Breathless - Jen

What really set this film apart from the others to me was how much more realistic it felt than the other movies we've seen in class. There were really several contributors to this, like Patricia's decision to turn Michel in (which, by the way, sucked) or the casual dialogue used throughout the film. But more than anything, the character of Michel was what made this film so totally unique and very realistic, at least to me.

I know a lot of people did not like Michel, but I was very much drawn to him. He was a bit of a womanizer, and hot-tempered (hey, let me just shoot this cop for like no reason), and he was immature and silly. On the other hand, he was adorable and loving at times. The point is that he wasn't just a good guy, or a bad guy, he was like a normal person who did bad things but also did good things.

The scene where he is in Patricia's (hotel?) room illustrates this to me the most clearly. The way he hides under the blankets/sheets a couple of times, the way he tells Patricia not to pull a long face and then demonstrate what he means, the way he pulls up her skirt again...all of these things felt much more realistic to me than Peter Warne's flirtation with Ellie Andrews or Jeff and Lisa working to catch a murderer. It felt more like a documentary or like I was actually there, just standing right beyond the view of the audience, and I really appreciated that style.