Comments on "A Bout de Souffle"

Comments on "A Bout de Souffle"

"Stereotypes are general beliefs we use to categorize people, objects, and events; but these beliefs are overstatements that shouldn't be taken literally." -Encyclopedia of Philosophy

"Our stereotyped world is not necessarily the world we should like it to be. It is simply the kind of world we expect it to be. If events correspond there is a sense of familiarity, and we feel that we are moving with the movement of events." -Walter Lippman

"They [stereotypes] are an ordered, more or less consistent picture of the world, to which our habits, our tastes, our capacities, our comforts and our hopes have adjusted themselves. They may not be a complete picture of the world, but they are a picture of a possible world to which we are adapted. In that world people and things have their well-known places, and do certain expected things. We feel at home there. We fit in. We are members. We know the way around. There we find the charm of the familiar, the normal, the dependable; its grooves and shapes are where we are accustomed to find them. And though we have abandoned much that might have tempted us before we creased ourselves into that mould, once we are firmly in, it fits as snugly as an old shoe." -Walter Lippman

Why do people retreat into stereotypes? There are many words we use to Name the Reason: an illness or an external situation or a relationship problem or culture or upbringing or peer pressure or any of many more Names. It all boils down to Fear. Fear of changing what you have into what you want. Fear of being who you know yourself to be. Fear of coming or going, doing or not doing, being right or wrong, being accepted or rejected, being popular or lonely. Fear of what others think. Fear comes in many Names and in many reasons, but Fear it Is.

Fear Itself is not a Bad thing. Fear keeps us safe by alerting us to danger. Fear keeps us on edge and focuses our attention. Fear enables us to be Brave, for without Fear we are simply Foolish. Life is full of danger. Death can come at any moment -- unexpected, unseen and unheard. Fear keeps us alive. The problem comes when we give in to Fear and retreat, when we act Cowardly.

We always have Choices. Life is a neverending series of innumerable Choices. Death is the end of Choice. When we let Fear herd us into accepting and living the Choices of Others, then we fall into a Living Death -- otherwise known as a Stereotype.

The main character of "A Bout de Souffle" ("Breathless"), Michel, lived the life of a Stereotype. He lived a life that was a shallow interpretation of the film roles and the Hollywood image of Humphrey Bogart. This was obvious from the first few minutes of the film. He was afraid to be himself, and therefore relied on his knowledge of Humphrey Bogart's film attributes to make the Choices he was confronted with.

A word about the title. My poor French translates the title to: "A Struggle for Air." That translation makes sense to me, but the translation into "Breathless" is nonsensical. Neither does it mean anything in the film, nor does it add anything to the film.

We are given this formula of Fear, Choice and Stereotype when the main character relates why he killed the policeman. Michel tells Patricia he was afraid, so he shot the cop. He was afraid of the penalties associated with stealing a car and speeding. Faced with a choice of running, accepting or fighting -- he chose what many of Humphrey Bogart's gangster characters would do: fight. This was the worst choice he could make because it meant, undeniably, a much harsher future than either of the other options. Killing a cop is not something that just goes away. Though once Michel removed himself from the scene of the crime it was if he had left that life behind and began another life -- just as Bogart begins another movie-life with each film. Michel doesn't make the Choices an Authentic Person would make if they had murdered a policeman. Instead of fleeing the area, laying low and starting a new life, he stays in Paris and intensifies his stereotypical life. He knows he is doomed, yet he pretends there is a happy ending on its way. The film ends with Reality overtaking and overcoming Michel's illusion that he will skillfully outwit and escape the police, and his destruction. Michel is killed by the police who are hunting him. Killed as he lived, Other people making his decisions for him -- the Italian gangster who throws the gun to him even though Michel refused it, and the policeman who shot him though Michel had, now, no intention of fighting.

All through the film Michel pretends to be what he is not -- he pretends he can only stay at the Claridge (an expensive hotel) but he always is bumming a space to stay. He pretends he is rich and flamboyant through his choice of stolen cars and his wild claims of money and heritage, but he is always broke, begging/stealing and predictable. He pretends he is living life dangerously, but he is living life according to a script -- living dangerously is living Authentically, making Choices because of a strong sense of Self, living the Life of a Unique Person. But he never makes a Real Choice. Fear always herds him into the actions of a stereotypical American gangster.

Along the way there is another character struggling with Life, Fear, Choice and Stereotype: Patricia. She has not succumbed to Stereotype when we meet her. She is struggling to Be Patricia. She is struggling to break out of the stereotypes she is put into by those around her. She is a "New York Girl," and nothing more to everyone except her boss, who sees potential in her to be a journalist. There are two critical moments in the film for Patricia. The first is her interview of the VIP film director, an egotistical idiot who treats Patricia as a sex object. Patricia trys to assert herself, but in the end resorts to be exactly the stereotype the VIP overlays upon her. Her shy smile, batting eyelids and bowed head after being ignored and insulted are undeniable acts of submission.

