Breathless - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Breathless or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Breathless

[ronnie]

Despite reports to the contrary, Jean-Luc Godard did not shoot the film without a script; however, he did not have a finished script at the beginning, instead writing scenes in the morning and filming them that day. See also Pierrot le Fou (1965).

[oscar]

On the eve of production, Jean-Luc Godard wrote to producer Georges de Beauregard: "The poker game's about to begin. I hope to rake in a heap of dough. I want to thank you for trusting me and apologize in advance for many bad moods over the next months. ... I'm terrified and nervous."

[duane]

Aside from the film's title, the distribution visa number, and the dedication to Monogram Pictures, there are no other credits or titles on this film. The entire cast and crew is uncredited.

[wesley]

Although the usual method was to shoot the footage with synchronized sound, Jean-Luc Godard would call out to the actors the lines he wanted them to say (generally just written by him, so they had never seen the dialogue prior to shooting) and they would repeat them. Also, the handheld camera they used was so noisy there was no way to record sound on the spot. The lines of dialogue were dubbed later in post-production.

[liam]

Jean-Luc Godard's first major motion picture.

[brent]

According to Jean-Pierre Melville, Godard asked him for consultation during the post-production stage because the first edit was too long for distribution. Melville suggested Godard remove all scenes that slowed down the action (his own turn as novelist Parvulesco included). But instead of excluding entire scenes, Godard cut little bits from here and there. This led to the "jump cut" technique this movie introduced. Melville declared the result to be excellent.

[victoria]

According to Raoul Coutard, some sleight of hand was involved in getting a permit to shoot on the streets of Paris. A complete script was needed to obtain the permit, so Jean-Luc Godard had an assistant type up a mock script for a film that would never be shot.

[ava]

At one point, Patricia mentions that she's scared of growing old. With hindsight, this comment is sadly believable, as Jean Seberg committed suicide at the age of 40.

[oscar]

According to Pierre Rissient all the locations and what hours to shoot were decided upfront, despite the lack of a script.

[tamara]

Although listed as technical adviser, Claude Chabrol says he was never on set for a single minute. François Truffaut, despite his assurances to Georges de Beauregard, was also not involved in the production at all.

[aaron]

Jean-Paul Belmondo was very surprised by the warm reception the film received. Immediately after production he was convinced it was so bad that he thought the film would never be released.

[wallace]

Raoul Coutard later said because his background was in photojournalism he already knew how to shoot quickly and efficiently. "I had no reputation and nothing to lose. I wanted to see what would happen."

[tom]

Jean-Luc Godard and Raoul Coutard found a way to shoot at night without additional lighting by using high-speed (400 ASA) film meant for still photography. Developing it in a special chemical bath doubled the sensitivity without becoming too grainy. Using that film, however, wouldn't have been possible with most movie cameras because the sprocket holes on photo film are different than those on movie film. But it worked with the Cameflex cameras they were using on this production because the claws on those cameras, which pull the film through, only touch the edge of the perforation rather than going all the way through it, eliminating the need for a precise match.

[ruby]

Jean-Luc Godard: Towards the end of the movie, the bystander (wearing sunglasses and reading the paper) who recognizes Michel and runs off to presumably tell the police.

[frederick]

Jean-Pierre Melville's cameo was originally written for Roberto Rossellini.