Breathless
In « A bout de souffle », the original name off “Out of breath”. We are introduced to a character named Michel Poicart who is independent. He’s a small time gangster, he robbed a few time and rigged some financial papers. And he manipulates women’s to get what he needs. So he’s the type to walk alone. But he’s fascinated with Humphrey Bogart. A famous American actor and it’s a weird perspective to see a standalone man having a model. Michel has his own life style but he’s such a fan of Bogart that even mimics some of Bogart’s “tics” like grabbing his chin or liking his upper lips. A Loner who has a role model, it’s a paradox, a HUMAN PARADOX.
Jean Luc Godart made a lot of movies since Breathless (1960). In each of his movies, we can noticed some similarities for exemple in the senario and the filmic technic. Heare in breathless, the main character, Michel Poicart, can be assimlated to a gangster. In Godart's movie, this kind of charachter is quite recurring. For exemple, in an oher film of Godart : Pierrot le Fou, the main character himself is a gangster. Pierrot is interpreted by Jean Paul Belmondolike in Breatless.
There is a sort of « banalization » or simplisity in being a gangster inhis cineme. This profession involved killing, stealing and others illegal things. I noticed that in his cinama killing is like a banal act. The realisator doesn't focus on the victims neither. He seems to show the bare truth but in the same it is paradoxal because it isn't violant. For exemple, at the beggining of Breatless, Michel kills a policeman. It doesn't appared in a violant way to the audiance. It even seems to belong to the comic register. Michel's manners remind us about Charlie Chaplin and his comic way to play.
Being a gangster also involved to steal. This is the plot of Bande à part (1964). This movie also deals with Gangsters. The whole plot is based on two man who want to steal a house. For that they are going to need the help of one of the inhabitants of the house. But for convincing her, the two men will have to manipulate her. We can etablish a link with the relationship they have in Breatless and in Bande à part. In Breatless Michel is trying desespertly to have sex with Patricia. So in a way he is manipulating her. At the end of the movie, she is also manipulating him becuse she betrayed him.
We noticed that in « La Nouvelle Vague », the cinematique mouvement how acters play is quite « overpayed ». Even if in movies, it is not very natural to play and to react to an event that may seems not really realistic, we can still compared « Nouvelle Vague »'s movies to the others.
In the movie, Breathless, Michel Poicart is facinated by Humphrey Bogart was a very famous actor who played in lots of holiwoodien movies.
We can see that by the « facial expression » that the copy from Humphrey Bogart. For exemple when Michel Poicart touchs his thumb on his mouth.
After a while, the spectator is quiete annoyed by his gestual.
Michel Poicart is a gangster in the movie Breatheless, however his model Humphrey Bogart respect the law even if he always acts in his favor. For exemple in « Le Faucon Maltais » Humphrey Bogart is dealing with gagnsters even if he is a inspector.
Foxtatoe, Raventatoe, Dolphintatoe