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The great Asian dust

covers the past

and shrouds the future.

Well, now we know.

All of civilization is mortal.

Even film!

Especially this film.

But there are free drinks at the party.

You thrilled me in Bonjour Tristesse.

What a haunting performance.

Don't tell me,

you're a director.

Yes, well, I mean...

Your film is a load of shit.

Wait, don't ruin it for me.

I want to read your review when it comes out.

La Passe du Diable is not so much far from good,

as it is close to being bad.

You're my favorite critic, you know.

So remember this:

the best way to criticize a film is to make one.

Here we go.

Beau-Beau.

I’m ready to make a film.

I hired you to write the Pêcheur d'Islande script,

and you can't finish it.

Because I'm not going to direct it.

I don't know what the story is.

- It's an adaptation. - Exactly.

I'm ready to direct. Now.

Mr. de Beauregard, your film is a wonder.

The landscapes are spectacular.

Splendid movie. Even better than Ramuntcho.

See you later.

How come no one ever stands for me?

Thank your lucky starlets we don't.

We respect you too much for that.

The one in the middle is Truffaut.

And of course, Chabrol.

The one with sunglasses is Jean-Luc.

Jean-Luc?

Godard.

He's the real genius.

At least, that's what he'll tell you.

Cannes is not ready for your brilliance, François.

I tell you, your film is going to mesmerize them.

They'll see the true face of modern French cinema.

Why say that? He just cursed my film!

Stop with the superstitions.

Don't worry, they'll hate it.

Year's worst film.

Never be released.

- Bound to be a flop. - It's no Citizen Kane.

Not by a long shot.

It'd be a miracle for those Neanderthals to like your film.

Your wife.

Rossellini was best man at their wedding.

Written in the stars.

Pardon me,

Claude Chabrol, right?

Sorry to intrude.

I just wanted to say I loved Le Beau Serge.

Thank you. I am flattered.

I admire you a lot.

When I told my parents

I had to make movies,

it was like saying "I want to be a composer"

to someone who'd never heard music.

It's unknown territory for them. But I have to direct.

It's past time, Suzanne.

There's no such thing. When it's time, it's time.

I was supposed to make my first film by 25.

"Missed the Wave" would be a nice epitaph.

You did direct at 25.

A short.

That you directed.

Those don't count. Short films are anti-cinema.

Face facts:

I'm the last one from Cahiers to direct.

Rivette, yes. Rohmer, yes.

Chabrol, two times, yes.

Truffaut, yes.

Rohmer even wrote a novel. Truffaut is a year younger than me.

But Godard, no!

How much longer until you work up the courage?

It's put-up-or-shut-up time, the best moment.

The 400 Blows will be a film signed Frankness.

Rapidity. Art.

Novelty. Cinematograph.

Originality. Impertinence.

Seriousness. Tragedy.

Ferocity. Ubu Roi.

Fantasy.

Affection. Universality.

Tenderness.

So why aren't we at Cannes for the premiere?

It's absurd. Everyone's at Cannes. Everyone.

I'm not.

Me neither.

But me,

what the hell am I doing here?

Eh, le Grand Momo?

Go if you want to go.

I really do love François' movie.

Me too.

Me three. Me four!

I would suffer 400 blows

to see the premiere at Cannes.

Then go,

just leave us alone.

I'm going.

Congratulations, François. Remember:

art is not a pastime but a priesthood.

"A 28-year-old director:

François Truffaut."

"A 14-year-old star: Jean-Pierre Léaud."

"A triumph at Cannes:

The 400 Blows."

Like Chabrol said last night,

not bad for a school dropout, runaway,

and army deserter.

I talked to Braunberger about your script, Odile.

He said it was 250 pages.

He told me it was unfilmable.

What's unfilmable?

Anything and everything is filmable.

He must have meant un-produce-able.

Prenatal then?

Maybe call it A Woman is a Woman and make it part musical?

Which part?

Not nearly half.

Our best bet is the Truffaut outline,

the American-girl-loving cop killer.

The true crime guy?

Michel Portail?

He's just a petty thief.

You and Truffaut did it together. Perfect.

I'd like to show you what I have of Prenatal.

You want a chance or not?

Let Igance Morgenstern do Prenatal.

I'll only let you direct if you shoot Truffaut's story.

I was secretly hoping that would be the one you favored.

We can make it for a paltry sum. I promise.

However paltry, I don't even have that.

But with Truffaut and Chabrol's names...

Claude too?

He'll be our Technical Director. Or Artistic Supervisor.

Whatever satisfies the union.

Truffaut, Chabrol

and me.

If they want New Wave,

we'll deliver the whole wave.

Precisely! That's the spirit.

Everyone wants the New Wave.

With subsidies, plus Pignères,

and I've lined up Gérard Beytout,

it will still be less

than a third of the budget for an average film.

More than enough.

But please, don't ever say average again.

Never again.

We at Cahiers believe films shouldn't cost much.

I've always liked that about Cahiers.

It's the way to creative freedom.

That, I like less.

Look,

this is one of the notebooks where I've put

a decade of making movies in my head.

Now's the time to transform ideas

into clear images.

All you need for a movie is a girl and a gun.

I'm counting on that.

The instantaneous and unexpected are excluded in a formal narrative.

It's time to explore that.

Yet a formal narrative is what an audience enjoys.

The paying audience, that is.

How often can it choose between lyricism and narrative,

this paying audience?

Why am I getting involved with a cinephile?

I'm either insane or a genius.

We'll never get Jean Seberg.

It doesn't cost anything to try.

Lucien?

- You hate that name? - No, but why change it?

You're right.

Michel it was, Michel it shall remain.

But instead of Michel Portail, Michel Poiccard.

Poiccard? Why not.

- Well? - Good.

Not great?

It's an outline, how great can it be?

I applaud these ideas. It's coming along.

I should go make that film in Panama. At least I know it well.

Jean-Luc's infamous lost years.

That too will be an interesting movie.

Maybe next time.

