User reviews

Back in 1983, the remake of Jean-Luc Godard's "A Bout de Soufflé" was savagely attacked by critics. It was understandable at the time. Today, I'll bet many of the critics probably feel the film is much better compared to today's bottom feeder cinema (many of which top the box office).

Richard Gere's Jesse LuJack does the rare feat of being both repulsive and likable. Early in the film, you despise the reckless, cocky, S.O.B. of a criminal that he is but as the film wears on you suddenly find his character extremely appealing. Once you warm up with him, you realize how much fun Gere is having playing LuJack. His traipsing in L.A. becomes very entertaining in a video game sort of way. Singing to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, disrupting his girlfriend's exam, and his role as The Fugitive makes the film so compelling and fun to watch. He embodies coolness while being hip; which can be hard to do.

As for Valerie Kapinsky, I have seen some of her soft-core films from Europe and she is tremendously sexy. She has sex appeal and looks delicious in virtually every scene. Her acting here gave her an undeserved rap. She's supposed to be playing a French exchange student. I think she did the best job possible by playing herself. I would take Kaprinsky over some American actress faking a French accent. There could have been other French actresses out there that could have taken the part but she fit in perfectly for the role IMO. She probably didn't object to the nudity required.

The film also delivers some steamy situations. Making love in front of a huge screen showing an old movie (I think Judy Garland was in it) while being on the lam in L.A. just sounds so dreamy. Makes me want to do the same with my girl; only I won't have an arrest warrant on my head LOL!

So yes, the movie isn't a classic and it isn't Casablanca but the film is much, much better than the turkey it received in 1983. It's definitely worth seeing.

Interestingly enough, Jim McBride would later direct a biopic of Jerry Lee Lewis in 1988 called "Great Balls Of Fire" so his interest in late 50's rockabilly was apparent here regarding the great soundtrack.

As I had never seen the French original, I don't have nothing to say about it, but the American version is too much underrated by the critics, l spent last night checking out this picture which I had good memories from the early 90's when I'd watched it on TV, indeed Breathless aged very well and holds up at the time, Richard Gere plays Jesse a wild guy car thief, living blithely as hadn't anything on the future, often reading a comic book of his fave hero Silver Surfer as pure escapism, Jerry had a misfortune to kill inadvertently a cop after committed a mistake on the road, Jerry had plans to your newest French girlfriend Monica (Valérie Kaprisky) at Mexico, henceforth your life turns upside down, whatever he does all things getting worst, although his adventure spirit he goes ahead in randomly, following his own survival instincts, plenty of nudes and sexy scenes notable by the splendorous Monica, also rocked by the Killer Jerry Lee Lewis's Breathless as highlights at fabulous soundtrack, Richard Gere illustrates that is a multilayer and versatile actor, also Art Metrano in a funny queer character with ice screen at mouth as owner of scrap yard and the recurrent stereotyped John P. Ryan as Lt. Parmental of the L.A. Police who enforces a chase without respite of Jesse, moreover the final sequence is really breathless!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1993 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7

"Breathless" is an unheralded '80s remake of Godard's revolutionary 1960 flick.

In this one, Richard Gere plays the Belmondo role as a dimwitted yet charismatic car-thief who accidentally (or not?) kills a policeman during a traffic stop and goes on the run.

He hooks up with a girl - Valerie Kaprisky playing a French girl in America, just as Jean Seberg played an American girl in France - and they go on the run together.

Nowadays, "Breathless" is remembered mostly, if it is remembered at all, for Kaprisky's nude scenes. Gere is hard to swallow in the lead role; he just seems like an obnoxious idiot. We don't get into his head at all.

Nor do we really understand Kaprisky's motivations. She seems too smart to do what she does, whereas Gere seems too stupid.

I got tired of watching my censored taped-from-TV version of this film, so I finally bought the DVD. I am one happy hombre. In addition to the superior video and audio quality, one gets several unobstructed views of the object of Gere's love/lust -- and that's no insignificant treat.

