This is the one. From Raol Cortard's camera work to the crazy editing, Breathless spells innovation and a totally new language in cinema.
Synopsis
There was before Breathless, and there
was after Breathless. With its lack of polish, surplus of attitude,
crackling personalities of rising stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, and
anything-goes crime narrative, Jean-Luc Godard's debut fashioned a simultaneous
homage to and critique of the American film genres that influenced and rocked
him as a film writer for Cahiers du cinema. Jazzy, free-form, and sexy, Breathless
(A bout de souffle) helped launch the French new wave and ensured cinema
would never be the same.
Special Features
- - SPECIAL
EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES
- - New,
restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director of
photography Raoul Coutard
- - Archival
interviews with director Jean-Luc Godard, and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo,
Jean Seberg, and Jean-Pierre Melville
- - New video
interviews with Coutard, assistant director Pierre Rissient, and filmmaker
D. A. Pennebaker
- - New video
essays: filmmaker and critic Mark Rappaport's "Jean Seberg" and
critic Jonathan Rosenbaum's "Breathless as Film Criticism"
- - Chambre
12, Hotel de suede, an eighty-minute French documentary about the making
of Breathless, with members of the cast and crew
- - Charlotte
et son Jules, a 1959 short film by Godard, starring Belmondo
- - French
theatrical trailer
- - New and
improved English subtitle translation
- - PLUS: A
booklet featuring writings from Godard, film historian Dudley Andrew,
Francois Truffaut's original film treatment, and Godard's scenario
Film Info
1960
90 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
About the Transfer
Breathless is presented in
its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will
appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format.
The picture has been slightly window-boxed to ensure that the maximum image is
visible on all monitors. Approved by director of photography Raoul Coutard,
this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from
a 35 mm original fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt,
debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To
maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on
this dual-layer DVD-9 was encoded at the highest possible bit rate for the
quantity of material included.
The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm optical track print, and
audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.
The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal will be directed to the center channel on surround
sound systems, but some viewers may prefer to switch to two-channel playback
for a wider dispersal of the mono sound.