- It's Liliane David. - What a surprise.

This is where you two write?

For years.

Says here: "First draft, December '56."

"We're going to talk about very nasty things." Stendhal.

Can't say I'm surprised.

Jean-Luc, you have a part for me?

Definitely not.

Film your feelings. Make a great film. My name's on it.

- But it’s my movie. - Precisely.

Make your own mistake.

You need to work on your footwork.

You're lucky you wear glasses.

So, your character,

Michel,

will either die,

or get the girl.

I can do both.

You'll shoot it like Charlotte et son Jules?

- But this time you dub your own voice. - Why?

You did such a great job in my absence.

I did the best I could.

You're done with military service in Algeria?

Yes.

So you'll be able to dub yourself this time.

If I do the picture.

It's not another short, is it?

Roberto Rossellini, you're the father of New Wave

and we feel like your adopted children.

Cahiers du Cinéma is your home.

Welcome, Roberto.

Thank you, my friends.

Circle of cinemaniacs.

Insurgents all.

I'm always trying to create a movement.

But I've yet to succeed because I understand that,

to create a movement, you must crystallize yourself

into a position.

To crystallize yourself is to castrate yourself.

Cinema is a moral affair.

There is no technique for grasping reality.

Only a moral position to do so.

The camera's a ballpoint pen, an imbecile,

it's worth nothing if you have nothing to say.

The best way of filming is the simplest.

Real art

avoids artistic effects like the plague.

True freedom is logical

and does not care about rules and habits.

Filming should only be done in a state of urgency and necessity.

Don't regard cinema as something mystical.

I'll be watching.

- To urgency and necessity. - Thank you, Jacques.

Journey to Italy shook me to my core.

Thank you for your speech.

At last!

My dream came true. I'm making my first film.

Beauregard greenlighted it.

For fuck's sake!

First day of shooting: end of dream.

Anybody can make movies.

It's just another means of expression.

Forget about live sound, color, big screen.

Disrespect cinema's traditional forms.

Where should I drop you?

Turn left. Remember, shoot quickly.

Interrupt shooting when inspiration flags.

It's a one-way street.

Then the next left.

Use notes instead of a script.

Find cheap technical solutions to logistical problems.

Here, it's fine.

Thank you, Roberto.

Thank you for the ride, Jean-Luc.

Do you have any money you could lend me?

It'll be the biggest mistake of your life.

The biggest mistake of my life?

Are you positive?

You promise?

I'm okay with this being my worst fuck-up.

Let's just hope it's never released. It'll ruin your career.

Then line up another film before I'm done with this one.

I know Godard's your friend,

but this is career suicide.

You're wrong. He's not that good a friend.

I can tell.

The contract they sent won't pay for your vacation on the Riviera.

A side trip to Monaco, one spin of the wheel,

will pay for it.

I'll ask you one more time:

I can get you a part in Julien Duvivier's film.

You'll work less, make more.

And be in a film people will see.

And be bored to death.

You're wearing me out.

Don't be mad at me.

It will be fine.

The only way not to be late,

is to always be early.

I said I'd make you the youngest First Assistant Director in France.

Thank you.

Here's the story outline.

Plenty for me to start scheduling.

When should we start scouting?

I already have my locations.

- This is the list. - Great.

And here's a list of cars.

All the ones I want for the shoot.

The big American car is stolen by Michel at the beginning.

You'll find one in Marseilles?

Of course.

That's all?

So, Jean-Luc,

in this scenario, there are 58 scenes.

Give or take ten.

Of course, it could all change.

All but the money.

Which means our days.

We have 20 days to shoot,

no matter how many scenes there are.

It's more than enough. Beyond adequate.

Don't let anyone see any of that.

Sir, please.

Melville said I could visit.

What's your name?

- Jean-Luc Godard. - I'm sorry, no press on set.

Melville invited me.

And I'm not press.

I'm a director now.

- I didn't think you'd come. - Really?

Add another length of track.

I just want to soak it in.

I have so many questions as day one gets closer.

But of course. Naturally.

A filmmaker should be constantly open and "traumatizable."

Their sense of observation and psychology must be sharp.

And you have to use Martial for the music.

Solal is sublime. I'll make sure you two meet.

Roland!

Let's swap out the Cadillac. Use the Buick.

I can introduce you to some car thieves.

Specialists. The best of the best.

This one.

Make your storytelling easy.

Lose the sub-plots.

- Even the one including you? - Of course not.

Find the lyricism in your narrative.

Feel free to ignore what I've said. That's what advice is for.

If you'll excuse me...

When you're on set and everyone's looking at you,

that will be your own personal hell.

You two, on the other side,

you, come with me.

Jean Seberg has just arrived,

she is getting out of her car.

Are you settling in here?

What do you expect from Paris?

Money, fast cars,

diamonds!

No, seriously,

a quiet, creative life

with my husband

and my friends.

Thank you.

Do you consider yourself a movie star

or an actress?

I think that...

I'm living proof that all the publicity in the world

will not make you a movie star

if you are not also an actress.

- What is your name again? - Godard.

G-O-D-A-R-D.

I should be on the list.

Jean Seberg might star in my film.

François Moreuil?

Raymond, he's with me.

Jean-Luc Godard. Glad you could make it.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

Didn't expect to have room in my life for another François.

Jean's excited to meet you.

Jean Seberg has seen my work?

You've made a film before?

I feel so close to the New Wave.

Truffaut wrote the script, Chabrol is an advisor.

I think it would be great for her.

What does she think?

Otto Preminger is the world's most charming dinner guest,

and the world's most sadistic director.

That's not true.

He's only okay as a dinner guest.

I'm not Preminger.

I won't do more than two takes.

They'll let you do that?

The more you repeat, the more mechanical things get,

the more the film loses life.

I want to maintain the independence of the artist,

like a painter who leaves his canvas to get a drink

if he feels like it.

To seek inspiration.

That sounds interesting.

Very different from what

Herr Otto taught me.

It's not so different.

