À bout de souffle (1960)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writers:

Jean-Luc Godard (screenplay)
François Truffaut (story)

Release Date:

7 February 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The film that was banned for 4 years. Why..? (original Finnish poster tagline)

Plot:

A young car thief kills a policeman and tries to persuade a girl to hide in Italy with him.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Policeman | Murder | Sociopath | Journalism

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Michel Poiccard
Jean Seberg	...	Patricia Franchini
Daniel Boulanger	...	Police Inspector Vital
Jean-Pierre Melville	...	Parvulesco
Henri-Jacques Huet	...	Antonio Berrutti
Van Doude	...	Himself
Claude Mansard	...	Claudius Mansard
Jean-Luc Godard	...	An Informer
Richard Balducci	...	Tolmatchoff
Roger Hanin	...	Cal Zombach
Jean-Louis Richard	...	A Journalist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Liliane David	...	Liliane
Jean Domarchi	...	A Drunk
Jean Douchet	...	A Journalist
Raymond Huntley	...	A Journalist
André S. Labarthe	...	A journalist
François Moreuil	...	A journalist
Liliane Robin	...	Minouche
José Bénazéraf	...	(uncredited)
Philippe de Broca	...	A Journalist (uncredited)
Michel Fabre	...	Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
Louiguy	...	(uncredited)
Michel Mourlet	...	(uncredited)
Guido Orlando	...	(uncredited)
Madame Paul	...	(uncredited)
Raymond Ravanbaz	...	(uncredited)
Jacques Serguine	...	(uncredited)
Jacques Siclier	...	(uncredited)
Virginie Ullmann	...	(uncredited)
Emile Villion	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean-Luc Godard		screenplay
François Truffaut		story

Produced by
Georges de Beauregard	....	producer

Original Music by
Martial Solal

Cinematography by
Raoul Coutard

Film Editing by
Cécile Decugis
Lila Herman

Makeup Department
Phuong Maittret	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pierre Rissient	....	assistant director

Art Department
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist

Sound Department
Jacques Maumont	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Claude Beausoleil	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Lila Herman	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Claude Chabrol	....	technical advisor
Suzon Faye	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Les Productions Georges de Beauregard
• Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Distributors

• Les Films Impéria (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC) (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Société nouvelle de cinématographie (SNC) (1960) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Films Around the World (I) (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• BBC Worldwide (1987) (UK) (TV)
• Connoisseur / Meridian Films (1989) (USA) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Connoisseur Video
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Films Georges de Beauregard (1961) (France) (theatrical)
• Fox Lorber (2001) (USA) (DVD) (subtitled)
• Fox Lorber (2001) (USA) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Janus Films (1989) (USA) (all media)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (2001) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Optimum Releasing (2000) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Optimum Releasing (2000) (UK) (DVD) (re-release)
• Optimum Releasing (2001) (UK) (DVD) (special edition)
• Optimum Releasing (2007) (UK) (DVD) (box set)
• Polyband (1992) (Germany) (VHS)
• Raro Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Timeless Video (1994) (USA) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Wellspring Media (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Breathless (UK) (subtitle) (USA)
By a Tether (UK) (informal title)
Åndeløs (Denmark) [da]
Acossado (Brazil) [pt]
Al final de la escapada (Spain) [es]
Außer Atem (Germany) (reissue title) [de]
Ausser Atem (West Germany) [de]
Do poslednjeg daha (Serbia) [sr]
Do utraty tchu (Poland) [pl]
Fino all'ultimo respiro (Italy) [it]
Kifulladásig (Hungary) [hu]
Me kommeni tin anasa (Greece) [el]
O Acossado (Portugal) [pt]
Serseri asiklar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Sin aliento (Argentina) [es]
Till sista andetaget (Sweden) [sv]
Viimeiseen hengenvetoon (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (1996) | Finland:K-16 (1964) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:(Banned) (1960) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 (bw) (nf) | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

11 rue Campagne Première, Paris 14, Paris, France

Company:

Les Productions Georges de Beauregard

Trivia:

The character of Michel Poiccard uses the name Laszlo Kovacs as an alias. It is often wrongly assumed this was an homage to the cinematographer of the same name: the film was made long before Kovacs established himself in the movie industry. It was actually a reference to the character played by Jean-Paul Belmondo in Claude Chabrol's À double tour (1959), earlier the same year.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michel steals the Ford, a shot shows Patricia wearing her cardigan as he arrives in the car. When she stands to get in the car the cardigan is now in her hands. Later when they pull up at the Herald Tribune offices, she gets out of the car holding the striped dress and the shoes she sill change into, but it has never been shown how these got into the car.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Michel Poiccard: After all, I'm an asshole. After all, yes, I've got to. I've got to!

Movie Connections:

Featured in True Love (2006/II)

French New Wave for Dummies

This is the one that started it all kids, the daddy of post-modern cinema. MTV jump cuts, fractured soundtrack and images aplenty

Self reflexive to the point that it not only acknowledges its own existence, it revels in it.

All style and no substance is considered a bad thing today, unless its Tarantino. Well, if it wasn't for Godard, chances are there would be no QT.

All the characters and images, and dialogue and sets are constructed from all aspects of life - Michel is a Bogart collage. Patricia apes everything she sees, from her Interviewee's facial gestures to Michel's own.

Don't let all this technical mumbo fool you, I did my thesis on Godard and would happily bore the ass off you with a lecture in great detail about this film, but the fact is, it's a stormer.

Grips you by the throat and shakes the hell out of you, and it doesn't let go until the final breath.

Fantastically, artistically magnificent. If Godard wanted to make his debut picture to show how well he understood American ideals and the history of cinema, he couldn't have made a better picture.

Top stuff French guy.