ACitizenCalledKane

The part that Jean Luc-Godard played in The French New Wave was tremendous. This film, with its innovative jump-cuts, catapulted Godard into international fame. His film, Breathless, as well as collaborator Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows, put the New Wave on the map for good. Breathless, like Truffaut's masterpiece, is a mysteriously beautiful film. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Michel Poiccard, alias Laszlo Kovacs, a french criminal running from the police. He meets with his lover, Patricia Franchini, played by Jean Seberg, in Paris, where she works for a newspaper. The film focuses on the dynamics of their relationship, or rather, their lack of a relationship. One of the most famous lines in the film explains it best: "When we talked, I talked about me, you talked about you, when we should have talked about each other." Considering that this is Michel saying this to Patricia adds so much more to the revelation. Michel is a small, somewhat odd-looking fellow who despises fear and loves sex and movies. In one scene, Michel stands in front of a poster of Humphrey Bogart, from The Harder They Fall. This is just one example of the methods Godard uses of foreshadowing Michel's fate. Patricia is an intellectual, interested in art, music, and literature. She is the more mature one of the two, contemplating the deeper meanings of life and love, while Michel is only concerned about sex and money. Belmondo and Seberg have an interesting chemistry together, very much like Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). The dialog is brilliantly witty and Martial Solal's moody, jazzy theme is somewhat reminiscent of a Thelonious Monk recording. The jump-cuts brought a new technique to the screen, but I can't say that they are done particularly well here. Granted, Godard, practically hacked away at his film with a pair of scissors to shorten the length of the film, thus happening upon what would become a new technique. Overall, Breathless is an enjoyable romantic crime drama, with the style of a film noir, and a twist at the end that leaves its audience Breathless!

Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up is a rather complex murder mystery, of sorts. What appears to be a film about a shallow, self-centered fashion photographer turns out to be only the tip of the ice-berg, as the story shifts into more of a social commentary/character study. Set in the "swinging" 1960's England, Blow-Up follows the story of Thomas, a fashion photographer who, between photo shoots, stumbles upon what may or may not be a murder in a public park. After closing observing his photographs, he realizes the possibility that he may have accidentally captured a killing on film. Sound interesting? Well, here's where the real twist comes in. Antonioni chooses to focus not on the possible murder, but on the character who observes it. As we watch Thomas' personal life, we see that he is alone in his own little distant fantasy world, where only he and his needs are of any concern. Thomas, played by David Hemmings, is so pompous and unlikable that it is very difficult to have any real feelings for his character, other than disgust. He treats women as props in his compositions, play things in his lust life, and may very well be almost completely devoid of emotion. Hemmings' performance is so flat that I can only imagine that that was the point, to show his distance from the world around him. In fact, all of the characters in this movie are played without emotion. We see meaningless sex (exhibited in awkward, childishly playful sex scenes), a complacent audience at a Yardbirds concert, pointless conversations, and an overall sense that in the director's eyes, all of his characters are dead. I don't mean dead in the literal sense, but dead to themselves, their emotions, senses, and to the world around them. Interesting photography comes into play here as well, as interesting compositions are used to create an odd, other-worldly atmosphere that makes you feel like you're in an entirely unfamiliar place. The best moment in the film, and probably, the most famous is the seen in which Thomas begins to realize what his pictures may actually contain. As the camera is used to reveal what Thomas sees, using montage and zooming affects, we share in Thomas' frightful discovery. A masterful scene, it is almost worth watching Blow-Up just for this moment. There is much here left open to interpretation. Blow-Up is an "art film" (as much as I hate that term), and should be viewed with that being understood. If you are looking for a murder mystery, look else where. If you are interested in something more, particularly something to contemplate, something to read into, Blow-Up is as good a choice as any. An interesting movie, but certainly not for everyone.

From the famous opening shot panning from a doomed car carrying a ticking bomb, Orson Welles begins building the suspense. Welles also uses this opening seen to introduce practically every character in the film so you immediately have a feel for the shady world you're about to enter. Aside from lending his directorial genius to Touch of Evil, Mr. Welles also contributes his performance as the grotesquely obese, crooked Police Captain Hank Quinlan, one of the great screen villains of all time! His prejudice is as complete as his corruption as he abuses his power as a police officer to enforce justice as he sees fit. Quinlan's method of operations comes into question when the honey-mooning Mike and Susan Vargas (Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh, respectively) find themselves at the scene of an explosion. Vargas, an up-and-coming Mexican narcotics officer (yes, Heston plays a Mexican, but the film is very good despite this question of casting) is waiting to testify in a case against a Mexican narcotics ring. Vargas, begins to uncover the truth about Quinlan's investigations, and the two battle for position in this brilliant film noir. Vargas is played with Charlton Heston's signature pride and dignity, as he attempts to bring Quinlan's reign of terror to an end. Susan Vargas is trapped in the middle of the conflict between the two detectives. Susan Vargas is portrayed by the lovely Janet Leigh, who is every bit as beautiful as ever in this film. She isn't given many lines, but she delivers what lines she does have with passion and energy. Akim Tamiroff plays Joe Grandi, this film's representation of Mexico's underworld. There are also some interesting cameos in this film, including Marlene Dietrich as "Tana," Zsa Zsa Gabor as a strip club owner, Mercedes McCambridge as a member of a gang, and Welles' long-time collaborator, Joseph Cotten as the coroner. This film contains enough gritty atmosphere, suspense, plot twists, and brilliant cinematography to keep you coming back over and over again for any number of reasons. It is a stunning example of everything a film noir should be; dark and mysterious, every shot tainted with a Touch of Evil!