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Film Review: Breathless (1959)

Watched Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) recently, and I’m reminded why it remains one of the most exhilarating films ever made. More than six decades later, it still feels startlingly modern: playful, rebellious, romantic, and completely unconcerned with following the conventional rules of filmmaking.

Jean-Paul Belmondo is effortlessly magnetic as Michel, bringing equal measures of swagger, vulnerability, and danger to the role. Jean Seberg is equally extraordinary, creating one of cinema’s most unforgettable heroines in Patricia. Together, they share a chemistry that is at once spontaneous, intimate, and impossible to look away from.

Godard’s bold use of jump cuts, handheld camerawork, and naturalistic performances transformed the language of cinema, but what strikes me most is how emotionally alive the film still feels. Breathless isn’t just an essential work of the French New Wave, it’s a reminder that great filmmaking doesn’t age. It continues to inspire, provoke, and captivate with every viewing.

What I also admire is how the film balances its intellectual ambitions with pure cinematic pleasure. It invites endless analysis: its reflections on identity, celebrity, American culture, and existential longing are all fascinating but it never loses its sense of energy or cool. Few films have had such a profound influence on generations of filmmakers while remaining so watchable. Every revisit reveals another layer, another visual flourish, or another quiet emotional beat that makes it feel as fresh and revolutionary as ever.

* I watched the Criterion Collection edition of the film, which I definitely recommend if you view the movie because of all of the great extras included, which gives so much more depth than understanding to the movie and its significance.

Wren Valentino

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