Breathless: Jean-Luc Godard
Assignment: Watch and review a movie by one of the directors to study unconventional style.
Breathless was not my first choice for the movie I wanted to review, I was really more interested in Jane Campion's Sweetie, but could not find it anywhere in town. Having said that, I am glad that I watched it because it is not a movie I would have picked to watch but I learned from the research I did prior to the screening that it has influenced just about all action films since its making.
What I found striking was the sheer volume of jerky jump cuts, meant to disorient the viewer and create a sense of recklessness. The protagonist is a scoundrel who kills a police officer in the beginning, but this fact is played down throughout the movie through his "charm" and humor. He stays one step either behind or ahead of the police who are pursuing him, depending on how you look at it.
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