Breathless will be a continuation of your role in Bonjour Tristesse.

How?

Imagine Preminger's last shot,

dissolve, then the title, "Three Years Later."

All you have to be is yourself.

I want you to keep the gestures you make away from set.

The way you hold your cigarette,

or comb your hair.

You've never seen me comb my hair.

Yet...

everyone would love to.

The saint.

And a sinner in Bonjour Tristesse.

In this you'll be both. Sinner and saint.

Sounds quite tempting.

If the big bad wolves will let me.

Which wolves are those?

Preminger sold Jean's contract to Columbia Pictures.

What contract?

Don't worry. I'll make sure Columbia sees it our way.

We'll offer them $15,000 or half the worldwide profits.

- They'll take the cash. - $15,000!

She's worth it.

This is the fantastic cameraman I told you about.

I am Raoul Coutard.

I don't like Beau-Beau imposing me instead of Latouche.

That's not how I get work.

I want to know if I'm the right man for this.

Have you ever used the Cameflex Eclair?

During the war, yes.

But it's noisy. And...

No sync sound, I know.

But it weighs so little, it allows you to do anything,

even carry it in hand.

When a shoot is over-planned,

over-prepared,

it's just a practical application of what's already imagined.

I want to go in each day

not knowing what I am going to shoot.

I want to search for it.

Like reporting I've done.

What about filming at night without lights?

I like Ilford.

Who doesn't?

It's lowlight stills film, not movie stock.

It's only sold in small canisters.

What's keeping us from splicing eight or nine of them together?

Would that work?

Yeah. If splices go through a projector, they should go through a camera.

Let's try it.

And for ratios?

The norm is 'scope. 1:37 would be a bit arbitrary.

That's why I like it.

Listen, Coutard.

I want a cameraman that goes with me.

When I ask, he delivers.

How can I know

that you'll be willing to get on board with this kind of guerilla shooting,

with no sound stage and no lighting?

Listen, Godard,

I had no money growing up,

that's why I joined the army.

I learned photography there as a simple soldier.

I got all my images in split seconds,

on the fly, without lighting,

on stages of a far different sort.

He's here. And he can't wait to meet you.

Come on, baby, please.

I didn't fight to get you out of that fucking contract

so you could back out now.

It's your second time working with Jean-Luc Godard?

Absolutely.

Hello!

Nice to meet you.

Cheese? Bread? Sandwich? Salad?

Wine? Beer? Coca-Cola?

Yes. Sure. All of it, please.

I just finished boxing.

Be careful... I'll take care of it.

This way.

- You have a beautiful house. - Thank you.

And the garden looks lovely.

Let's see...

Jean-Luc would hate that we're meeting.

Probably the last thing he wants.

I told him.

Why?

What did he say?

I asked him if he'd like to join us. He laughed.

He said that you'd talk about him anyway, so the sooner, the better.

So let's begin!

I first met him in the Latin Quarter.

He put me off with his sunglasses, the way he talked.

A few weeks later,

poof,

he materializes at the Brasserie Lipp,

and asks if I'd shoot a short in his hotel room.

I thought he was hitting on me.

When I told my wife, she said, don't be ridiculous.

That shoot went great.

Then he sent me a letter when I was in the army in Algeria,

asking if he could dub me.

He wrapped it up by saying: "The day I make my first feature,

it will be with you."

Voilà.

He stayed true to his word. Nowadays, that's something.

That's something. It's true.

But he's only edited animal documentaries, travelogues,

and directed an industrial film and two shorts.

I can't say why, because I'm not even sure myself,

but I trust him.

Does he even like actors?

A long as you don't perform.

I don't know.

This story sound so sordid and squalid.

- You think so? - Don't you?

He hasn't told me what it's about.

And you signed on?

You did, too.

It's not as if he gave you a script, right?

Truffaut's script?

No, he just said the story was all in the newspapers.

About a crook,

Michel Portail. Michel Poiccard now.

Either way, I guess that's me.

That's what the story's supposed to be about,

but knowing Godard, it'll be completely different.

I don't know if that sounds terrifying or exciting.

Both maybe?

Here's to our adventure.

Jean-Luc?

Yes.

Please meet our publicist, Richard Balducci.

Hello.

I plan to create some mystique.

I'll leak a story during production

that you once held up a garage at gunpoint.

I like it.

Not bad, eh?

A new outlaw in town.

Also, there will be an assistant on set

who's actually a reporter.

Marc!

Jean-Luc, Marc Pierret.

I'm a huge admirer of your work.

I've read all your reviews. I'll keep a diary of the shoot.

As long as you know we will put you to work.

We could use an assistant.

Perfect.

There. A great mugshot for our Poiccard.

His headshot in the Film Directory.

It's perfect.

I'll have it printed up in a copy of France-Soir?

Obviously.

Who am I to direct after seeing this masterpiece?

Bad time to go shoot.

Think of Rosellini. Be fast like him.

Be witty like Sacha Guitry,

musical like Orson Welles, simple like Marcel Pagnol.

Be wounded like Nicolas Ray,

effective like Hitchcock,

profound like Bergman,

and insolent like no one else.

Another crucial thing: good morale.

Confidence and courage is required every day to continue.

Not just to continue but to be audacious.

Twenty days is a lifetime.

Be determined to astonish.

Just don't fuck it up.

DAY 1

I hope our film will be beautifully simple.

Or simply beautiful.

Thanks for having faith in me.

Faith.

What would a producer do without it?

My prayers continue around the clock.

You cannot trifle with cinema.

Or it will trifle with you.

To direct

is to aim for intellectual and moral anarchy.

I don't want anything obscure like some of your reviews.

Just a story that makes sense,

a realistic, sexy slice of film noir.

Hello, everyone!

So...

The time is now.

Let's make this film.

Let's make it.

Come on, gentlemen, get closer.

We're standing too close.

Only on Day One can we be this close.

Wait, Raymond.

Take another one, stand there.

- Yes, sir! - And so a director is born.

Ready? Watch the birdie!