One reviewer aptly referred to this film as Gere doing his "early-80s cheeseball riff on the sexiest man alive." I concur. "Breathless" could be seen as an expansion of his minor role as Diane Keaton's dangerous pretty-boy in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" -- transposed from wintery Chicago to sultry L.A.

I won't analyze this film. It doesn't hold up under criticism, and certainly there is plenty to dislike, starting with the relentlessly sociopathic behavior of its protagonist. Rather, in the spirit of the film's love-almost-conquers-all theme, here's just a partial list of what I love about "Breathless":

1. Kaprisky in her see-through swimsuit. Rowrrrr! The rest of her wardrobe is pretty damn sexy, too. (The jury's still out on Gere's blue 'soot.')

2. The kiss at the diving board. It has to be one of the best in cinema history. Kaprisky is a goner after that.

3. Gere's line: "I think maybe I was rolling dice when I should have been rolling you." Cheesy, sure, but look at her face when he says it.

4. The shower scene, together. Kaprisky running hot and cold. "Jesse, you're crazy." ... "So what?" ... "It's OK. I like it."

5. Gere turning female heads wherever he goes, as he exudes his studly scent.

6. Los Angeles as The Place to Be. I lived and loved in L.A. during the early/mid-80s, and can vouch for the intoxication of being young and on the go in the City of Dreams. It's one big-ass place. McBride and veteran lensman Richard Kline do a superb job of capturing its heat, light (L.A. sunsets put a glow over the whole city), and diversity -- from the downtown hotels and office towers, to the industrial sections, to the Hollywood hills, to upscale West L.A., to the beach communities (where we see what must be every mural in L.A.).

7. The amazing ending. Gere taking his "all-or-nothing" motto to the wire. In what other movie will you see a dude dancing and singing to his woman while the cops have their guns drawn on him?

"Breathless" is Gere at his best. Maybe Kaprisky, too, for whatever that's worth. Don't think too hard about it. Just enjoy the ride.

A Bout De Soufflé is closely related to the portrait of a generation shaped by Beatnik and Existencialist philosophies. Kerouak and Salinger in USA, Sartres and Camus in France, were among the intellectuals who inspired this generation.

A generation whose "malaise" is embedded in Paris atmosphere. Paris which was the very center of occidental culture by that time.

The American version of this story, Breathless, directed by Jim McBride, missed the point because the portrait of a generation of the sixties in Paris, cannot be transplanted to a context of the eighties in California.

I started to watch this movie open-minded, without any expectations, not even knowing it scored a very modest 5.5 on IMDb.

The movie proved to be utter disappointment for me. I like Gere, and I think he gave a reasonable performance, but there was simply nothing to the story which could touch me, or motivate me to watch through. He steals cars, reads comic books (Silver Surfer), he is in love with an art student, and longs to go to Mexico. Even if Silver Surfer or the the main character's wish to reach Mexico have hidden meaning, the symbols are rather lame.

I have the impression the movie is built only on popularity Gere enjoyed in early eighties. His role in American Gigolo made him the sex symbol of the era, presumably rightly so, but you can not make a movie only from it.

Richard Gere in a cheesy remake of a '60s French nouvelle vague classic? Sounds like it should really suck, right?

Wrong. Turns out that Jim McBride's "Breathless" one of the best American films of the '80s. Electric performances, superb use of music, and direction with great zip and flair. The fact that this still gets so many negative reviews proves that, even now, most people simply don't get it. The main thing is Gere's performance - you'll either love his preening, irrepressible arrested adolescent, or find him grating. I think it's the performance of his career. This is one of Tarantino's favourite movies, and although it's not really anything like a QT movie, you can see why it appeals to him. I was all set to hate it, but by the end I loved it. Check it out, and decide for yourself.

