The cold demeanor of Breathless isn’t very effective and as a result, it feels conceited and in a word; fake.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Aug 19, 2024

Nine years ago, I fell in love with Breathless. Time has aged her since, but poems of chaos, having little structure, are gloriously free from decay.

Full Review | May 2, 2024

In an era before social media, Breathless presages the hyper-narcissistic age we embody where everyone with a phone and an Instagram account can create and curate whatever type of existence they choose.

Full Review | Feb 27, 2024

The camera in Breathless, which was wielded by Raoul Coutard, is jumpy, fluid, irritable, and comic -- alive with glimpses, sudden turns, rude stares, and angry changes of mood.

Full Review | Jan 22, 2024

Breathless seems to me the most original, insolently gifted and shattering work the young French directors have, yet produced.

Full Review | Jan 22, 2024

Breathless, the most important New Wave film which has reached the United States, is a frightening little chase comedy with no big speeches and no pretentions.

Full Review | Oct 17, 2023

Dedicated to Monogram films, Breathless (originally released in France under the name À bout de souffle) is [Jean-Luc] Godard’s B-movie tribute, a crime movie taken apart and rebuilt from the ground up.

Full Review | Feb 4, 2023

Godard is constantly calling attention to the artifice and reminding you that you’re watching a movie. Much like its protagonist, 'Breathless' can't stop looking at itself in the mirror.

Full Review | Oct 10, 2022

There are so many filmmaking devices in “Breathless” that have influenced directors for years and still do today. And even though the storytelling structure may feel a bit jarring, the film is hypnotic and its mark on cinema cannot be overstated.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

It is a thin story, filled to the brim with extraordinary character of the modem, wild, criminal youth, as exemplified by Belmondo.

Full Review | Aug 11, 2022

In spite of the undeniable brilliance of form and style, it remains no more than a superb pattern; a pattern of dried leaves cast on the surface of water. There is a closer approach to human truth in the nonsense of The Singing Fool.

Full Review | Aug 10, 2022

Godard's breezy vision and freestyle execution marked a generation. Always on the move and fun, Breathless's magic is still shining. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 15, 2021

Make no mistake about it, this film still deserves its place in the canon of cinema.

Full Review | Oct 13, 2021

Breathless made my world when I first encountered it. Decades later, I still love it.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | May 11, 2021

Despite its unlikable characters, Breathless doesn't lack feeling. It is a compelling story to watch with a satisfying ending.

Full Review | Mar 24, 2021

An irreverent French spin on Godard's affection for American gangster movies...

Full Review | Nov 11, 2020

It's an upbeat, jazzy, cops-and-robbers crime drama with the tone of a romantic comedy and the plot progression of an unfocused documentary.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Aug 24, 2020

Godard's camera lingers on movement, and on the spaces between people. In one instance, he cuts from Michel and Patricia's flirtations to a close-up of their locked lips, where the space between them has been suddenly and irrevocably shattered.

Full Review | Apr 1, 2020

Breathless must have seemed amazing in 1960, a movie obsessed with youth and motion. The problem with youth is it doesn't last.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 13, 2020

Exhilarating... Godard uses his camera with the freedom of the gifted amateur who is innocent of all the conventions that the professionals have developed to take the edge off visual reality.

Full Review | Jul 12, 2019