‘a Bout de Souffle’ Is Caught in a Hesitation Between Two Contradictory States: Playfulness and Death’. Discuss This Statement, Basing Your Answer on Detailed Reference to the Film.

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‘A bout de souffle’ is caught in a hesitation between two contradictory states: playfulness and death’. Discuss this statement, basing your answer on detailed reference to the film. A Bout de Souffle is Godard’s first feature film and is considered to be one of the initial and most influential movies of the ‘Nouvelle Vague’. This is a term first used by French journalist and politician Francois Giroud (1957) that originally described changes within post World War II in France and French society. Nowadays, it refers to the activity of a group of innovative French filmmakers who rejected the classical notions of filmmaking and instead used cinema as an art form; exploring aspects of society, such as death and playfulness, which incite audiences to think. From the opening of the film one can observe how the themes of death and mortality, paralleled with playfulness and impersonation are closely intertwined; Godard does not separate them. At the beginning of the movie, Michel the protagonist, is seen driving down a French country road breaking traditional rules of cinema and film noir by looking directly into the camera and addressing the audience, thus he is breaking the fourth wall. While singing about his love for Patricia he finds a gun in the stolen car he is driving. He starts playing around with the weapon, re-enacting a shooting, comparable to a young child playing. Furthermore, his opening monologue appears comical to the audience, he is portrayed as neither very dangerous nor as very serious. However, moments later he shoots a policeman with that same gun, seemingly without any regret yet with precise expertise and skill. Interestingly, Godard portrays his characters throughout the whole film as playing an act, performing; true identities are hidden, masks are put on ‘Je voudrais savoir ce qu’il y a derrière ton visage’, [A Bout De Souffle, 1960]

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