You have met Suzon, our script supervisor?

Nice to meet you.

You know you're not working today.

Yes, but...

Preminger always wanted me around.

On call around the clock. I like it.

Absolutely!

Nice to meet you.

Likewise. I'm Suzon, the script supervisor.

So obviously, I have nothing to do yet.

Come on! Let's make movie history.

Let's just make our day.

Time to enter the pantheon.

Everyone, our first set-up.

Wait, Pierre.

No words of wisdom before we begin?

Let's prove that "Genius is not a gift

but a way out invented in desperate cases."

Jean-Paul Sartre. How's that?

Bravo. Take a bow.

Okay. What's the hold up?

Raoul is holding the camera, we're ready.

Let's go.

You want to have a look.

You go inside, you want to talk to Patricia,

but you forgot her number.

And that damn machine ate your coin.

Roll camera, Raoul!

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Action!

Cut. It was good.

We have to go...

Come on, let's go.

- Rolling. - Go!

Walk up to the counter to order.

A beer.

Wait. Turn around...

count your money.

See what you can afford.

- How much is ham and eggs? - 180 francs.

Make it one.

Gotta get a paper. Be right back.

- Cut. - Cut.

We move to the close-up.

Cut.

It's cut.

Moving on?

No. That's all for today. I'm out of ideas.

We're wrapping?

Yes.

Should we rehearse for tomorrow?

No.

Do we have a script for tomorrow?

No. I want them to stay in character, not learn lines.

Which lines?

If they think about their dialogue, they will be prepared.

Yes.

You'd think about how you'd like to do it,

and not how I'd like you to do it.

This way,

you give more of yourself, in the moment.

Are you making up how to direct as you go along?

"In the moment"?

Until tomorrow, everyone.

- One glass of wine. - Make that two.

Three.

Same thing for me.

Roll camera, Raoul.

DAY 2

Listen carefully to what I say.

You walk this way and you take the stairs.

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Come on. Move out. Out!

Action.

Look in the paper, look for your mugshot.

It's not there?

Then clean your shoes.

They have to be shiny for Liliane.

Cut.

- You want to do it again? - No.

Let's go upstairs. Come on, hurry up!

It's this one.

Good morning.

You're early.

- No, we're n... - Not by much.

I just got up.

You look magnificent.

Don't brush your hair. And don't put on any makeup.

Leave that.

You, this,

everything looks perfect.

Rehearsing!

Let's clear the room for rehearsal, people.

I'll be back.

Raoul, what are we waiting for?

You know why Beau-Beau and Bénazéraf are here?

To see you take your bra off.

But I don't wear one!

Beau-Beau's protecting his future box office.

Bénazéraf is just a lech.

When he says that, you want me to undress?

Wait.

How about you pull your dress

over your head first?

Then undress underneath.

So the nudity is just suggested,

imagined. It's more powerful.

It would be like the shot in Bergman's Summer Interlude.

You know the one, Raoul?

I'm not sure.

Yes, the one where she puts on a bathing suit.

- You haven't seen it? - No, I was in Vietnam.

Jean-Paul will be here soon.

Raoul, are you ready?

I'm ready. I've been ready.

Suzon, was the cup there before?

No, it wasn't! Thanks, Pierre.

Stop!

Why destroy

the environment I'm trying to film?

It's not continuity.

Suzon,

say I'm trying to record the sounds of the forest.

And, to listen clearly to the sounds of nature,

I chop down every tree,

I kill every animal.

Would that be realistic?

No!

Reality is not continuity.

But Jean-Luc, we must match.

We must, we must...

Just don't touch anything!

Everyone, set up.

Raoul, frame it out?

Hey, checking all is going well.

Yes. When it's going. Right, Jean-Luc?

Hurry! You're okay?

Sit here.

Roll camera, Raoul.

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Can you lend me some money?

Can you lend me some money?

Will there be other scenes with Liliane David?

Liliane deserves more scenes.

Liliane deserves a whole film. All to herself.

You should do it together.

- What, already done? - Yes.

Good morning.

- You took a taxi. - Yes.

I was coming to visit.

Well, tomorrow you work.

Yes.

- So no taxi. - Why?

You're sending a car for me?

There is no car.

Walk to work. It's better for "Patricia".

And what does she do, "Patricia"?

Patricia.

And what does she do, "Patricia",

besides having to walk?

It's okay to not always be the goody-goody.

I think you'll like it.

I'm no goody-goody.

I might just walk out on you and your film.

See?

You're starting to get it.

See you tomorrow, walking.

Artistic creation...

DAY 3

...does not mean the painting one's soul in things,

but painting the soul of things.

Cinema is the expression of lofty sentiments.

So this is our script.

Could you maybe

write down some of your lofty sentiments?

Jean...

It's about a boy and a girl

who use the same words but with different meanings.

What is difficult and important

is to advance into unknown lands.

To be aware of the danger, to take the risks, to be afraid.

He'll either die or kill the girl.

Can we decide that right now?

We cannot.

We could, but you don't want to.

Disappointments are temporary.

Film is forever.

Whatever the ending, what matters is to have fun.

Shall we shoot?

He's right.

What is this thing?

- Look what I've found! - Brilliant!

Where did you get it?

The camera fits here.

With Raoul inside,

top it off with packages, he's hidden.

No one on the street will know we're shooting a film.

It's perfect.

The extras will be free.

And they'll be completely natural and realistic.

It's only a bargain if it works.

Raoul, you will fit in there?

Of course.

In Jean's contract, she has a make-up artist. Meet Phuong.

Good morning.

Thanks, but we don't need you.

There's no make-up in my movie.

- Is he joking? - I'll solve this.

But it's necessary!

No.

My wardrobe is from the dime store.

You could at least let me wear some make-up. Please.

Jean-Luc.

May Jean at least have a make-up person nearby,

if only for security when I have to be at work?

I can't always be here. Phuong reassures her.

It's really in her contract?

Yes, the 15,000-dollar one.

Okay.

Perfect.

