Critics and followers of French cinema regard Jean Luc Godard’s first feature length film, À bout de souffle, as the exemplar of French new wave cinema. À bout de souffle is representative of the notions of the new wave in its rebellion against the conventional methods of previous filmmakers and its establishment of an original approach to film to be imitated by subsequent films. This is demonstrated by the fact that it is “the most frequently watched film of the French new wave,” (Sellier, p. 273) in American colleges and universities. The film’s success is credited to its vast advertisement and hype prior to its release; both negative and positive. Unfortunately, Godard was immensely disappointed in the audiences’ uniformly positive reception of his film that which would lead to their infallible trust in him. In an interview shortly after the film’s release, Godard explains his desire to release an inferior film merely to disrupt the public’s interpretations of his work.
Godard was initially influenced to make his first feature length film by an American director, Orson Welles', film, Touch of Evil, and although he does reference popular French culture, the film appears to be a direct homage to American cinema. Originally, Godard sought to imitate early American gangster films but ultimately he pioneered a film in his own unique style. The most prominent style of this film was Godard’s utilization of controversial consecutive jumpcuts, which are used to shorten the length of a scene, provide the viewer with only the optimal footage (by excluding the unnecessary), and require the full attention of the viewer. Yet, Godard was criticized for characterizing his style with speed by alternating between short shots and long sequences and thus, creating a distinctive rhythm throughout the film. Another style that Godard incorporated into his film was his use off-screen dialogue as opposed to earlier methods of separate shots of each sole character reciting his or her dialogue. À bout de souffle contains a variety of themes mainly including: death, fate, speed, and cinema. The themes of death, speed, and fate are evident from beginning of the film when Michel murders an officer who is merely attempting to pull him over because he illegally passed another vehicle in his rush to Paris, which ultimately results in his own death. The theme of cinema is most blatant throughout the film in Michel’s admiration for and imitation of famous American actor, Humphrey Bogart; in one scene Michel even gazes at a poster of him outside of a theater. An example of an obscure reference to cinema is the scene in which a young woman is holding a copy of Cahier du Cinéma (of which Godard was a writer) up to Michel and asks him, “Do you have anything against the youth?” to which Michel replies, “Yes, I prefer old people.”
As a first-time viewer of the film, I find it embarrassing to have not yet seen this monumental piece of cinema. À bout de souffle, in my opinion, best defines new wave cinema in comparison to the films we have viewed in this class thus far. I particularly admired Godard’s extensive knowledge of film and unique style that he introduced to cinema. The film most captures the ambience of Paris in the scene in which Michel meets with Patricia on the Champs-Élysées and the scene in which Michel is driving Patricia around Paris at the nighttime; this is credited to the cinematographer, Raoul Coutard’s handheld camera work and use of natural lighting. In addition, as a viewer I prefer Godard’s style, in that he utilizes successive jumpcuts to include only the most beneficial shots. Overall, À bout de souffle had a distinctive impact on not only the films that followed soon after, but also our modern cinema.
Sources: French Cinema - The Student's Book, Bonus Material on Criterion Collection edition of À bout de souffle.
