Has anyone seen this movie? I just got it on DVD and it’s pretty amazing… though I have a few questions. What’s up with the jump cutting? And also, there’s this scene where Michel and Patricia are in the car and when they are talking, the camera stays on Patricia rather than going shot/reverse shot between the two. What’s the point?
This movie is really great. i gotta re-watch it, i have it here on VHS somewhere. sorry, i cant answer your questions, its too long ago i watched this (in french, without subtitles, hehe)
[quote=“chachi0222”]
Has anyone seen this movie? I just got it on DVD and it’s pretty amazing… though I have a few questions. What’s up with the jump cutting? And also, there’s this scene where Michel and Patricia are in the car and when they are talking, the camera stays on Patricia rather than going shot/reverse shot between the two. What’s the point?
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the jump cutting used prevalently in Breathless is very similar to jump cutting used in all French New Wave films of the time. Godard’s films as well as the films of fellow New Wave directors (e.g. Francois Truffaut) we made fast and cheap. jump cuts were used to save time and money. by using jump cutting, it allowed the director to edit scenes rather than reshoot them. from what i understand, jump cutting was very commonly used by New Wave directors. or so i’ve read :-</E>
i think that’s right
the main reason for the jump cuts is just fucking with the style.
They were like: what is the standard to do now? lets do the exact opposite where possible! They were tired of the rules for style etc. So they created their own: no rules at all.
The movie is great. And yes, all the jump cuts are just the style of the New Wave and in particular of Godard.