Breathless (1983)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1983
Running Time	96:01
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jim McBride
Studio Distributor	MGM	Starring	Richard Gere Valerie Kaprisky Art Metrano John P. Ryan William Tepper Robert Dunn Garry Goodrow Lisa Jane Persky James Hong Waldemar Kalinowski Jack Leustig Eugène Lourié Georg Olden
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$19.95	Music	Jack Nitzsche

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired German German for the Hearing Impaired French Italian Spanish Dutch Swedish Finnish Norwegian Danish	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Jean-Luc Godard made films about film. Within A bout de souffle, Bande a part and Pierrot le fou, Godard found a tragic poetic tribute to the American B film noirs he admired the most. There is a frailty which exists in the chaos of the Godard world which links to the noir sensibilities of temptation and escape. With these universal themes prominently featuring in the films of Godard, it was predestined that American remakes were on the horizon.

Godard's most famous film, A bout de souffle, which he directed in 1960, is no easy feat to remake. Not only was the memorable film developed with Francois Truffaut, it was the catalyst for what would be known as the nouvelle vague. This period of French cinema would develop new wave technicalities such as location shooting, jump cuts, synchronised sound and voice over.

Godard infused an immature carelessness in A bout de souffle but there was a prevailing hopelessness and treacherous mood in the film, developing the true noir sensibility of randomness and the inability to escape. A bout de souffle is the simple tale of a young car thief, Michel Poiccard, on the run with his American girlfriend Patricia Franchini.

Jean-Paul Belmondo in the role of Poiccard inhabited the anti-hero who was charismatic but also feeble, immoral and insensitive. The role can be likened to a homage to the happy-go-lucky spirit of the on-screen persona of Humphrey Bogart. Jean Seberg played Franchini, a young American student living in France, who both worships and loathes Poiccard. Both hope to find salvation in Italy.

Twenty odd years later director Jim McBride remade A bout de souffle as Breathless in 1983. For this American interpretation the original story has been altered with the original roles reversed. Instead of Belmondo channelling Bogart, a flamboyant Richard Gere plays American Jesse Lujack who overtly channels Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Also, the film's original story has been relocated to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and the destination to salvation is Mexico.

Furthermore, the role of the foreigner in a foreign land is occupied by French actress Valerie Kaprisky who plays Monica Poiccard, a French student learning architecture in Los Angeles. The original concept remains the same, as both Jesse and Monica share a love/hate relationship where their motivations are unclear. On release Breathless was universally panned but it has found a cult audience since due to its unconventional visual style and homages to American film, music and literature.

Richard Gere is somewhat miscast in the role although he seems to enjoy overacting throughout the farce. Gere plays Jesse Lujack as a highly repulsive character for the audience; he is snide and selfish and devoid of any true emotion. He is also a foolish, petty criminal without any redeeming qualities. Nevertheless he is fascinating to watch.

The film is highly implausible, unlike the original, which despite its technical chaos allowed the relationship and crimes committed to seem realistic. The scenery of Breathless is hyper and visceral as McBride acknowledges the French new wave stylistics. Also Valerie Kaprisky seems somewhat uncomfortable in this role but she tries her best to play Monica as the moral centre rather then a damsel in distress.

Breathless is an uneven, flawed film, as it doesn't share the desperation of A bout de souffle due to its self-imposed flamboyance. It is interesting to view in comparison with its inspiration but audiences should not expect anything more then a predictable B-grade crime caper held together by Gere's enthusiastic performance.

Video

MGM have presented Breathless in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1, but it is not 16x9 enhanced.

The picture quality is decent but it is not optimal.

The transfer suffers from a fair amount of grain and film artefacts, in particular scratches.

Colour is natural and bright and suffers from no major defects.

Subtitles are clear and true to the dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track is basic and has no issues with audio sync. Dialogue is fairly clear. Other audio tracks presented on the disc are German Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0.

The soundtrack largely features classic 1960s American songs by performers such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke and Elvis. Original music was composed by the late Jack Nitzsche. The score is deliberate yet effective and largely reminiscent of classic 1940s b-grade films.

As expected the Dolby Digital mono soundtrack does not make optimal use of surround sound, which is unfortunate, as the sound design and music is a large part of enjoying the film.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

The main menu is static and practical.

The only extra feature is the original film trailer.

The Region 1 DVD presents an NTSC Pan and Scan transfer with mono English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital tracks. It includes a collectible booklet.

I would favour the R4's accessibility and affordability.

Breathless is an expensive, gratuitous remake of Jean-Luc Godard's classic A bout de souffle.

The American made film is flawed and has received poor treatment on DVD.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall