Breathless: The Parody Of Film Noir Jean-Luc Godard French New Wave

Film titled: Breathless (French: À bout de souffle) parallels the many “Film noir” classics from the late 1940’s and early 1950’s by its usage of parodic comedy. This French film was produced in 1960 and published through Impéria Films. The story showcases the semi-spectacular antics of Michel, a man who lives in Paris. Michel opens the first scene of the film by putting down his lingerie newspaper ad and declaring how much of an “arsehole” he is, before stealing a car and driving through the countryside. On his joyride Michel ends up shooting a police officer that followed him, thus killing him. Whilst hiding from police, Michael runs back into town and meets Patricia, an New York Herald Tribune seller who dreams of becoming a journalist. Unknowing of Michel’s crime, Patricia takes him into her apartment where their superficial relationship begins. Both experience various adventures before Patricia is exposed to Michel’s crime. She turns him in to police who later shoot him in the street. (Godard 1960)

For this paper I’ll be evaluating the alternative styles Breathless utilizes in complimenting the “film noir” style, while referencing a notable film noir titled: “In a Lonely Place” directed by Nicholas Ray. Methods I’d like to discuss are: Breathless’s unconventional character personalities, stark contrast to lighting, and plotline layout. In Addition, I want to evaluate the similarities of the “film noir” style in respects to, anti-hero lead roles, forensically driven storylines, and unhappy endings.

First, the Characters of this film contrast that of various film noirs; even though our main character is an anti-hero set between crime and a lover, the stereotypical personalities are twisted. Many film noirs feature a smooth male lead role that often has a rough emotional past and set of skills required the problem standing in their way. Alongside this lead role exists our supporting role, a lady who seduces our main character into oblivion and sabotages his main goal. She is a known as the “Femme Fatale”. Conversely, the idea of a femme fatale is out of question for this movie. We get Patricia, who becomes involved in Michel’s advances begging for romance and sex. This irony is indeed a comedic device used to contradict the femme fatale. While Michel comments about his porn magazine and complains about his love life, Patricia remains indifferent. (Godard, 1960 [28:32]) The revered roles of Michel and Patricia offer an alternative style for what film noir can be. Michel is also unconventional; unlike most noirs, our main character has no apparent experience that would lead the viewer to believe that he went through emotional trauma. Instead, the past experience we obtain from Michael is that of skilled theft and lack of authority. This is shown when he steals the car into the countryside and shoots an officer or takes money from people. He is an fool rather than a baddy that has a contempt for responsibility. This persona carries out when Michel encounters a picture of the iconic film noir actor Humphrey Boggart who died in 1957 to esophageal cancer, three years before filming Breathless. After admiring “humphy” with a smile, Michel blows smoke in his face and walks away. (Alderink, 2017) Another example is when Michel witnesses a fatal pedestrian accident on the street. After a few seconds of leaning over the dead body with a cigarette investigating among concerned onlookers, he catholic-crosses himself and leaves the scene. (Godard, 1960 [12:40]) While the main characters in traditional film noirs have a lone wolf attitude, Michael’s attitude for society makes him look an asshole rather than a badass. These roles make Breathless unconventional and fitting for the 1960’s French New Wave genre.

Speaking for the genre, this film contains natural lighting for all scenes. This natural lighting contrasts film noir greatly, where lighting is often artificial and highly exaggerated. In Nicholas Ray’s 1950 film “In a Lonely Place”, lighting displays the emotion on-screen. While recreating a murder scenario for two friends, the main character has a close up shot of his eyes, lit by a line of light. The whole film uses black and white artificial lighting through blinds and moonlight. (Ray, 1950) Breathless utilizes the daylight for lighting and has no apparent artificial lighting. All of the film is shot during the day for this reason.

Lastly, I want to review the plotline layout. When people think of film noir, they think of dramatic effect. This could do with the lighting we’ve discussed or the grave investigatory background music. A typical story is shrouded in mystery involving a crime that has yet to be solved. Dialogue is given to drive the storyline forward and solve the mystery. In Breathless, there is no question of mystery. The only thing driving the storyline is Michel’s murder and the repercussions of someone finding out.