This lack of perfection lent itself to more authenticity, and I particularly noticed that the lacquered "movie star" look was not in place during the film. The main male character, Michel, is not classically good looking, yet there is still a sense of sex appeal and fierce masculinity that he purveys. But out of all the films we have seen so far, this one has the least "leading lady" actress as the actual leading lady. Jean Seberg is definitely attractive, yet she has very minimal styling in the film. Her outfits are simplistic, with her not wearing a bra most of the time (as noted by Michel). She seems unpolished and realistic - not the heavily made up main female that graced every other film. She is a more believable sex symbol - relatable in the sense that she is not necessarily unattainable to most men like Grace Kelly's character in Rear Window.
The scenes were also cut in a sense that was sort of jarring - choppy like perhaps someone telling a story. The film was not meticulously edited and this also makes it seem more realistic. Real life is not smooth, and neither is this film. This way of doing things complements the story line in a way that smooth editing would not. Michel is a gritty sort of guy, and Patricia seems fated to be dragged along in the jerky way that she is. The shots mimic that, and thus the story seems a little more authentic, with the emotional response from the audience being more subjective to how the film makes them feel rather than tells them how to feel.
Overall, I enjoyed the film and I thought that the acting was excellent. I enjoyed the realistic nature of it, although I was not particularly fond of the ending.
Good stuff here. Indeed, rather than unattainable, Patricia seems remarkably accessible, which maybe gets a bit lost next to Michel's aggressive sexuality. Hard to imagine Grace Kelly's Lisa, as forward as she is (this also gets a bit lost), counting out how many men she's slept with, as Patrica does.
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