SCREENING ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST.

Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard’s debut feature, one of the first films in the movement that would come to be known as the Nouvelle Vague, retains an iconic status accorded to few films. The story itself is relatively straightforward; criminal Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) hides out with American student Patricia (Jean Seberg) following his murder of a policeman. However, it is in the telling of the tale that Godard revealed his revolutionary genius; shot using handheld camera and minimal lighting, and using jump cuts in an innovative way, the film remains fresh and unique.

Notes by David O’Mahony

Screening as part of Truth, 24 Frames per Second: The Films of Jean-Luc Godard