The camera...

- Careful with your head. - Wait a second.

Let me get ready.

Careful.

Now, the packages.

Good for you?

Great.

Remember, you're selling papers,

so shout it out occasionally.

Roll camera.

Last chance to place your bets!

Go, Patricia!

Pure genius.

I walk in the street.

This guy films me with a camera hidden in a mail cart,

I say whatever goes through my head because this will all get dubbed.

I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing.

Never mind, kiddo.

We're in the same boat.

But if we row together, maybe we'll get somewhere.

This is utter madness. And it's only the beginning.

- Let me get one. - Of course.

Thank you.

I don't have any change.

Thank you.

To the crosswalk!

You are superb.

Take his hat.

Kiss her on the cheek.

No, she kisses me.

Kiss him on the cheek.

Raymond, enough. You're in the shot.

Give a kiss to Belmondo!

Run!

Great. Cut.

Legally, never.

Ethically, morally,

probably not.

Career-wise, well...

"Go, Patricia, go!"

"I must have a line for you to say."

Should we roll

or do we want to miss it?

Wait, Jean-Luc.

I faithfully timed it for weeks.

so I have a very good idea of when...

- Just give me enough warning. - Yes.

Okay.

Ready, Raoul?

Roll camera.

Rolling.

Cut!

Not bad, eh?

I wish every shot could be so easy.

Bravo.

DAY 4

Guess who?

Brigitte Bardot?

Natalie Wood?

Sugarpuss O'Shea?

New Wave!

Cahiers du Cinéma!

The film is both a circle

and a straight line.

Bravo, Patricia.

- Scene. - Sit down, please.

I have a line for you.

A key to the script perhaps?

Listen.

"Am I unhappy because I am not free,

or not free because I am unhappy?"

Careful, trick question.

Human beings

play with life every second

and stage their own executions, one way or another.

I'm familiar.

THE HARDER THEY FALL

While Coutard's getting ready, I'll tell you a story.

Michel Poiccard's doom and demise

come from Bogart

in High Sierra and The Big Sleep.

Think about Bogart in The Maltese Falcon.

Try to embody that.

The harder they fall...

To think I first noticed him in a piece of shit Allégret film.

Roll camera, Raoul.

Don't tell me you're rolling, Raoul?

Wink!

Moving on.

Balducci!

DAY 5

Cinematic glory awaits.

We need you at the front.

Why?

I have a part for you.

Me?

Yes.

You're going to be perfect.

You will be perfect too, Lila.

So...

We start with this scene. You'll have to learn some lines.

Let me get this straight.

Tolmatchoff was to play a gangster named Balducci.

He didn't show up. So our publicist, named Balducci,

is going to play the gangster,

but you've changed his name to Tolmatchoff.

Exactly

what the scenes needs.

Spontaneity!

Rissient!

What are we waiting for?

- We are ready. - No, two seconds.

We're ready in two seconds.

The guy you talk to

is named Antonio.

Sort it out with Balducci.

- What's his number again? - Élysée-99-84.

- Can I call from here? - Go ahead.

- Who is the girl you came to see? - A New Yorker...

- Is she pretty? - She's cute, I like her.

Hello? Élysée-99-84?

I'd like to speak to Antonio.

- See you later, kid. - Ciao, amigo.

Really?

Again?

You're late

and slow.

Cut.

Balducci, faster with the phone.

And you, Boulanger, Fabre.

When his foot hits here,

go!

Go again.

Better.

If they come in late, we can slow down.

No, we don't slow down. Film is a revolutionary art.

It is the sensation of movement.

If they never let you direct another film,

you can always be a world-class dolly grip.

DAY 6

"PATRICIA IS NOT IN THE SCENE."

Jean Luc,

you the only one here?

One is always alone.

On the set, as before the blank page.

To be alone means to ask questions.

To make films means to answer them.

Nothing could be more classically romantic.

I love the romance of early call times.

Duke Ellington once said:

"I don't need time, I need a deadline."

If you are honest and sincere

and backed into a corner,

the result will be honest and sincere.

You have beautiful handwriting.

Today's precise facts.

Thank you.

Cut.

What do you think?

I don't know.

It's good for me.

Let's go again!

Wheel.

Wheel.

Action!

Cut.

How was that?

Good for me.

What?

You want me to be satisfied?

So, going again?

No.

This is too obvious.

We go over there.

Rivette, lie on the ground.

We pick it up from there.

No stunt, we'll just hear the crash.

What do you mean?

The offscreen is more evocative.

It's costly, that stuntman.

Rolling.

Cut.

We're done.

Thank you, Jacques. You're a real friend.

That's it?

I don't get a close-up?

No, no close-up.

But immortality just the same.

Thank you.

DAY 7

And what would you say after that?

I have something to show you. Down in the metro.

Come on.

Jean-Luc...

What are we doing here?

Guess who's shooting there and wants to say hi?

Hope this is worth it.

- You know me. - Exactly.

Look who's here.

Over there, Jean-Luc.

- Where? - Right there.

Watch out!

Lay off the wine, pal!

I don't know that guy.

Monsieur Robert Bresson.

French cinema personified.

Jean-Luc,

are you missing anything?

A better ending to my film?

Meet Kassagi,

the world's best pickpocket.

- Trade you? - Don't, it's empty.

I'll take that!

They would only give me four days

with a crowd of extras.

I can make that work.

But it's been the same people every day.

I have stations, racetracks, metros.

Every public place is full of the same faces!

I'm trying hard to disguise that, but it's ridiculous.

Honestly, that sounds like a good problem to have.

One day, maybe.

Who knows?

So you work with Bresson all the time?

Yes.

How lucky.

DAY 8

Let's see what we're up against today.

Good luck deciphering

that spy code.

I'm sure he's changed his mind anyway.

Well, he didn't throw it away

because he wants to do it, right?

Pierre?

Yes?

That's a wrap for today.

We didn't even shoot.

Maybe he's quitting?

I don't think so.

DAY 9

I wonder what he wants to show us?

