Rialto logo

spacer
•  LA TIMES

• 
NEW YORK TIMES

•  THE NEW REPUBLIC

•  THE NEW YORKER

•  NEW YORK PRESS

•  TIME OUT NEW YORK

•  THE VILLAGE VOICE
spacer
•  back to 'BREATHLESS' page

What the Critics Say About BREATHLESS

“Breathless still feels entirely original. It still has the power to defy conventional expectations about what a movie should be while providing an utterly captivating moviegoing experience... Much as it may have influenced what was to come later, there is still nothing quite like it.
spacer
Even at 50, it is still cool, still new!”
– A.O. Scott,  The New York Times

“I've seen the fiftieth-anniversary restoration of Breathless, and it's revelatory! The images, yield up details hitherto imperceptible in the prints that were available until now.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

5 stars!
spacer
ONE OF THE BEST THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK!spacer
“In this stunning new print, you can better embrace the excitement of a pretender in a fantasy land. If you miss out on this print, you are truly missing out on another life.”
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York

“CRITICS PICK! It's not hyperbole to say that Godard's New Wave touchstone,
still one of the most electrifying debuts in history, changed cinema forever.”
New York Magazine

“MORE VIBRANT THAN EVER! Movie history and cultural politics vibrate throughout Breathless... Indeed, it is breathtaking.”
Armond White, New York Press

“Breathless hasn't aged by one second. How is is possible that on its fiftieth anniversary this film remains as fresh as on the day it came out of the lab? When Jean Seberg appears in close-up, you see the freckles on her nose... evidence of the randomness and grubiness of ordinary life was still routinely scrubbed out the movies; but here, it's presented throughout, and in the coolest, chicest form it will ever take.”
Stuart Klawans, The Nation

Made with such exceptional energy that it retains its freshness and élan 50 years later... And if there is one thing that hasn't dated a bit, it's the star power of Belmondo and Seberg, he the picture of drop-dead hipster insouciance and she, the ultimate innocent siren. Seeing them puts you in mind of one of Breathless most famous quotes, when Melville's character says his goal is 'to become immortal and then die.' This is one cast and one film that has achieved exactly that.”
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“Breathless comes from a place of jittery excitement and possibility, the double vision of appreciating so deeply the riches of cinema's past and seeing so vividly what shape its future could take... Such a blast of high-wire artistry can justifiably be deemed 'fresh' by today's standards. Watching it, however, you cannot help but reach for another overused yet occasionally perfect descriptor: timeless.”
Matthew Connolly, SLANT Magazine

“Casually violent and casually sexual, this startling film – with its seemingly spontaneous action, and jumpy shooting style,
and its original hero and heroine – was intoxicating. spacer
The power of Breathless remains undiminished... an utterly modern, edgy new way of looking at the world.”
Patricia Zohn, The Huffington Post

“A thrilling reminder of how playful Godard could be... With its jazzy, staccato rhythms and endless referencing
of other films and filmmakers, Breathless makes alienation look like it was a lot more fun in 1960
than in the ponderous gravitas or ante-upping brutality of indie film today.”
Ella Taylor, The Village Voice

“The restoration opens a new world of visual delight! ”
Nathan Heller, Slate

“Top Pick: What we love this week! ”
New York Observer

“HAS LOST NONE OF ITS EUPHORIC BUZZ! Breathless is often called timeless, but it is more precise to say that, with its
offhandedly cool gestures and quotations, its anarchic streak, its startling sense of possibility and delight, the film is eternally
youthful. The ultimate expression of a life so steeped in movies that the two were indistinguishable, Breathless marks the birth
of modern cinephilia, perhaps even the start of the modern media age..”
Dennis Lim, PBS - Need to Know

“One of the most famous and influential movies ever made. Most so-called 'revolutionary' movies do not age well
but Breathless still leaps off the screen. A seminal movie for filmmakers and critics alike! ”
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

“Forever changed the ways we look at film, the way moviemakers shot movies and critics wrote about it,
and perhaps changed the ways we look at life too. It’s a movie-lovers anti-movie, or counter-movie,
a defiant act of rebellion by a director who knows the score and deliberately breaks the rules. ”
Michael Wilmington, Movie City News

“FIFTY YEARS ON, STILL THE NEWEST MOVIE IN TOWN!”
John Powers, Vogue

“Breathless is a remarkable work of art that still challenges and engages its audience...It sets a standard to which all filmmakers should strive”
Jake Martin, America

Filmmakers, critics, and curators pay tribute to Breathless in Time Out New York

4 stars!
spacer
This movie liberated the cinema as clearly and cleanly as Picasso freed painting and the Sex Pistols rebooted rock. ”
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

“Breathless truly epitomizes cool. Not to be missed.”
Brett Michel, Boston Herald

4 stars!
spacer
It's not just a film, it's a poem! A one-of-a-kind movie that has never dated, and it looks and sounds (much improved subtitles) better than ever in Rialto Pictures' 50th-anniversary restoration. ”
Jeffrey Gantz, Boston Phoenix

“Breathless, the freshest film in town and the must-see film of the summer”
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

“A half-century after its release, Godard's opening salvo remains among the most exhilarating of film debuts ”
Sam Adams, Philadelphia City Paper

“There are few universal experiences in life or in art, but this I believe is true: Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" will always feel
young...this jewel of postwar French cinema continues to capture with unparalleled precision that wonderful 20-something mixture of ambition, exuberence and uncertainty...It is a perfect film.”
Daily Hampshire Gazette

 

 

> > > > back to 'BREATHLESS' page
> > > > home