{"id":166,"date":"2021-09-08T21:46:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T01:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iterudio.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2021-09-08T21:46:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T01:46:58","slug":"breathless-awards-bogart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/?p=166","title":{"rendered":"Breathless, Awards, Bogart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I finally got around to watching “Breathless” (1960)<\/a> – mostly because the movie has been mentioned from various sources in connection with the death of the actor that stars in the film (Jean-Paul Belmondo<\/a> – he was 88).

Now, I enjoy a good “noir” flick – but I tend towards the “hard boiled private eye” brands (e.g. “The Maltese Falcon<\/a>“) – as opposed to the nihilistic criminals.

With that said – yes, “Breathless” is a great movie. yes, “Breathless” is an important\/milestone movie. BUT I’m still digesting the movie – which is kind of the purpose of this post …

Of course when I mention that it is in Black and white, primarily in French, AND a “1960’s French new wave” movie – I probably don’t have to try very hard to convince most people they don’t want to bother.

No happy endings in ‘noir’ movies<\/strong>
The movie is also very much a “character study” of two “young people” in 1960’s France. The male “protagonist” (Michel) is a sociopathic petty criminal, the female protagonist (Patricia) is a 20 year old American journalism student working in the Paris office of a NY newspaper.

I had a strong dislike for Michel from the start of the movie – which is probably intentional, but it might just be me. <\/p>\n\n\n

The audience watches Michel commit crime after crime – so he is not supposed to be a sympathetic character (which isn’t unusual for the genre). <\/p>\n\n\n

Meanwhile Patricia (played by Jean Seberg) qualifies as the “hero” of the story. While Michel has no sense of “right and wrong” – Patricia is simple “lost.”

Michel has convinced himself that he “loves” Patricia – PROBABLY because she is a little “unavailable.” Patricia is a “Juliet” looking for “Romeo” and isn’t sure how she feels about Michel.<\/p>\n\n\n

Bonnie and Clyde<\/strong>
SO the bulk of the movie is those two characters talking to each other – interspersed with Michel committing crimes and Patricia being a “student journalist.”

Since the audience is in on the “true” Michel – the conflict is really about whether Patricia will succumb to his seductions and be entangled with his eventual fall. <\/p>\n\n\n

IF this was an American production in 1960 – the ending would have been easy to predict. The “production code” in place at the time required that the “bad guys lose and\/or get punished for their crimes.” I’m not a fan of “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) but it illustrates what I’m talking about – i.e. Bonnie and Clyde living “happily ever after” was never an option …

Psych 101 analysis<\/strong>
Maybe in 1960 the nihilism the movie pushes was “new” and “edgy” but not so much in 2021. The beauty of the movie is how the two main characters feel “real.”

Michel might become a little sympathetic if you want to believe that he is just imitating the “tough guys” to which he has been exposed. In his own way he might be as “lost” as Patricia – BUT he made the decision to be a “thug”<\/a> at some point in his life. <\/p>\n\n\n

MAYBE that choice was thrust upon him due to a lack of guidance and harsh circumstances – who knows. The only insight we get into his “true” character are his crimes and the seduction of Patricia. Did I mention I didn’t like the character?<\/p>\n\n\n

Meanwhile we get a front row seat to Patricia’s character. We see the art she likes, the music she chooses, her slightly unreliable father is mentions – she is smart and independent. At the end of the movie you might “understand” Michel, but you “care about” Patricia. <\/p>\n\n\n

Eventually Patricia realizes that the two aren’t actually “madly in love” – i.e. each has been talking about themselves much more than “seeing”\/interacting with each other. Michel isn’t self-aware enough to get to that point – but I won’t give away the ending …<\/p>\n\n\n

The lip thing<\/strong>
MY interpretation of the “lip rub” (if you watch the movie – you will know what I mean) is that it is the character being “unguarded\/going internal” to a certain extent. Almost like “thumb sucking” or a fetal posture.

The gesture comes across as sensual but self-centered. Obviously if the character was talking to someone, and then rubbed their own lips – while maintaining eye contact – that is “flagrant flirting” to the point of sexual proposition.

HOWEVER – Michel tends to do it in moments of “uncertainty.” The movie ends with Patricia doing the gesture – so WHATEVER it is supposed to mean, it was put there intentionally (or maybe it means nothing and they just thought it looked cool).<\/p>\n\n\n

My Man Godfrey<\/strong>
I also got around to watching “My Man Godfrey” (1936)<\/a> – which is almost the complete opposite of “Breathless.”<\/p>\n\n\n

Made when the end of “Great Depression” was just around the corner (look for the joke in the movie). This is a good example of the type of movie that “modern audiences” might look at and see a “socialist” message. I would disagree – which is another post waiting to be written.

ANYWAY – it IS a “screwball comedy” – i.e. the characters talk fast and say funny things, but you need to pay attention or you will miss the jokes.

I watched the newly “colorized” version on hoopladigital. I won’t bother summarizing the plot – there is a “twist” involved so try to watch it without reading about it first. <\/p>\n\n\n

It was #44 on the AFI’s 100 Years 100 Laughs<\/a> list. Almost the entire cast was nominated for Academy Awards, in addition to nominations for direction and screenplay – 6 nominations, 0 wins.<\/p>\n\n\n

HOWEVER the film was added to the “National Film Registry” in 1999. I highly recommend it \ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n\n\n

Awards<\/strong>
The whole idea of “acting awards” is a little silly – but I suppose the old “it is better to be deserving of awards and not have them than to have awards and not be deserving of them” concept comes to mind (that is probably a Mark Twain quote). <\/p>\n\n\n

In any case with the old “studio system” Academy Awards just being nominated was something. For the most part the modern “Academy” has lost touch with “mainstream America” – BUT the “early” Academy was most concerned with recognizing “excellence” in an effort to help the “movie industry” thrive.

In 2021 you probably have to be a “film historian” to know what movie won “Best Picture” in 1942<\/a> when “Citizen Kane” was nominated. <\/p>\n\n\n

As with a lot of “awards” – people voting on the awards don’t always “get it right” from a historical point of view. I’m not saying that the movie that won that year didn’t “deserve” to win – just pointing out that “history” has its own standards.<\/p>\n\n\n

John Ford was a well respected “industry insider.” His 1942 “How Green Was My Valley” is a very good movie – about a “turn of the century Welsh mining village.” (for the record: I watched it, I was bored)<\/p>\n\n\n

Of course I think John Ford’s best movie was “The Searchers” (1956) but by then he had been relegated to “maverick” outsider status and didn’t win any awards.<\/p>\n\n\n

SO if the choice is between “well respected insider” and “obnoxious boy genius new comer” it is obvious who wins – 1942 Best Picture “How Green Was My Valley”, 1942 Best Director – John Ford (and in all fairness the movie was also placed in the “National Film Registry” in 1990).<\/p>\n\n\n

Of course my choice would have been “The Maltese Falcon”<\/a> \ud83d\ude09 starring Humphrey Bogart – one of those “tough guy” influencers on Michel in “Breathless” …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I finally got around to watching “Breathless” (1960) – mostly because the movie has been mentioned from various sources in connection with the death of the actor that stars in the film (Jean-Paul Belmondo – he was 88). Now, I enjoy a good “noir” flick – but I tend towards the “hard boiled private eye” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}