I don't know.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Another quote!

Why not?

If you want to say something, just say it.

It's not where I take things from, it's where I take them to.

Jean and I could split up that stack and read them to the camera.

- Good idea. - Thank you.

"Immature poets imitate,

mature poets steal."

T.S. Eliot.

A quote

about quotes.

I understand why I'm playing a thief.

Paul Gaugin said:

"In art, one is either a plagiarist

or a revolutionary."

You say:

"I'll be back in a second."

And you: "The French always say a second."

No kidding.

Roll camera, Raoul.

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Action.

I'll be back in a second.

The French always say a second when they mean five minutes.

Keep rolling.

Rolling.

Cut.

You want to do it again?

Only if you do. It's fine.

Then, let's go eat.

Jean-Luc, wait, do you mean...

We're done for the day. I'm hungry.

Filming isn't only suffering, there's happiness too.

You're so down. What's happening?

I thought I could make a film where anything goes, but I can't.

You know what Braunberger said before The 400 Blows?

An old Hollywood maxim.

"There's no place like home"?

That each film is made up of five different films.

The film you write, the film you cast,

the film you shoot, the film you edit,

the film you release.

So it's not too late for anything goes?

Not by a long shot.

Things change all the time.

Remember when you wanted to be a great novelist?

Dodged a bullet there.

When you were skipping anthropology classes,

you boasted you were writing 30 pages a day.

I wanted to publish a novel with Gallimard.

Astruc had done it, I wanted to do it too.

Was it really 30 pages a day?

They were no good.

It was too difficult, like mathematics.

I would write:

"The weather is nice. The train enters the station."

And then I'd sit there for hours, wondering

why I couldn't just as well write the opposite:

"Train enters the station, weather is nice."

Or maybe just, "It's raining."

Definitely not 30 pages a day.

With cinema, it's simpler.

Seeing movies delivers me from the terror of writing.

Seeing movies delivers me from the terror of a real job.

As a kid, seeing films delivered me from the terror of attending school.

I saw my first 200 films while playing hooky.

Now, seeing films delivers me from the terror of the real world.

But careful...

Seeing films should not deliver us

from the terror of making them.

Exactly.

I would love for you to act in the film.

And reshoot Belmondo's entire part?

No, idiot.

It would be perfect if you played the man who recognizes Poiccard

and reports him to the cops.

Really? I always saw you in that part.

Of course.

- Right? - It would be perfect.

Believe me, you'll be wonderful.

DAY 10

Hello?

- Raoul? - Yes.

We can't shoot today.

Call Rissient, have him notify the crew.

And call Beauregard at his office.

But not until 9:00 a.m.

I don't feel well. I must have had some bad pizza.

The invalid himself.

I'm really not feeling well.

Actually, I'm feeling quite mortal.

You can't call in sick!

In two weeks, we've had eight half days of work,

some only two hours long!

You only mention what's wrong.

I am the producer!

Money is not important to me.

Especially when it's mine.

What matters in a film is to control the money.

Money means time.

Time to be spent following one's rhythm and pleasure.

That's the genius of my system.

Your system is shit!

Your rhythm is not my pleasure.

But it's the right rhythm

for me and my film.

What's right could be shutting it down, cutting my losses.

I'll withhold wages if you keep working short days,

or if you cancel another shoot day.

Come on, Beau-Beau.

Come on.

Come on, fight.

Stop!

I'm trying to seize reality at random, Beauregard.

Trust me, you'll be glad I did.

Seize it on a full-time basis!

That's the reality of a shoot!

Get out!

Everyone?

DAY 11

Beau-Beau wants me to read this.

"Shooting can't be interrupted without the producer's approval."

"The producer trusts both director and crew,

but this trust has been betrayed."

"In the first two weeks, the schedule has not been respected."

There was a schedule?

"This cannot continue."

"For the last time, we ask the director and crew to work honestly,

as on a normal production."

As if this were a normal production.

No, thank God.

"And not put off until tomorrow what might be done today."

That's it.

He's pumped up, Beau-Beau.

So, what do we do?

I don't know.

That's all just noise.

It doesn't affect us.

Let's not lose heart.

Let's continue our search for the instantaneous

and the unexpected

as only we can.

Not the best time for this, in direct sunlight.

I find it quite extraordinary.

Let's force the film stock to give its maximum.

Let's make it do what it's not made for.

It, too, can suffer

by being exploited beyond its possibilities.

Why us and not it?

I like this idea.

The film stock can be breathless too.

Patricia.

Cut.

No!

Only essential gestures.

I fumble to find them.

You already found them. Courage.

What are you shooting?

A documentary

about Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg acting out a fiction.

What is it?

Nothing.

Roll camera, Raoul.

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Action.

DAY 12

The magazine...

Leave the magazine.

On the right.

Again.

So this is how they do it in America.

Take your book.

"Do you know William Faulkner?"

Do you know William Faulkner?

"No. Who's that? Some guy you slept with?"

No. Who's that?

Some guy you slept with?

No, silly.

Thank you, Sam Fuller.

Thank you for Forty Guns.

And thank you for this shot.

Plagiarist.

Not plagiarism. Homage.

As Faulkner's style came out of his inability to write lyric poetry,

my directional style is born...

Out of an inability to write a script?

Touché.

She wore a different striped sweater before.

Well, she changed her clothes.

The eyeline is wrong.

You keep crossing the line.

When editing, they'll be looking the same way.

Suzon, I know.

I understand. And I don't care.

Following the rules won't get me where I wanna go.

A little game. Roll camera, Raoul.

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Joy.

Tranquility.

Surprise.

Confusion.

Sadness.

Disgust.

Fear.

Horror.

Despair.

Joy.

Cut.

Not funny to you?

It's fun.

To get across the room,

you have to crawl over the bed.

Exactly.

I think he deliberately chose this hotel

because it has the smallest rooms.

Absolutely.

He stayed here on his first trip to Paris.

This place means something to him.

I'm not sure what.