Oh, and not even LA in the height of summer is anything like as hot as Valerie Kaprisky.

Seen this on our local THIS channel, which has been showing some really great lost movies that are no where to be found on DVD. Since it was a censored version I missed some of the nude and sex scenes, but since I never saw the original it was fine. I started watching it and for the sure the Tarantino stolen/borrowed shots, scenes, backgrounds were very noticeable to me. Valrie is def a stunner. I see a lot of people bashing her performance. But, really she is playing a French exchange student that I would assume is in her early 20's. So, with that in mind I think she played the part well. Gere did a really good job in this. I like this Gere much better than the older Gere in that he took chances, he didn't play "Richard Gere" back then. This and American Gigolo are really cool, take a chance roles, that he stayed away from later on in his career. Too bad. Anyway a nice movie on a free TV station I would never have seen otherwise.

Richard Gere is quite simply the whole show in Breathless. To this day, this remains his most flamboyant performance of them all. He's immoral, yet charming and by sheer enthusiasm you can't help but root for this tragic character. The story seems to be a mere excuse to showcase Gere's charisma and sex appeal and he carries this movie as far as it can go.

Although this is hardly groundbreaking stuff, director Jim McBride seems to be an ample filmmaker. The film is filled with nice location photography and some flashy angles here and there.

I also dug the music score, shame there's no soundtrack album available anywhere. I recommend this film to anyone. Probably seen it over 20 times and I never get tired of it. Granted, I am a Richard Gere fan, but I also think this movie is truly entertaining.

I remember when this film was first released. There was much hype since it was an American remake of a fairly renown French film from the 60s. At that point in Richard Gere's career he had portrayed several youthful virile characters (I guess you can say "studs" -- in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and "American Gigolo" and "An Officer and a Gentleman"). I think the critics and much of the public at the time saw this film as just another stud role of his. Maybe this is why the film was panned. I myself don't fondly remember it from the first time I saw it -- somehow it seemed empty and vacuous.

I've just now seen this again after many years and Gere's off and on channeling of Jerry Lee Lewis is not something I saw the first time. I agree with another commenter here that Gere actually plays this role of a small time devil-may-care hood to the hilt. He captures the James Dean & Marlon Brando rebel swagger, however minus their brooding or introspection. One endearing aspect of his character here is he's also something of a romantic and I think this is why the young French college student becomes enamored him.

I rated this film a "7" and I think it's worth watching. It is also fairly provocative sexually (hot) and this aspect is tastefully depicted.

After watching this I thought of the song from the late 1970s "Point of No Return," and Gere's character is heading down a very risky path. I don't think anyone affiliated with the making of this film was necessarily searching for a moral to the story -- I guess from the perspective of being older and seeing this now this is what was brought to mind.

This may actually be the most completely vapid film I have endured to date. Based on the famous French film of the same name, BREATHLESS offers the story of a wannabe rebel and petty criminal who accidentally kills a police officer--and promptly goes on the run with the aid of his unsuspecting girlfriend. But where the original constantly surprised, the remake is uninspired, insipid, and about as enjoyable as a root canal.

The big problem with the film is Richard Gere. To give him his due, Gere knocks himself out to inject some life into the predictable plot and mindless script, but there's no way around it: he's incredibly miscast, and his high-energy attempt to bring it off simply adds to the embarrassment. Ultimately, the best thing that can be said for him is that he looks good naked. Valerie Kaprisky operates at much the same level: she too looks good naked, and that's about all one can say for her one way or another.

