A Bout De Souffle

I'm running low on reviews and don't want to post too many "I'm dying to see" in a week, so thought I'd scrawl a quick reply to this.

Was genuinely shocked my esteemed colleague didn't like this. Along with Truffaut's Tirez sur le Pianist (Shoot the Pianist), this transformed film watching for me forever. These were - at the time - the first films I saw that made me realise films didn't have to involve guns, chases, dinosaurs, Chewbacca, or Jim Carrey for me to like them (I still do like most, if not quite all, of these things by the way, when done well, of course!). I was incredibly moved by Belmondo's performance as Michel /Laszlo and his betrayal at the hands of Patricia (memorably portrayed by Jean Seberg) had a lasting effect on me. To this day, Belmondo remains one of my favorite actors of all time, I think I have him 4th or 5th in the all-time list I'm putting together. He's just so watchable and nowhere more so than here, the epitome of magnetic, cool, handsomeness as he struts his way through the movie. The man was a genius and he makes the film all that it is.


And that's some statement because it has a lot else going for it. Seberg and Godard not least amongst them. The film's shoot (which included the use of hand-held cameras and shooting out of the back of a post office van, if I remember rightly) is legendary and it usually ranks in critics' lists as Godard's best. I don't think it is actually, that honour should, in my view, go to the near-perfect Bande a Part, which drifts along with a beautiful narrative (cf. the brilliant Pierrot Le Fou) and the even more beautiful Anna Karina. I would honestly recommend A Bout De Souffle to anyone, I find it just so watchable, with intriguing characters, 10/10 performances (at least from the leads) and legendary, "revolutionary", direction. A masterclass in how to make an enjoyable film.

I've seen it three times since I first saw it as a 17 year old and I think the time is now upon me for another watching. It's funny, I think my esteemed colleague's review had the same effect on my as mine of The Talented Mr Ripley had on him. That's the great thing about this site, and about debating films, you might not always agree but it sure does make you think.

A Bout de Souffle

Just finished watching this tonight and I'm not sure I can muster enough enthusiasm to write a proper review. It seemed like another supposed classic that isn't half as fun to watch as critics would lead you to believe. Apparently Godard made some choices here that were revolutionary in cinema and for that he deserves credit. But only yesterday was I monaning about jump cuts so if he was responsible for bringing them to the masses then I'm not sure I want to thank him. The jump cuts in A Bout de Souffle seemed to me as if they were employed because he couldn't work out how to film a scene properly. Specifically, we had jump cuts during a car crash, a shooting and a fight - all of which jumped past the critical point in the scene. I found a lot of the film unconvincing, particularly any scene involving the inspector. I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it, as it wasn't by any means a difficult sit. I'm just not overwhelmed.