Say that

as you're going into the bathroom.

You stay on the bed.

Then you follow her, and pass in front of the window.

- Good? - Yes.

Roll camera, Raoul.

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Action.

Come on, don't be mad at me.

Cut.

"Dear Pierre Braunberger,

don't regret not producing Breathless."

"If Beauregard makes some money with it,

he deserves it,

if he loses money,

he deserves that too."

"Seberg is panicked

and regrets making the movie."

"We are now shooting day by day,

I write the scenes

while having breakfast at the Dupont Montparnasse."

"When watching the dailies, the whole team, including the DP,

find the photography disgusting."

"I find it quite extraordinary."

DAY 13

Bonjour Tristesse is a good adaptation, no?

Yes, it works.

But you should never adapt a book to film.

You should adapt the movie to the book.

Any book?

Yes, any book.

Even the Bible?

If I were ever to film the life of Christ...

I'd film the scenes that are left out of the Bible.

And the script would be

quotes by Renoir?

And Rossellini.

Their quotes are the holy scripture.

Amen.

Now do Bogie,

and say your favorite Bogart lines.

- I can't think of any. - Come on.

Stop. You guys are killing me.

Wait, I have it.

How about that?

I'm not especially handsome,

but I'm a good boxer.

I'm not especially handsome,

but I'm a good boxer.

Cut.

Raoul,

do you think this will cut together?

Good thing the camera really loves these two.

Please try that one last time.

"Between grief and nothingness,

I choose grief."

"What would you choose?"

Show me your toes.

It's very important, women's toes, don't laugh...

What would you choose?

Grief is idiotic.

I choose nothingness.

Jean, I can't find the line you said.

Have you invented it?

Who knows?

Keep reading.

End of day.

It really smells like a man on the run.

Give me that. I'll wash it.

No, leave it.

Don't worry,

it will remain crumpled.

So I guess I'll go home naked?

Wear my robe.

Making this film is so un-Hollywood,

I've become completely unselfconscious.

I wouldn't say completely.

Okay.

But it feels almost like a home movie.

And you're one of the freest actors I've ever worked with.

One of?

Who else is freer?

There's no one freer.

How's it going?

Phuong.

Hello.

Jean-Luc.

Thank you, good-bye, see you tomorrow.

Good-bye.

DAY 14

So I could hold on one of you

even when the other's talking.

I could flip a coin to choose whose side I stay on.

I'll call it in the air.

I can do it now, or in the editing room.

We should flip now.

You're right.

- Tails. - No need.

You know you're gonna win.

DAY 15

What's going on here?

It's 11:00 in the morning,

what are you waiting for?

Art and crime both require leisure time to flourish.

And I have a terrible toothache.

Then off we go to the dentist.

I know just where to take you.

And I wouldn't call this specialist painless.

I should tell you:

I'm just in it for the laughing gas.

It will be fun.

My agent keeps saying we'll never work again.

Just another peculiar interlude

in a life full of peculiar interludes.

Your husband just got here.

As I said, another peculiar interlude.

Hello.

DAY 16

Listen, Jean-Luc,

even if you don't want to show me the pages, give them to Rissient.

Or do you have no new pages after these days off?

Three things:

I have nothing written down.

I wouldn't show it to you even if I did.

And I don't take days off.

You look very handsome.

But...

your character would wear powder.

Jean-Luc, how will you hold the newspaper?

I told François he would be perfect but he wouldn't do it.

We could have gotten Chabrol.

- Rissient! - Yes.

Where is my pipe?

I'll get it right away.

Rolling.

France-Soir.

France-Soir, please.

Hello, sir. 25 Francs.

Thank you.

Cut.

You want another one?

Jean? Jean?

Let's go again.

Film is a revolutionary art, you know.

Only the essential gestures.

Life is short and art is long.

We'll do it a few more times

until you forget

what you imagined all by yourself.

Roll camera, Raoul.

I'm serious. Careful with the car.

It was difficult to bring it from the U.S.

The paint job is unique, can't find it here.

Don't worry, if we scratch it,

we'll paint it pink.

I love your jokes.

Come on. Hit the road!

Thank you so much.

DAY 17

Thank you for being here.

Come, I need to talk to you.

So you're okay with me running that story?

- The one about the garage? - Yes.

Yes.

And you can also work in

that I stole it from my father's clinic.

Okay. Fantastic. Even better.

I actually stole from my grandmother, repeatedly.

She had a flat in Paris, and a library

filled with first edition books.

I'd sell them for money.

But it's better to say I stole from my father's clinic.

It's more heartless to steal from an upstanding doctor.

Jean-Luc?

Yes?

- François. - Yes?

I'd like you play a press photographer.

With pleasure.

Go see Rissient, he knows about it.

Ask the film gods.

Besides, Melville will be better.

I want to direct too.

It's a big ambition of mine.

Probably the biggest.

Probably?

It must run in the family. William Wyler is a cousin.

First cousin, or distant?

I'm adapting a novella by Françoise Sagan.

For now, I prefer being a go-between.

Okay, we're ready!

The actors!

Jean-Pierre! Jean!

Come on.

So we play this like a real interview?

Precisely. Answer to whoever you like.

I can talk about women or anything I want.

Only if you make it as funny and brilliant as you really are.

And Patricia,

I'll give you your questions.

So he says whatever he wants, but I have lines fed to me?

Haven't you got it yet?

No.

You're playing me.

DAY 18

Before they shoot,

one of the cops says:

"Quick, in the spinal column."

Oh no.

You cannot put that in.

"Quick, in the spinal column."

Please, not even one take that way.

I don't even think he should die.

The same street where Kiki,

Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp,

and Francis Picabia hung out.

History gets richer.

I love this location.

Look at the dialogue ideas I came up with.

You did not work too hard.

Any blood?

Not blood. Red.

- An open wound? - No. Just red.

Almost over, almost over.

Roll camera, Raoul!

Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Action!

Cut!

- You're too slow. - Cut.

Get out of the car faster.

