Breathless

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Jean-Paul Belmondo stands shirtless beside Jean Seberg, who faces a mirror and applies makeup, in a black-and-white scene from the film Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard.

Breathless

film by Godard [1960]

Also known as: “À bout de souffle”

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June 22, 2026

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Jean-Paul Belmondo stands shirtless beside Jean Seberg, who faces a mirror and applies makeup, in a black-and-white scene from the film Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard. — Breathless Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960), with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, was one of the major works of the French New Wave that was inspired by American film noir.

Breathless (1960) is a seminal French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, a key figure in the New Wave movement. The film is known for its innovative techniques, such as "jump cuts," which create a jerky and disconnected effect.1

The story follows a petty criminal, who idolizes Humphrey Bogart, and an American woman. He is betrayed to the police by the woman, who is uncertain of his love for her. The film was shot improvisationally, with dialogue often sketched overnight and revised between rehearsals. Breathless is celebrated for its fresh brilliance of technique and its impact on cinematic discussion, demonstrating that films could achieve both commercial and artistic success.21

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Jean-Luc Godard
Breathless and filmmaking style and themes
…À bout de souffle (1960; Breathless), which was produced by François Truffaut, his colleague on the journal Cahiers du cinéma, won the Jean Vigo Prize. It inaugurated a long series of features, all celebrated for the often drastic nonchalance of Godard’s improvisatory filmmaking procedures. Breathless was shot without a script;…
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…À bout de souffle (1960; Breathless), which was produced by François Truffaut, his colleague on the journal Cahiers du cinéma, won the Jean Vigo Prize. It inaugurated a long series of features, all celebrated for the often drastic nonchalance of Godard’s improvisatory filmmaking procedures. Breathless was shot without a script;…
Read More

History of film
France
…À Bout de souffle (Breathless) were all in their different ways paradigms of a fresh new style based on elliptical editing and location shooting with handheld cameras. This style was both radically destructive of classic Hollywood continuity and pragmatically suited to the New Wave’s need to make its films…
Read More
…À Bout de souffle (Breathless) were all in their different ways paradigms of a fresh new style based on elliptical editing and location shooting with handheld cameras. This style was both radically destructive of classic Hollywood continuity and pragmatically suited to the New Wave’s need to make its films…
Read More

New Wave
An example occurs in Godard’s Breathless (1960), in which scenes change in rapid sequence (“jump cuts”) to create a jerky and disconnected effect. Although it was never clearly defined as a movement, the New Wave stimulated discussion about the cinema and helped demonstrate that films could achieve both commercial and…
Read More
An example occurs in Godard’s Breathless (1960), in which scenes change in rapid sequence (“jump cuts”) to create a jerky and disconnected effect. Although it was never clearly defined as a movement, the New Wave stimulated discussion about the cinema and helped demonstrate that films could achieve both commercial and…
Read More

Jean-Paul Belmondo
…A bout de souffle (1960; Breathless) that Belmondo delivered his landmark performance. His portrayal of a disaffected, amoral street punk combined the cynical world-weariness of Humphrey Bogart with the naïveté of a bumbling crook, incorporating a compelling mixture of toughness, spontaneity, and comic timing. The film and the character he…
Read More
…A bout de souffle (1960; Breathless) that Belmondo delivered his landmark performance. His portrayal of a disaffected, amoral street punk combined the cynical world-weariness of Humphrey Bogart with the naïveté of a bumbling crook, incorporating a compelling mixture of toughness, spontaneity, and comic timing. The film and the character he…
Read More