Breathless (1960) & Jules et Jim (1962)
I’m a subscriber to Now You See It on YouTube, a channel that posts these amazingly well-edited, informative video essays once every month. Their most recent video, titled “The Movie That Changed Movies” discussed 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, and it’s undeniable impact on American cinema. They also mentioned the impact that the French New Wave had on Bonnie and Clyde and pointed out two in particular: Breathless, a film by Jean-Luc Godard, as well as, Jules et Jim, a film by François Truffaut.
I knew absolutely nothing about the French New Wave movement. So, I decided to learn about it. Following along with the principle that was outlined in my guide to double features, which stated that “the double feature [is] a way of learning — and thinking — about movies” (a quote taken from this article, written by James Hoberman), I decided that I would screen a double feature of Breathless and Jules et Jim for myself.
Since this is the first of (hopefully) many blog posts detailing a completed double feature, I’m going to attempt to set a template up that allows me to efficiently go about the process of analysing a double feature.
Opinions
Breathless (1960)
I didn’t really find this particular film that appealing on a story level, but knowing it’s influence on modern cinema, I spent most of my time analysing the film, which admittedly diverted some of my attention away from the story more than once. The film’s script is too aimless for too long, which led to it losing my attention quite early on.
Jean Seberg delivers a fantastic performance throughout this film, even if her characterisation is a bit messy (apparently hiring her cost the film a sixth of its entire budget but, in my opinion, it’s money well spent).
The discontinuous editing utilised in this film is fantastic, adding to the intensity and frenetic energy that this film seems to have droves of. One particular scene that stands out in my mind is the scene where Jean Seberg’s character has a discussion with another journalist (watch it here). Godard literally cuts out all the breaths taken while this other guy was delivering his line of dialogue!
Jules et Jim (1962)
I loved Jules and Jim and I’m extremely thankful that I saw this after watching Breathless. It uses some similar techniques to Breathless, but often in a more refined and nuanced manner. The script also doesn’t wander as often, which allowed it more time to devote towards its inquiry of its central themes. The film spans at least 20 years and yet we seem to hurtle through it. Many major events happen off-screen, and the short snippets of voice-over that we get to explain those events are delivered to us at a breakneck pace, from an unnamed and unseen narrator, who feels like a character (albeit an unexplored one) in and of himself.
There is so much poetry visible in the cinematography of this film. I feel like I could watch this (for the first time) with the sound off and no subtitles, and I would still understand the film, because so much is shown, and so little said.
The three main actors individually deliver fantastic performances, but it’s when these performances come together perfectly that we really begin to feel like these people are their characters. Oskar Werner plays Jules as a quietly resigned pushover, while Henri Serre plays Jim with a strong determination, a determination which is matched only by Jeanne Moreau’s Catherine, who is played as a free-spirited willful woman. When they’re all on screen together, this film ascends to a whole other level and we, as an audience, just sit there riveted, with our eyes glued to the screen, watching these characters people live their lives.
Links
Themes
Breathless and Jules et Jim share quite themes. One of these themes is the manipulation of love. Both films are engrossed with this concept, but both approach it from completely different perspectives. Breathless empathises with Patricia, the female lead, and we clearly see Michel manipulating her. However, his reasons for manipulation are nefarious, he only says that he loves her because he wants to have sex with her. In Jules et Jim on the other hand, we see both Jules and Jim being manipulated by Catherine as she shuttles back and forth between multiple men. Unlike Michel, Catherine’s reasons for doing so are not nefarious, indeed, the film seems to suggest that it is an uncontrollable aspect of her base nature.
Production & Techniques
The production of Breathless is pretty much considered mythical at this point so I won’t really go too deep into it here. If you want, you can read more about it here. There isn’t as much information available about the production of Jules et Jim but there is some available here.
The only similarity in technique that I noticed while watching was that handheld shots were used quite often, which imbued the film with a highly fluid feel.
Cast & Crew
Interestingly—and I didn’t find this out until I had finished watching the film—two major crew members were extremely key to the production of both films. The first was François Truffaut, who actually conceived the story of Breathless after reading a newspaper article about a man who had killed a cop, after stealing a car so that he could visit his sick mother. François Truffaut when on to write and direct Jules et Jim just four years later.
Another shared link between the films is Raoul Cotard, who served as cinematographer for both films. Cotard was initially “forced” onto Godard by the producer of Breathless, but ended up collaborating with Godard for a large portion of his films.
Conclusion
I quite enjoyed this double feature, and I definitely learned quite a lot about film history and film. I think this process of learning how to catalogue my thoughts into an understandable form is extremely helpful in consolidating and solidifying my knowledge. I never know how to end these things so…
I should probably just stop writing.
Tagged with: doublefeatures / film