Visual Analysis of Breathless (Godard)
BREATHLESS by Jean-Luc Godard
Aesthetics and Visual Analysis Paolo Favero Tim Somers s0111755 Film Studies & Visual Culture
BREATHLESS by Jean-Luc Godard
A visual analysis by Tim Somers Aesthetics and Visual Analysis Fall term 2012
"Ne va pas montrer tous les côtés des choses, garde-toi une marge d 'indéfini." Jean-Luc GODARD
Introduction
It isn 't hard to see why Breathless (original title: À Bout de Souffle) manages to distinguish itself from general film, being now or at the time it came out. Despite being the first film by influential French director Jean-Luc Godard, its visual style and unconventional approach has led to the film being labeled as historically significant and brought international acclaim to the French New Wave movement. It is considered a piece of “breakthrough” cinema, a film that immediately stunned the audience in 1960 and continues to do so with modern audiences. Jean-Luc Godard is said to be the most extreme and paradoxical figure in the New Wave movement he co-created, which resulted in this extraordinary piece of cinema. Filming on location in Paris in August and September of 1959, Godard managed to visualize a script written by François Truffaut with cinematographic techniques rarely been used before and a directorial approach involving elements of naturalism and leaving room for improvisation. This resulted in a very unconventional film - hard on the eye but nevertheless touching and provoking. Godard chose to film in a style reminiscent to Paris in the 1950s. This resulted in the use of black and white, very lush but also highly contrasting from time to time. On this, French documentary filmmaker Claude Ventura is quoted saying "In black and white, Paris still looks like it did in Breathless (or New Wave film in general)". Cinematographer on Breathless, Raoul Coutard, captures Paris with a precision as seen in documentary films and therefore adds to the nostalgic feel Godard aimed for. He wanted Coutard to shoot Breathless as if it
Aesthetics and Visual Analysis Paolo Favero Tim Somers s0111755 Film Studies & Visual Culture
BREATHLESS by Jean-Luc Godard
A visual analysis by Tim Somers Aesthetics and Visual Analysis Fall term 2012
"Ne va pas montrer tous les côtés des choses, garde-toi une marge d 'indéfini." Jean-Luc GODARD
Introduction
It isn 't hard to see why Breathless (original title: À Bout de Souffle) manages to distinguish itself from general film, being now or at the time it came out. Despite being the first film by influential French director Jean-Luc Godard, its visual style and unconventional approach has led to the film being labeled as historically significant and brought international acclaim to the French New Wave movement. It is considered a piece of “breakthrough” cinema, a film that immediately stunned the audience in 1960 and continues to do so with modern audiences. Jean-Luc Godard is said to be the most extreme and paradoxical figure in the New Wave movement he co-created, which resulted in this extraordinary piece of cinema. Filming on location in Paris in August and September of 1959, Godard managed to visualize a script written by François Truffaut with cinematographic techniques rarely been used before and a directorial approach involving elements of naturalism and leaving room for improvisation. This resulted in a very unconventional film - hard on the eye but nevertheless touching and provoking. Godard chose to film in a style reminiscent to Paris in the 1950s. This resulted in the use of black and white, very lush but also highly contrasting from time to time. On this, French documentary filmmaker Claude Ventura is quoted saying "In black and white, Paris still looks like it did in Breathless (or New Wave film in general)". Cinematographer on Breathless, Raoul Coutard, captures Paris with a precision as seen in documentary films and therefore adds to the nostalgic feel Godard aimed for. He wanted Coutard to shoot Breathless as if it