Breathless - J. Miley

To me, the most obvious “attack” on traditional western film design is the way in which Breathless is edited. Traditional film design states that cuts and transitions make sense in terms of time and space. We understand that when a shot follows another in the film that it will also follow it chronologically (i.e. we are further along in the story with each shot). Also, the transitions between these shots is normally smooth. Goddard however, uses a vast amount of jump cuts. From one shot to another, we do not know how much time passed or how much space has been crossed, if any. For example, in the beginning of the film when Michel is driving before he kills the cop, we do not know how much distance he travels how much time passes. This is because while he is driving, the camera often sits in the same spot while the scenery changes without an indication of the time or distance that passes between each cut.

This style of editing can both condense time and expand time, similarly to a montage. While the former is mentions above, the latter occurs throughout the film too and has a much more important purpose. Over the course of the film, we see several instances where the shot is centered on Michel, but instead of being one continuous shot, there are many jump cuts. With each jump cut, Michel is in a different position. This gives his character a very erratic appearance and gives us an interesting look inside his psyche. The man is a sociopath. He kills a police officer and feels no remorse. Goddard gives us a look inside of a mind that could do that with his style of editing. Just like the shots, Michel is broken, unsteady. His thoughts are not seamless but instead jump from one to another at random and we must endure this tumultuous ride, only experiencing freedom when Michel does; in his death.