Recently in film class we studied about the great new wave cinema directors. One of an extraordinary director’s exceptional film BREATHLESS was played and as a film student frankly I was speechless or say breathless… So here is something about Godard and his anomalous works in the field of film making.
Jean- Luc- Godard is well known as “filmmaker of filmmakers”. Godard was not ever interested in telling a story through his movies. He has said “I don’t write essay, I filmed them”. In essay one have abstract thoughts but Godard used to make films over those abstract thoughts in different genres. In his movies he wanted to have a proper beginning, middle and end but all of this not in a sequence. This was his unique way of shaking the audience mind. Also, he used to use a lot of jump cuts in order to disturb the smooth flow of movie, as he wanted his audience not to lead a conventional life.
In new wave cinema Godard had tried to convey how cinema acts as an escapist among the mass culture audience. The movie` “Breathless” starts with the sound of a car horn to convey the urban life, where he focuses a lot on how capitalism was being promoted though brands and status in the media centric era. Therefore, when the poignant character Michel steals cars or stays in luxurious hotels, he was portrayed as a victim of this same capitalism. Though the genre of the movie is gangster, but Godard communicate through it how people sell their body and soul when caught in this vicious cycle of capitalism.
Breathless storyline tries to take out deep routed meaning of existence in the world where media is becoming a product of capitalism. The way media is becoming a critical device to spread materialism is showcased in the film. All forms of media are used in the movie like paper, radio, tickers, posters, pined up images or constant use of t-shirts with slogan, photos et all. Media acts as an agent to create capitalism by giving magnitude to glamour and brands usage which ultimately give rise to an aspiring lifestyle among ordinary people. There are many such instances in the movie like Coke brand is shown in the beginning of the movie at Michel’s back. Cars like Buggarti are used, also in a scene Michel shows a picture of Rolls Royce. When Patricia is introduced in the movie, she is shown wearing a t-shirt of New York Herald Tribune and selling newspaper. Other status symbols like Disney’s teddy bear or imperial hotels like Coleridge or Royal hotel’s are shown. Top brands of cigarettes are used by Michel to create the idea of macho. Godard shows the level of aspirations among people who are trying to live beyond their means. The movie deals with the sensitive issue of lies and truth or media and reality.
In one of the scene the lead character Michel brings newspaper, read it a bit and then clean his shoes with it. This very significant scene convey how today’s newspaper will become useless tomorrow and how media never delivers complete truth, so it is worthless to depend on it for the accurate news. Old are useless whereas youth is what media all about. Therefore advertisements, movies, bestsellers all are media forms which are youth based. Not a single audio- visual track is useless in this movie. For instance Runvo has captured a beautiful moment of a lady in his painting, but when Patricia compares herself to Renoir’s painting’s poster and asks “do I look like her?” brings out the mediated reality of media in which she was living. Firstly, the poster available had reduced the value of art among the mass audience. Secondly, Renoir’s painting was a reality where as the poster portrayed the mediated reality.
Godard believed that commercial cinema mostly numb the mind, so through his movies he wanted to make the audience think. He has referred to many great artists and their work in “Breathless” because he believed that art stimulate mind and invites participation whereas mass culture movies doesn’t ask for any involvement from the audience. Patricia, the heroin of this movie represents art. In one of the scene she asks Michel “have you read William Franc?” whereas Michel who represents the locked intellectual mind of audience asks “Is that a man you slept with?” In the movie references are made to other great artists like James Joyce, Renoir’s, and Picasso. All these people were the one who broke conventions by bringing realism out but for the mass culture audience their art is meaningless. Therefore, through this movie Godard pays homage to all those great artists whom he respects. These people have raised the level of film to the status of art.
Michel is portrayed as a typical American guy who is always on the road and hunting for money. Being on the road means sense of freedom; sense of being overtaken by other speedy cars; it’s like journey of life. Michel talks directly to the camera in these scenes. Travel also denotes here escapism. And acquiring wealth in this capitalist society is the central idea of Godard. Michel happens to be someone who needs money. He plays bluff, back stab, kill people, but all these immoral activities are displayed in an untailored way. In one of the scene he even says “Tell the truth, others think you are lying, and you win.” While he is driving his swanky car in a lovely mood, he heedlessly plays with the gun and this mood remains casual even after he kills the cop, which depicts how human life has lost its value. Money and prostitution is being showcased a well knitted bonds in the modern life. Men want pretty women and women wants money, but when they are not able to meet their needs, they sleep around with one another. Casualness of sex is being constantly pointed by Godard through the two lead characters.