The second crucial moment is when Michel responds to her horror of someone informing on him: "It's life. Informers inform. Burglars burgle. Murderers murder. Lovers love." We see her take that statement in and think about it. In the end she accepts this statement of what life Is, and decides she is a journalist -- and therefore must turn Michel in and, we are left to presume (because Godard isn't brave enough to give us two minutes of Patricia as the main character) she goes on to write about her interlude with a cop-killer for the newspaper. Undoubtedly, such a story would jumpstart her career, and no longer would she be ignored and insulted by the people she would be interviewing. She decides that the stereotype of being a journalist is easier than Being an Authentic Person -- is easier than Being Patricia. Patricia has tough Choices to make about Michel, a journalist has only one choice.

I found the movie itself unappealing, poorly written and poorly acted. Jean-Paul Belmondo as Michel was irritating, loutish and shallow. Jean Seberg as Patricia was believable, though not anywhere near ugly as her character's lines would have us believe. However, her character's treatment by Godard seriously lessens her impact on the film, and therefore her character is poorly integrated. The rest of the actors walk through their lines in cardboard cutout fashion.

Godard makes no attempt to portray Patricia as the primary character even though she is the Ultimate Message in the film. She is the Everyperson fighting for Authenticity, awash in the agonizing throes of Individuality, uncertain facing the capricious stereotypes of Society. Michel has already sealed his stereotypical Fate before the movie begins. Michel only acts out the inevitable without ever flinching from the necessary demise of his chosen stereotype. Belmondo's acting isn't very good at all, and only adds reinforcement to the obviously singular dimensionality of the stereotype. But Patricia struggles throughout the film to find her Self, to Be an individual, in a cowardly Society of faceless crowds. Seberg's acting transcends what Godard grudgingly allows her by adding a genuineness to every expression and movement absent from the dialogue. She loses the battle in the end, as do so many people, but her war lasts the entire movie. Michel's last words seal Patricia's Fate as he recognizes she has chosen her Stereotype at last. He is no longer attracted to her, and as he dies he rejects her and his own Choice. These last words are the judgment against succumbing to stereotype, and Patricia's copying of Michel's aping of Bogart's lip-rubbing seals the rotten deal. Here is the vibrant Message that Godard has tried to convey, but it comes too late and too ineffectual to save the film.

Ironically, Patricia's Choice to be an Individual was to be a Journalist, and the Choice she made that dooms her is to be a Stereotypical Journalist.

Unfortunately, we aren't exactly sure what those last words are because they can be, and are, interpreted different ways by different releases of the film. This only adds to the dilettantish nature of the film. Evidently nobody thought to read the script, or ask any of the people involved. This, perhaps more than anything, is the most damning indictment on our Society by this film, and it is totally unexpected and extraneous to the film itself. What is clear, however, is that Vital (the detective) misquotes Michel. This misquote is obviously Vital's own feelings about Patricia -- feelings he never hides throughout his dealings with her. This bit by Vital signifies Society's need for stereotypes in order to function. Society cannot survive a population of Individuals. Society perpetuates itself through a crowd of faceless stereotypes.

The last bit of dialogue:

MICHEL: That's really disgusting.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said, "You are really a bitch."
PATRICIA: What is "déguelasse" [bitch]?

or

MICHEL: You are really disgusting.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said, "You are really a bitch."
PATRICIA: What is "déguelasse" [bitch]?

or


MICHEL: You are really a disgusting thing.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said, "You are really a bitch."
PATRICIA: What is "déguelasse" [bitch]?

or

MICHEL: It's a real scumbag.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said, "You're a real scumbag".
PATRICIA: What's a scumbag?

or

MICHEL: Makes me want to puke.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said you make him want to puke.
PATRICIA: What's that mean, "puke"?

or

MICHEL: It makes me want to puke.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said you make him want to puke.
PATRICIA: What's that mean, "puke"?


Now, a couple thoughts on Godard's influence on this film. The travelogue shots of Paris scenery reinforce the Message that this film is about stereotypes. A French film released for French audiences would not have these long landmark shots shown so prominently. That they are obvious travel documentary-type footage reflects the American Stereotype Godard is reaching for in the characters of Michel and Patricia. These interludes might have been inspirational if they were not so blatant. However, I did find the lingering view of the Eiffel Tower a perfect metaphor for the philosophy of phallic dominance evidenced throughout the film. There is no subtlety here, only a hammering of a square peg into a round hole.

Godard's use of hand-held cameras and "Jump Cuts" could have been ingenious. However, they only serve to detract from the continuity of the film because they are done amateurishly. Granted, the Jump Cuts are a new technique introduced in this film, and only by accident (at best, at worst they were done spitefully -- again, like the last bit of dialogue, there is uncertainty and several versions about the reason they are there). These two techniques are important aspects of Godard's intention, but they could have been accomplished with more polish -- and they then, perhaps, could have saved this film.