Well, hello there, kind folks. If you’re visiting this blog of mine, I presume that you have a certain interest in the cinema. As for me, even since my early childhood, I have had a deep love of everything related to movies and television. As far as I can remember, I have been more at ease in front of a screen than in the yard, outside, playing. It is a great way to travel, though other people’s stories, without having to foot any kind of steep bill. Over the years, I feel that movie-watching has even fuelled my own creativity.

All that being said, I welcome you in my Cinephile’s Nest. I hope you enjoy it here, feel free to come back at any time. Here you will find reviews of current movies and older ones. TV shows also. Some classics that have remained some of my favourites, some that have disappointed me. I will use a very basic star (*) system to grade them from 1 to 5 (5 being sliced bread level). Remember, these are just my tastes. I will try to explain in each review what I liked about these particular movies, without giving spoilers.

Il y aura aussi des critiques en français pour les films francophones, car j'aime également le cinéma dans ma langue maternelle. Avant d'apprendre l'anglais, plus jeune, je louais des tonnes de films traduits en français, surtout ceux de Bud Spencer et Terrence Hill. Ma mère a eu le choc de sa vie lorsqu'un jour, dans la boîte d'un de ces films, Deep Throat avait malencontreusement inséré. Une expérience formatrice pour le jeune cinéphile que je suis.

Bienvenue à tous, amusez-vous bien.

I welcome you all here, enjoy yourself.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Breathless (1983)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Jim McBride
Cast: Richard Gere, Valérie Kaprisky
Running time: 97 minutes



This remake of the 1960 Jean-Luc Godard Nouvelle Vague classic titled À bout de souffle tells the story of Jesse Lujack, a difter in Vegas who steals a car but ends up accidently killing a cop while trying to get away from the scene of his crime. Now on the run, he shacks up with a French UCLA student, Monica, he met earlier. He tries to convince her to run away to Mexico with him as soon as he gets the money owed to him.

Remaking and adapting a foreign film is not a crime in itself. It has been done and it can be done well. With Breathless, though, Jim McBride and collaborators squeezed all of the charm out of À bout de souffle and did not leave much to be appreciated.

Richard Gere is no Belmondo. He tries so hard at making his character cool that it becomes laughable. As for Valérie Kaprisky, she was absolutely horrible. I must say that the script did not help much.

The only good thing about 1983’s Breathless is the soundtrack. There are many good tracks on here. As for the rest, I recommend that people stick to the original, even if you have to watch it with subtitles or dubbed in English.

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