Breathless is a 1983 American drama film starring Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky. It is a remake of the 1960 French film À bout de souffle (known as Breathless in English) and was released in France under the title A Bout de Souffle Made in USA. The original film is about an American girl and a French criminal in Paris. The remake is about a French girl and an American criminal in Los Angeles.
The film was directed by Jim McBride and written by McBride and L. M. Kit Carson.
Plot
Jesse Lujack (Richard Gere) is a drifter in Las Vegas, obsessed with Marvel Silver Surfer comic books, the rock and roll music of Jerry Lee Lewis and Monica Poiccard (Valérie Kaprisky), a UCLA architecture undergraduate whom he knows only from a weekend fling in Vegas. As the film opens, Jesse steals a car, intending to drive to Los Angeles. As he speeds down the highway and looks through the owner's possessions, he discovers an automatic handgun in the vehicle's glovebox. Seeing his reckless driving, a policeman gives chase and Jesse is forced off the road and becomes stuck. When the policeman orders him to step away from the car, Jesse impulsively grabs the gun and shoots the officer. Fleeing to Los Angeles, Jesse finds his picture splashed all over the newspaper and TV news as the "cop killer."
On the run, he moves in with Monica. She is captivated by this reckless American and resumes her affair with him. However, she is a star student with big plans and Jesse is jealous of the powerful, successful men in her life.
After Jesse's photograph appears in the newspaper, he is recognized on the street right after dropping Monica off at an architecture-school outing downtown. The police find her and question her on the street. She seems increasingly ambivalent about Jesse, repelled by his instability but drawn to his sense of risk and danger; she does not turn him in. When the police start following her right before Jesse comes back to pick her up, she impulsively accepts his offer to flee to Mexico together.
On the way to Mexico, Monica finds that her picture is on the front page of the national newspaper alongside Jesse's. Realizing the impossibility of her romantic fantasy, she phones the police, but then returns to tell him she did so and plead with him. The police corner them on the street, and he sings Jerry Lee Lewis' "Breathless" to her before grabbing a gun from the ground at his feet as she runs towards him. The film ends in a freeze-frame of Jesse turning to face the police with the gun.
Cast
Soundtrack
There is no official soundtrack released. Along with the incidental music for the movie, provided by Jack Nitzsche, these are the songs that are featured in the film:
- Bad Boy - Mink DeVille
- High School Confidential - Jerry Lee Lewis
- Breathless - Jerry Lee Lewis
- Final Sunset - Brian Eno
- Wonderful World - Sam Cooke
- Opening - Philip Glass
- Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
- Wind on Wind - Brian Eno
- Wind on Water - Brian Eno
- Jack the Ripper - Link Wray
- 365 is my Number / The Message - King Sunny Ade
- Celtic Soul Brothers - Dexy's Midnight Runners
- Message of Love - The Pretenders
- Caca de Vaca - Joe "King" Carrasco
- Breathless - X
Reception
The film grossed $19,910,002 in the United States.[1] It received poor reviews; most critics questioned the wisdom of casting Valerie Kaprisky, a real-life, French UCLA student who had had very limited acting experience. Many movie reviewers felt that Kaprisky seemed unaware of how to play her scenes and frequently seemed to look at Richard Gere as if to say, "Please help me with this. I don't know how to act."
The film has gained a minor cult status. American director Quentin Tarantino cited it as one his favorite movies.[2] The Silver Surfer poster in Freddy Newandyke's apartment seen in Reservoir Dogs is an homage to Jesse's Silver Surfer-obsession.[3]
See also
References
External links
.jpg)