Patricia is worried about her flourishing career for which she is ready to sacrifice her lover, morals and values. Beginning of feminism comes at this point as well pointed by Michel to her that “you are not wearing a bra.” Women are supposed to be truthful and faithful but she keeps on playing constant game of lying. She sleeps around with different men just to acquire money and status. She is shown in the movie counting number of people she has slept with. To establish the casualness of sex at many places pornography is also being used, like in the beginning when Michel is reading newspaper, the cartoon strip has pornographic images. Also Michel is shown reading a sex magazine in one of the scene. Through all this Godard wants to establish the present world of
Everything that Godard has shown stand for something worthy. From the beginning scene when Michel is driving, Godard starts driving the contrast of urban and rural life. The villages he passes by in his plush car and western music. There is far more layered meaning to every action of both characters. Two persons (Michel and Patricia) having no family background, belonging to no where, just keeps on wandering as nomads. Different hotels, hospitals, stations airports, roads are the signs of transition. Urban lives in which there are no homes only hotels indicates that everything is transitory and that is what Godard wants to tell through their traveling sequences. When an officer came to enquire Patricia about Michel at her office, a dummy plane is placed in the background, which symbolizes their nomadic life. In the movie when Michel kills the police officer is another sign of urbanization. Godard conveys how in the modern metro life there is no value for life, the casualness of death is being highlighted.
The genre of this movie is ‘gangster’ and like in every gangster movie Godard has shown the basic elements like heroin betraying the hero, or the macho hero wearing hat, smoking constantly and trying to survive as a fighter till the end. Like in normal gangster movies Michel even uses a phrase commonly “As you like it buddy.” As gangster movies deals with life, death, fear, disloyalty, ‘Breathless’ contains all these components but still it can not be compared to normal gangster movies because it sarcastically breaks the convention of this genres and implicitly convey the survival of the fittest terminology in the urban lifestyle.
Michel lives in the moment. Being a thief, killer, bluffer still he is not portrayed as an evil guy. His morals are being questioned again and again after the horrendous crimes he commits but the fact, morality is something that is shaped by the society can’t be denied. Michel becomes the hero in the eyes of viewers because the culture he lives in and activities he perform are accepted normal by the mass audience. This film is a philosophy of the urban life. Godard poses the question to audience that who is actual coward between the two? Patricia who betray Michel by complaining to the police about the cop murder just because she was afraid of her passport or secure life or Michel who keeps on running, stealing but still he was ready to die. He refuses the revolver to save his own life as he had no fear of dying.
Central theme of the movie is uncertainty of life. In a scene when Michel returns newspaper to Patricia he considers it useless because there was no horoscope in it. He was keen to know his future. Also in one of the scene he says “I want to be immortal and then die.” In another scene of hotel where Patricia asks him “What would you choose between grief and nothing?” He answers “Nothing because grief is a compromise.” Also he keeps on saying “I am feeling very tiered.” Because there is so much running, stealing, lying, betrayal that he starts feeling Breathless and ask for rest.
Godard has used a lot of different techniques in this movie in order to break the conventions. The sequence in which Michel is running away and killing the cop Godard shoots against the light, there are many swash pans, a lot of movement of camera and various jump cuts. Jump cuts were considered as a flaw but Godard has used them a lot. He has also used long tracking shots in many of the scenes to give the mood of running, or constantly on the move. In the last scene where he is running from cops Godard has used natural lighting, these long tracking shots and kept the camera hand held.
He has brought out the feel of casualness not only through the actions of the character but also by camera movements. Intellectually he has captured whatever comes in his frame just to maintain that casual mood. The dialogues of the movie re scripted and the screenplay for it was written by Truffaut. The music is jazz and Godard has tried to pick up a lot of location sounds only.
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