ABSTRACT
The critical position developed in Cahiers du cinema was not politically radical. It was formed in accordance with two main objectives. The most remarkable formal qualities of A bout de souffle are clearly alien to the style of classical Hollywood cinema. The film is dedicated to Monogram Pictures, one of the smaller Hollywood companies known primarily for their low budget ‘B-movies’. The scene in which Belmondo pays tribute to Bogart, for instance is hardly necessary for the unfolding of the plot. The constantly restless Michel steals American cars, listens to American music, imitates American film stars, wants an American girl who works for an American newspaper, etc. Breathless is definitely not ‘pure’ or ‘high’ tragedy: it is a ‘low’ tragedy that invites both pity and irony. The whole argument around melodrama’s ‘excess’ may thus be seen as built to ‘save melodrama for the intellectuals’.