That aside, the whole thing has the look and feel of a group of people trying desperately to do something "different" and "artistic" and failing miserably at every turn. The film looks glossy and expensive, but the production designs are never quite on target and the costuming is some of the worst I've ever seen; the cinematography is jumpy, but never to any actual point; and director Jim McBride either doesn't know what statement he is trying to make or simply doesn't have the skill with which to communicate it. At best, it is all pretentious; at worst, you won't be able to decide between a stiff drink, a pain-killer, or just simply gouging out your eyes so you won't have to watch any more. Life is too short as it is; don't waste your hours on this one.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Okay, so the idea is to achieve emptiness so that we may be actually informed by what it is we see. To train an eye for details that doesn't react or classify or evaluate but instead grasps effortlessly the totality of what a film means to us. In this process, naturally we have to discard our preconceptions and routine streams of thought; who made the film, is it art-house, does it belong in a list of masterpieces.

A bunch of those here; a remake of a well known French film, the presence of Richard Gere (usually signifying fluff), the very idea of a film that never made much sense to begin with. Who needs a Breathless remake, much less the Hollywood version? But we got it, so what about it? The Godard film was about young people coming to discover for the first time the struggle with important things, about love and meaning dealt with in the pretentious, silly, superficial ways of youth. What tied the struggle together was a boyhood fantasy about movies. We had a protagonist acting out an imaginary gangster part and the reality of the film arranged around him as a movie plot in which to act the part. It was about the safe distance provided by the fictional as conflated into the emotional distance between two people.

Now watch how the remake transcribes this. Richard Gere is the Michel Poiccard character but instead of Bogart he is a Clark Gable. A movie hunk 'exhuding studly scent' as another reviewer aptly puts it. Recklessly oblivious to anything but the present moment and what it has to offer, he is the very dream of movies. A doofus at first sight but who instinctively seems to have grasped the essence of life by the balls. As much a target of ridicule as admiration. We see him empathize with utmost seriousness with Silver Surfer comics! Something akin to a destiny for him.

But we're not inside him, we're siding with the French girl who's come to LA to study architecture. The girl who plans, thinks, wants the buildings she will create to last. The perfectly logical human being who (along with us) is swept away by the irresistible allure of an existence without bounds, centered in the 'now' and radiating outwards. Valerie Kapriskie is a perfect match here, an Ali McGraw to Steve McQueen; she's great because she can't act to hide what seems a genuine infatuation with Gere's adolescent antics (mixed with genuine frustration).

We travel with them through a fetish dream of LA. Cars are fire-engine red Thunderbirds, summer dresses and even telephones pink. I've been going this month through a phase of cinematic vacation in Los Angeles, and this one has the best sense of place of anything I've seen yet. The dark joint with the jukebox, the empty streets blowing with hot summer wind.

But it's more than a ride of pure, exhilarating movie pleasure, there's something to talk about here.

It's peppered throughout, but centered in a scene by a pool. The girl wants to know what is behind the man's face, what kind of nothingness. He blurts something about love, no doubt cribbed from some magazine. A little later an aging architect, who no doubt has been where she is and has come to understand the world, tells her that nothing that is built lasts.

And the best part, taken from the pages of a Silver Surfer comic. I won't go into details, but it says something about us, the sentient beings narrating our story, removed from our heart yet discovering it in every reflection. It makes for perfect Zen.

So we have this hip-swivelling, rock'n'roll Zorba the Greek, who is empty inside in the best sense possible, so that he is filled with everything. Like only a blank sheet of paper can be clearly written on.

And he's on the run for a fateful mistake of shooting a cop. How the scene is edited is important; we see a windshield shatter, then Gere looking with astonishment at the pistol in his hand. Elements crucially missing from the edit (the action itself) reveal the emotional state; how many mistakes can we look back on and be perplexed how we let them happen?

There's more to it. There's a marvellous love scene in a movie theater playing Gun Crazy (which the film is reversed from). The two lovers roll around as behind them loom huge footage of the fictional couple in Gun Crazy discussing what pertains to the two lovers.

And before the climax, we ride all the way up to a property overlooking the LA nightscape. Errol Flynn's as we find out, again movieland.

