on Jean-Luc Godard's À bout de souffle

After the decline of the Golden Age of cinema in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the world of French film was waiting for the next great masters of the medium to step forward and redefine the elements that make up a great film. Enter François Truffaut, Alain Resnais, Jean-Luc Godard, and the New Wave. According to Alan Singerman, “between 1958 and 1962, at least ninety-seven young French filmmakers made their first feature film before the ‘revolution’ ran its course” (229). The New Wave marked a paradigm shift in every facet of the filmmaking process, from narrative structure to production methods.

Jean-Luc Godard’s first feature film, À bout de souffle (1960), is arguably the most significant film released during this revolutionary period, and is revered as the quintessential model for New Wave cinema. The film was an exercise in unorthodoxy; its postmodern narrative was vague, but enthralling, and Godard’s imaginative production techniques (the use of handheld cameras, studio-produced sound, off-screen dialogue, and jump cuts) instantly revolutionized the aesthetics of film. As Singerman commented, “[À bout de souffle] quickly became the ‘manifesto’ of the ‘New Wave,’ representing both the revolt of the new filmmakers against the narrow classicism of the cinematographic establishment in France and a declaration of new principles” (273).

Godard co-wrote À bout de souffle with friend, colleague from Cahiers du cinema, and fellow New Wave guru, François Truffaut, and filmed it with director of photography Raoul Coutard, whom he would work with again several more times throughout his continuing career. In producing the film, Godard worked very quickly, even by contemporary industry standards, and efficiently, with a very small budget and crew. Working with Coutard, Godard managed to think of more efficient and affordable ways to capture shots that would previously have taken much more time, manpower, and money to create, and with a more raw sense of reality. Filming scenes from À bout de souffle like the ones where the camera leads Michel as he walks toward it would have been an absolute nightmare by Golden Age production methods. A track would likely have to have been built to ensure the steadiness of a large camera while they moved it backwards, and the scene would likely have been shot in a studio with a set, which means lighting guys, sound guys, technical guys, special effects guys, etc. Godard and Coutard found a better way. Instead of building a track for a dolly, Coutard simply sat in the wheelchair while Godard pushed and pulled him. This technique was revolutionary, and has been used in countless other films, including The French Connection, the Academy Award winner for Best Picture in 1972.

À bout de souffle immediately met with a great deal of critical acclaim thanks to an extensive advertising and merchandising campaign, but more importantly because of its catering to the lifestyle of the youth generation. Godard showed us throughout his illustrious career that the paramount characteristic of the great auteur filmmaker is originality and uniqueness of vision. I would describe À bout de souffle as an “original indie film”, in that the revolt of young and independent filmmakers against the preexisting conventions of big budget, mass-market cinema in France during the New Wave period resembles the fairly recent American fixation with independent film, as though the American indie fixation is a resonance of the French New Wave. I find this very interesting, especially considering the fact that Godard paid a great deal of homage to American filmmaking style throughout À bout de souffle. In return, just about every American filmmaker has borrowed something from Godard, whether it be his narrative style, his production technique, his editing innovations, or even his entire film itself.