"The worst sin is cowardice" Some films are simply famous without necessarily being influential, or at least not widely so. Then there are films that are not merely well known, but a significant advancement that alters cinema forever. Some of these films are artifacts that are really only worthwhile as a piece of history. Examples of this would include something like "Voyage to the Moon", which meant a lot to film history, but as a film, is so primitive as to be laughable. Then there are those works that function both as great films and significant steps in cinema. A number of silent films fall under this category, such as "Metropolis", "Cabinet of Dr Caligari", and "Nosferatu". "Breathless" falls into the later category, not only being one of the most influential films ever made, but also a truly great film.
The plot, thin as it is, revolves around Michel (who takes on the look and mannerisms of Humphry Boggart) who is chased down by a cop he ends up shooting. The police are after him. We see a few scenes of the police questioning people and hunting him down, but it's not the focus of the film. Michel instead steals some money, gets together with a woman named Patricia, trying to sleep with her, then run away from her, and get the money he's owed.
Much in the way Godard broke and played with the rules of cinema, so Michel makes his own rules, dictating his own pace. He knows the police are after him, and he does try to avoid them, yet he refuses to be inconvenienced. He does whatever he feels like doing at the time. Make no mistake, Michel is far from a saint. Yet it is this determination to do what means the most to him, however random it seems, or however shallow it seems, that gives "Breathless" real humanity beneath the detached way the characters act. We're watching someone who, knowing his demise could come at any moment, will make as much as he can of the time he has. Knowing that, nothing he does in this film is meaningless. Even the tiniest of things, such as him stopping to admire the humphry boggart poster, means so much more.
Make no mistake, though, there's plenty else to admire about the film. The cinematography is fantastic. Using a hand-held camera and a wheelchair instead of a dolly for moving shots, we have a movie that rarely feels still. The camera is often intimately close, using only a few far away shots (often simply to establish distance between characters). The jump cuts this film is famous for are used stylistically. Even when indoors,it feels like things are in constant motion, ensuring that the film never feels slow, and even after all these years, the visual style of the film feels unique unto itself, even among the rest of Godard's filmography.
Something also must be said of the dialogue. It's fast, it's snappy, topics change constantly, characters contradict themselves, make references, etc. It's certainly stylized dialogue, delivered so naturally, but this dialogue gives the film sheer entertainment value. There's just something about watching the conversations unfold that is hypnotic, almost a thing of poetry. The apartment scene in particular I rate as one of the greatest scenes in cinema.
As a piece of history, "Breathless" is equally fascinating. While an argument could be made about what the best french new wave film is (there's certainly steep competition in that department, "The 400 Blows" and "Pickpocket" as two examples), "Breathless" is the defining one. The film, more than any other, that gave a sense of freedom to film makers everywhere, showing they didn't have to limit themselves to a rigid narrative structure. The jump cuts also, of course, were a huge innovation and have been used to the point of almost tedium throughout cinema ever since. There's certainly more to say on the historical side, but I don't want this to get too long.
The casual viewer will likely have a tough time with this one. Unlike relatively straightforward french new wave like the before mentioned "400 Blows", "Breathless" is abstract and likely to leave the unprepared viewer bored, confused and dismissive. I warn you do not go into this movie expecting a thriller, or a film that is in anyway conventional. This is a film where characters waste time,conversations go nowhere and last a long time, and the plot is the least relevant thing occurring for 95% of the movie.
I know, that sounds awful, and in the hands of someone else, "Breathless" would be a worthless train wreck of a movie on par with the works of Uli Lommel. Yet in the hands of "Godard", it is a mesmerizing film experience.