jump-cut editing. The result is a film that, despite the cliché, genuinely feels as fresh today as it did upon its radical emergence into the staid cinematic culture of 1950s France.
Ranked joint 38th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll
Contains mild language, sex references and violence
Related
Reservoir Dogs Reservoir Dogs
Crime 1991 99 mins Director: Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino explodes onto the screen with his debut feature following a jewellery heist gone horribly, violently wrong.
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Biopic 1998 87 mins Director: John Maybury
Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig star as artist Francis Bacon and his muse George Dyer in John Maybury’s darkly exquisite biopic.
Dogtooth Dogtooth
Drama 2009 93 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is original, ingenious and sadly relevant as a study of parent-child relationships
Viva Viva
Sex comedy 2008 116 mins Director: Anna Biller
Anna Biller's outrageous sexploitation satire follows bored housewife Barbi as she searches for adventure in predatory 1970s Los Angeles.
La dolce vita La dolce vita
Drama 1960 175 mins Director: Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini’s masterpiece depicting seven hedonistic days in the life of a tabloid journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) as he searches for the sweet life.
The Frightened Woman The Frightened Woman
Drama 1969 86 mins Director: Piero Schivazappa
A rich sadist kidnaps a woman to subject to his elaborate S&M games, but she soon turns the tables... Piero Schivazappa's erotic thriller explodes with eye-popping psychedelic production design.
Heathers Heathers
Comedy 1989 103 mins Director: Michael Lehmann
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star in the endlessly quotable cult black comedy that subverted expectations of teen movies forever.
Une femme est une femme Une femme est une femme
Drama 1961 84 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard’s colourful and exuberant tribute to the Hollywood musical, with Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy.
Pierrot le Fou Pierrot le Fou
Crime 1965 110 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard’s stunning, colour widescreen account of the wild journey of ‘the last romantic couple’, Pierrot (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his lover Marianne (Anna Karina).
Le Mépris Le Mépris
Drama 1963 103 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard conducts an autopsy of love and the creative process, as a boorish film producer dismantles a seemingly strong marriage.
Alphaville Alphaville
Detective drama 1965 99 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard’s venture into sci-fi pits secret agent Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine) on a mission to destroy the malevolent supercomputer, Alpha 60.
Une femme est une femme Une femme est une femme
Drama 1961 84 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard’s colourful and exuberant tribute to the Hollywood musical, with Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy.
Pierrot le Fou Pierrot le Fou
Crime 1965 110 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Godard’s stunning, colour widescreen account of the wild journey of ‘the last romantic couple’, Pierrot (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his lover Marianne (Anna Karina).
Goodbye to Language Goodbye to Language
Drama 2014 70 mins Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard’s typically innovative and playful meditation on technology, love and language was acclaimed one of the best films of 2014.
A Century of French Cinema A Century of French Cinema
Documentary 1995 50 mins Director: Anne-Marie Miéville and Jean-Luc Godard
Six regions, six films appraised for cultural and historical meaning. Produced by Jean-Luc Godard.
Driving Mum Driving Mum
Comedy 2022 113 mins Director: Hilmar Oddsson
Jon drives his mums corpse across Iceland in Hilmar Oddsson’s darkly comic odyssey of self-discovery and acceptance, beautifully filmed in crisp black and white.
William Tell William Tell
Action and Adventure 2024 133 mins Director: Nick Hamm
A peaceful huntsman is thrust into the heart of the resistance following an Austrian Empire invasion, in this gripping retelling of a timeless legend.
The Crime is Mine The Crime is Mine
Thriller 2022 103 mins Director: François Ozon
François Ozon’s witty 1930s farce about a penniless actress who finds fame while on trial for murder, featuring a riotous performance from Isabelle Huppert.
Barrio Boy Barrio Boy
Romance 2022 83 mins Director: Dennis Shinners
A Latino barber embarks on an erotically charged odyssey of self-discovery over one hot summer in Brooklyn.