For shortness of breath

Electrifying, nonchalant and full of irrepressible energy, the legendary debut of Jean-Luc Godard. The film from which modern cinema began for good. Petty gangster Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) arrives in a stolen car from Marseille to Paris. There he meets a young American woman, Patricia (Jean Seberg), who takes her first steps as a journalist. The pair flirt with each other and engage in a romantic game — will Michel's criminal affairs affect their relationship?

Breaking with conventions and proposing its own dynamic aesthetic, Breathless paved the way for all subsequent “new waves” and combined a love of American culture with Parisian cinema and the spirit of youth. It is difficult to overestimate the impact of the film on subsequent generations of filmmakers: from New Hollywood to the host of independent directors, for whom Godard's daring work remains an unwavering source of inspiration. Filmed by a small crew on the streets of Paris, To Lose Your Breath also promoted an iconic duo: the boisterous Belmondo and the modern, unapproachable Seberg. When we think of France as the capital of cinema, we have before our eyes just shots of Godard's debut. Fascinated By the Breath of the Breath, Richard Linklater realized the New Wave, which will be released in Polish cinemas in August: a story stylized at the turn of the 50s and 60s about how this one of the most famous films in the history of cinema was made.

The thrilling genre fun we get in Breathless is, on the one hand, a rebellion against the depraved cinema of the 1950s, which the neo-walkers wanted to deal with, and on the other hand, the result of the countless screenings of B-class Hollywood films that they watched passionately in Parisian cinemas. It is also the boorish declaration of the creator, who seems to say: “My name is Godard and before your eyes I am changing what we all love most: CINEMA”.

More than 60 years after its release, Breathless remains a classic that is violent, exciting and still compelling.