When Jean-Luc Godard ripped into cinema with this distillation of French New Wave energy, he became the patron saint of art houses. Godard’s fame has perhaps since been eclipsed by that of Jean Seberg, whose fashion-icon status now practically trumps his film-nerd status. It makes you feel a little sad for Jean-Paul Belmondo, her loose, could–kick–James Dean’s–ass co-star, who single-handedly gave French men another shot at virility.
Breathless
Criterion Collection
$39.95
