Drama · Crime · Romance
French (À bout de souffle)
1960 · Directed by Jean-Luc Godard · 90 min
A small-time crook in Paris drifts through the city with a borrowed swagger, modelled on Hollywood gangsters, while the police close in. He spends his time trying to win over an American student who sells newspapers on the Champs-Élysées. A crime story told with a restless, improvised-feeling energy.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining work of the French New Wave and the moment when the movement's critics-turned-directors proved a film could break classical grammar and still be a popular, youthful hit.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a love letter to Hollywood B-movies that is also taking the genre apart as it goes.
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