‘It Really Makes You Sick!'

Jean-Luc Godard shot A bout de souffle (Breathless) in four weeks, from 17 August to 15 September 1959, on location in Marseilles and on the ‘Nationale 7’ highway, but principally in various parts of Paris. His modest budget was only 40 million francs at 1959 value (50 million according to Le Film français), half the average budget for the period (Godard 1980, 26).