On 8 December, the film will be introduced by Klaas de Zwaan. At Rialto VU.
À bout de souffle
Everything had to change in French cinema, and young rebel Jean-Luc Godard would show how it should be done with À bout de souffle. Together with kindred spirit François Truffaut, he wrote the screenplay based on a newspaper article, and needed only twenty days to make the film for next to nothing. The film sent shockwaves through French and international cinema, becoming a huge box office hit. Not only had Godard made his definitive breakthrough, but the nouvelle vague, the movement to which the film belongs, had also secured a permanent place in the spotlight. The days of “cinéma de papa” were over.
The young, impulsive criminal Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) steals a car in Marseille and wants to drive it to Paris. On the way, he is pursued by a motorcycle policeman, but Poiccard refuses to be arrested and shoots the policeman dead. Once in Paris, he seeks out journalism student Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg), for whom he harbours romantic feelings. He wants to flee to Italy with her, but she has her reservations.
Klaas de Zwaan is Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Art and Culture.