You look like you don't wanna kill him.

Rolling.

Quick, in the spinal column.

Missed.

Not even close.

I live to see another day.

Poiccard will never die.

Again, without the line. For Truffaut.

Set up.

It's your death, Poiccard.

Ready?

It's time to die.

It will be

on this crosswalk.

Destiny and death are cinema's pet themes.

Roll camera, Raoul.

Get slowly closer.

Don't worry! It's for a movie.

Look at me, don't look at the camera.

Everything's fine.

Watch out for jolts.

Everything's fine.

Keep rolling, keep rolling.

Stop.

Cut.

Are you okay, Jean-Paul?

Bravo.

Beautiful death.

Don't slow down,

run!

Until you're breathless!

It's fine.

A little faster.

Run!

Raoul, roll camera.

- Ready? - Rolling.

Action.

What happened?

Oh, It's a movie.

Pierre, have these people move back a little.

No, Pierre.

Let's not chase them off.

They would be here, the crowd is good.

Alright, Jean-Luc.

Cut!

Wait a second.

A chair, excuse me.

Alright.

Let's make the saddest shot in the history of cinema.

Right up there with Bergman

who does a superb shot in Monika.

Rolling.

Each thought should recall the ruin of a smile.

Patricia...

Take his wallet.

No.

You're the thief, not me.

I know that's what you would do

but she wouldn't.

But Franchini,

you could use what's inside,

you don't want the cops to get it.

No. I'm not doing that.

Come on. Sleight of hand.

Like you slip him a note.

It doesn't seem right.

Purity is not of this world.

Cut.

We control our thoughts,

which mean nothing.

Not our emotions, which mean everything.

Well...

If you won't steal his wallet,

give me something.

Give me a Bogie.

At least that.

What is "disgusting"?

Cut.

Okay for you?

That's a picture wrap on Jean.

We did it, kid.

You saw what she just did? Amazing.

Do you think he was leading her there all along?

Are you kidding?

You think he had a plan?

"Not our emotions which mean everything."

"Come on, Patricia."

"At least that."

It's over.

On to the next.

Let No Man Write My Epitaph starts next week.

Think about that. Hollywood.

America.

DAY 19

Hans Lucas,

what shall we start with?

Maybe a close-up of this?

- Very good. - An extreme close-up.

As the first image of the film.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I like it.

I love it!

After all,

we have to start somewhere.

And now, to make a killing,

so to speak.

Artists and criminals are alike,

they both want to surprise.

This police officer can't know what hit him.

Trust me.

He won't.

Once you are hit by the bullet, let gravity do its work.

After, you can...

This way...

Good? Okay.

Grab your shoulders, extend your arms.

Good.

That's it.

Watch the birdie.

Cinema is?

Disgusting.

DAY 20

Jean-Luc, you want to have a look?

No.

Last set-up, I should know better.

- Roll camera, Raoul. - Rolling, Jean-Luc.

Run!

- Do we have it? - Yes.

- All good. - Then cut.

- Cut. - We are done anyway.

Leonardo Da Vinci said it best:

"Art is never finished,

only abandoned."

And that's a wrap!

Keep running!

See you back in Paris!

Wrong way!

Paris is that way!

Forget Paris, I'm going to Rome.

- Thank you, Coutard. - No problem, Godard.

Cecile! Lila!

Hope you are ready.

Because I love editing.

It's where we hold the past,

the present, and the future in our hands.

Time to snip and clip whatever lacks oomph.

Which scene you want to cut?

We're not cutting any scene.

We're cutting within the scene.

We could cut Van Doude.

No. Think again.

Close-ups of Seberg are a quarter of the footage.

But they are essential.

The Melville scene is long. Do we need it?

No more or less than any other scene.

Each scene stays. But only its strong moments.

My strong moments.

We're going to take each sequence

and cut what can be cut to create a new rhythm.

- In each scene? - Yes.

That's what will bring it to life.

Pull up the scene with Poiccard in the Oldsmobile.

Only keep the moments when he overtakes cars,

and put them end to end.

Like Poiccard,

the film is impatient to move forward.

It'll be choppy,

abrupt.

It'll be amazing.

It'll be disconnected like it's jumping everywhere.

Absolutely.

Let's make everything jump.

If audiences enjoyed the jump cuts of Méliès,

Eisenstein, and Jean Rouch, they will enjoy ours.

Or maybe not.

Audiences will accept our new truth.

Lila!

Let's jump.

I hear there's a lot of brilliant stuff.

But contractually, it can't last longer than an hour and a half.

Ninety minutes.

That's what an hour and a half is?

Don't worry, we're on our way to 90 minutes.

We lived through a difficult, trying time together.

We must have something to show for it.

I don't know if I should cajole you or manipulate you,

threaten you or speak straight.

I could not conceive of making a film with a producer

who wouldn't also be a friend.

It's really disgusting.

What did he say?

He said: "You are really disgusting."

What is "disgusting"?

There's never been anything like it.

Congratulations, Jean-Luc.

- The world isn't ready for... - Careful, Beau-Beau.

...for your piece of shit film.

So,

is it a piece of shit or a load of shit?

The year's worst film.

- Will never be released. - I slept through it.

Finally, someone besides me spreading those rumors.

All of civilization is mortal.

- It's no Citizen Kane. - Not by a long shot.

Definitely the year's worst film.

They're going to hate it.

Breathless is considered one of the most influential films ever made.

Jean-Paul Belmondo did work again.

After Breathless, he became an international movie star,

appearing in nearly a hundred films.

Jean Seberg divorced Moreuil shortly after this.

She acted in 35 films before dying at the age of 40.

Her obituary called her "the star of Breathless."

Jean-Luc Godard's personal cinematic revolution

continued for more than 60 years.

He was never not making feature films, cinematic essays...

and shorts.

Truffaut, Chabrol, Rivette, Rohmer, Schiffman,

and the rest of the French New Wave

revolutionized cinema.

In a three-year period, 162 French filmmakers

would make their feature debut.