Breathless/Two in the Wave

A fresh look at a movie renaissance

Comments (0) By D.L. Groover Thursday, Jul 29 2010

Jean-Luc Godard's first feature film, Breathless, with a screenplay by his friend Francois Truffaut (who had his movie premiere just a year earlier with the international smash The 400 Blows), virtually created the French New Wave. Godard changed the face of cinema with his handheld camerawork, jump cuts and antiheroic hero and heroine. As fresh today as when it premiered in 1960 (and sexy as hell), Breathlessstars Jean Seberg as an amorally appealing American in Marseilles, and the revelatory Jean-Paul Belmondo as a petty crook. No matter how much moviemaking he deconstructed, Godard, with Belmondo's face and incandescent screen presence, couldn’t help but create another indelible movie star.

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For years, Godard and Truffaut were best friends and collaborators Ñ both were film critics before they became directors - until politics and ideology separated them in 1968. Don't miss their intriguing true story in Emmanuel Laurent's documentary Two in the Wave, playing in counterpoint to Breathless. Breathless: 5 p.m. today; 7 p.m. Friday; 3 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Two in the Wave: 7 p.m. today; 8:45 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. Saturday; 6:45 p.m. Sunday. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. For information, call 713-639-7515 or visit www.mfah.org/films. $6 to $7.
Thu., July 29, 5 p.m.; Fri., July 30, 7 p.m.; Sat., July 31, 3 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 1, 5 p.m., 2010