It is better than the Godard film, miles better. It's as much about the old tropes of sex and violence as that film, except it's filled with actual heart. It is about kitsch elevated into noble gesture, about reality dismantled into fiction and the opposite. Novice film buffs discovering a sense of importance with Tarkovsky and Malick will find little in this simple film to appreciate; but those who've done their rounds and are looking for specific things may be strangely fulfilled by this.

Richard gere is jesse, the thug. He met monica in las vegas, but now she's trying to get her degree. Jesse has killed someone, so he's heading to mexico. And wants monica to go with him. Every time he shows up, he has a different (stolen) car. Some fun scenery of LA from 1983. Hair styles, clothing. Also some fun, familiar faces.. bruce vilanch is the man with purse in the dark, seedy bar. James hong is the tall, asian grocer. He was the maitr'd in seinfeld's chinese restaurant. Paul is played by bill tepper; he was also doctor stan in bachelor party, with tom hanks! It's pretty good. A love story, kind of. Even monica knows she shouldn't get involved with jesse the bad boy, but she can't help herself. Lots of nudity, simulated sex, with suspicious minds playing in the background. Directed by jim mcbride, who also directed "the big easy". Apparently, the original ending was much more spelled out than what's shown in the 1983 remake. Check out the trivia for more details. Gere had just done "officer and gentleman" before this. It's pretty good.

Disappointing, superfluous remake of the Jean-Luc Godard classic reduces to the original's story into a fast-paced superficial crime story, all modern-looking and shiny colorful, but without any substance whatsoever (which may have been Jim McBride's intention, but still isn't anymore exciting).

Richard Gere acts like a total geek in this movie. stuck on jerry lee lewis music which blieves he is like him. a pretty boy car thief hoodlum wannabe. he acts more like a girl than the girl who hes attracted to... shaking and gyrating like hes Elvis or something. what a wimp!!! i didn't like the movie when it came out and i don't like the movie now that i have just watchd it again. the actress is worth watchn and does a great job. she makes the movie worth while. cop killer.. an accident that couldn't have happened to a better character. no recommendation here! like most of the other reviewers said, the ending was stupid too. only in the movies!!!

I love the character Gere portrayed so flawlessly - Jesse's sheer intensity is a joy to behold. I really enjoyed the music throughout the film also, and the way it captures the varying moods so well. Kaprisky does a good job with her character as well - the exotic Frenchwoman Monica, torn between her plans for her life and her moth-to-the-flame attraction to the exuberant, unstoppable Jesse. This film has just had a run on EPIX on demand and I must have seen it six or seven times - it's one of my all-time favorites: those few, special films that, although I can almost speak the dialogue in unison with the characters, are still the ones I reach for and watch again and again.

Director Jim McBride does manage to create a fairly amusing film based on the classic, highly regarded French film that inspired him to become a director in the first place - Jean-Luc Godards' "Breathless".

The story set up is basically the same, as Richard Gere, in one of his most electric film performances, plays Jesse Lujack, an arrogant, authority defying punk, who in his attempt to get to L.A. quickly from Las Vegas, steals a car and accidentally shoots a cop (who later dies). However, this film has more to do with his energetic pursuit of the love of his life, French student Monica Poiccard (Valerie Kaprisky), than anything else.

Incidentally, one can see how Geres' performance may affect ones' feelings about the film. It is an acquired taste, as is the character of Jesse, who's a big fan of Jerry Lee Lewis music and Silver Surfer comics. You also wish he'd shut the hell up about going to Mexico. But there's no denying the actors' conviction in playing this person. The stunning 19 year old Kaprisky remains a prime visual attraction, and both she and Gere do get nude for the film.

McBride does give the film a decent amount of flash, and populates the story (he co-wrote the screenplay with L.M. Kit Carson) with striking faces and striking characters. A rich cast includes such people as John P. Ryan, as a hard driving detective, film director and designer Eugene Lourie as an architect, playwright Miguel Pinero as Carlito, James Hong as a grocer, Waldemar Kalinowski, also a production designer (and occasional actor), and Art Metrano as a criminal lowlife. The city of L.A. becomes a character in its own right, with much of the film shot on location rather than on any sort of set.

