Breathless (Jim McBride, 1983)
One of my favourite ever recurring put-downs, is the use of the 'Allo, 'Allo theme being played whenever a pompous contestant serves up a gallic platter on gastronomic gameshow Come Dine With Me. It's equally relevant here whenever Jean-Luc Godard is brought up in any kind of film discussion. I find Godard boring and utterly pretentious. His films are not for me. The only take aways I got were Anna Karina was mighty tasty back then, and a talking computer with throat cancer will have me reaching for the remote. That's it. Nothing more. Opted to revisit Jim McBride's remake of Breathless since it's a personal go to pick whenever superior remakes find their way in any movie discussion.
Generally find the changes made over the original work a lot better for me; namely the leads' origins and the location are vice versa to Godard's film. Don't know about you, but eighties America looks way more appealing to me than sixties era France. Our remake's couple also happen to be far more stimulating than the other two dossers. I find Valérie Kaprisky's character, Monica far more endearing compared to Jean Seberg's Debbie Downer beatnik; also helps that she's smoking hot. Richard Gere's rock 'n' roll outlaw Jesse is what ultimately makes the movie such a joy to watch. How he can pull off wearing Rodney Dangerfield's tablecloth checkered trousers and still look cool doing it, defies all belief. It's also a remarkable achievment playing such a larger than life character, who might possibly be on the spectrum, infinitely less annoying than Jean-Paul Belmondo's wannabe American gangster from the original. Also, it helps matters that Richard Gere doesn't resemble a smoking chimp when taking puffs from a cigarette, either.
One of my favourite scenes between the two love birds is Jesse's explanation of the tragic plight of The Silver Surfer to Monica. It's one of the most intimate scenes between the couple and foreshadows events that occur later on. Jesse identifies with Mavel's Herald of Galactus because he sees himself as equally misunderstood. An example of which is displayed in a newstand scene early on in the film.
McBride's film makes excellent use of music, which really compliments Jesse's erratic persona. No real surprise that he would eventually direct the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic a few years later, since his music features so prominently. The biggest musical highlight for me however, is the incredible use of Link Wray & The Wraymen's Jack The Ripper incorporated to perfection in a car theft scene.
This film deserves way more love, in my humble opinion. Glad that a respected critic like Mark Kermode was brave enough to put his neck on the chopping block back in the day and claim it was better than Godard's original. Only people who still feel outraged today by this statement are so far up Godard's arse that it puts Richard Gere's gerbil to shame. McBride's film is the superior version and will always be.
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"My heart goes 'round and 'round My love comes a-tumblin' down You leave me Ahhhhh, breathless-ah" |
The Link Wray scene alone bodies Godard's entire filmography.
ReplyDeleteTarantino's two greatest achievements: Reservoir Dogs and putting me onto this via a mid 90s interview in Empire.
Not sure when I first discovered Breathless, but I think it might have been via Moviedrome. There was a season dedicated to rebellious youth with Love Is A Battlefield as the theme intro. Could have been during then.
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