The soundtrack is eclectic, with the expected usage of Jerry Lee tunes and a rocking end credits cover by X.

This won't be for everybody, and it does admittedly go on longer than it should. It's at its best when it focuses on Monica; Kaprisky is definitely a grounding force for the story. Kaprisky remains compulsively watchable throughout.

All in all, this is engaging in spurts, and it has enough style, sex appeal, and humour to make it a decent viewing experience.

Six out of 10.

Had no idea Richard Gere could act so stupid. It's really embarrassing, even if he wasn't way too old to act so immature and obnoxious. It would be too much even for a teen. Speaking of teens, the girlfriend is nineteen and he's in his 30's. Ew.

This is a very stupid movie with stupid nudity. Who shower's with the (shower) door wide open just so they can shake their wiener at the empty bathroom? Alone? It's like Gere and the director forgot there was a camera man there haha.

What was the point of this movie?

1 star for yet another cameo of Po's father, Ping, still looking exactly the same age he always does.

I have never seen a film with so many terrific songs used to such great effect. American critics stupidly trashed this movie when it first came out, saying it desecrated the memory of the French original. Several French critics disagreed and named this remake one of the top ten films of the year.

10/10

For one thing I must say I have not seen the original 1959 French movie this remake is based on, but in my opinion French writer Francois Truffaut and French director Jean-Luc Godard are both masters in the field of cinema who have been well-known and respected in France for decades... I was trying to find a sentence that could resume what I think of this remake, and it could be "the devil is in the details", as goes the saying... There's many flaws in this remake but the main problem in my opinion is that they tought they could take the original 1959 story who was set in the fifities in France and apply it directly to the 80s Los Angeles USA, but of course then the story doesn't work very well... The main character is a sociopath, in the remake he appear clean-cut and nice but he steal cars without any remorse, break the lock of the apartment of some girl he almost doesn't know and then she become attracted to him, doesn't have any permanent residence and basically totally let himself go and doesn't care about anything at all... In the original 1959 movie who was set in the fifties all this would make sense, because it was the era of James Dean, "Rebel Without a Cause", it was when we begun to see rebelling bad guys with leather jackets riding motorcycles becoming part of the folklore.. Those guys would be popular with girls who were attracted to such rebels... In the 1983 remake set 30 years later in 80s Los Angeles the mentalities would have changed, I don't think such a guy would be seen as that romantic by anybody and especially not a girl... In this remake the girl who's a clean-cut university student in design hesitate between Jesse the sociopath and another clean-guy respectable guy; Jesse drive his car recklessly through all the movie, steal almost 5 or 6 of them, he's ignoring red lights and almost causing an accident 20 times, but the girl is beginning to like him for that... again the the early 50s in France that would have been possible, but in 80s Los Angeles? One time Jesse is in the girl's apartment and the girl receive a call from the other guy, Jesse is so angry he throw the answering machine up the windows... 5 minutes later the girl is so steaming they have sex... Overall maybe I'm too picky and can't buy anything, but even if I managed to finish watching the whole movie I don't think this is a quality remake, they should have paid attention to the details, in the original 1959 movie the character is played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, who's roughly in the same range as Mel Gibson, he have the credibility to portray such a rebel, not Richard Gere the romantic... Badly miscast!

godard's "breathless" was a humorous satire of action movies and love stories (among many other things). the fact that "breathless" was remade with richard gere (!!) further proves how shallow and meanless most hollywood movies are. godard's "breathless" was never meant to be taken seriously and by doing so, this remake illustrates all the points godard was trying to make without even realizing it.

bottom line: this film should only be watched in conjunction with the original, and even then only for film education. on its own, this film is so bad, it doesn't even have CAMP value!!