Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Breathless Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 21, 2020

Jim McBride's "Breathless" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Sight. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new interview with star Valérie Kaprisky and new program with critic Mark Kermode. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Your shoes were red, my suit was blue. You left me in Vegas, but I'll always love you".

I love this film. I think that it absolutely gets the sense of humor and attitude of Jean-Luc Goddard’s classic film but then does a lot of new things to build its own unique identity. I have never thought of it as a shameless copycat.

Jesse (Richard Gere), a handsome hothead, steals a Porsche in Vegas and immediately heads down to LA to reunite with his French girlfriend, Monica (Valérie Kaprisky, La Femme Publique). But when a cop pulls him over in the desert, he accidentally kills him and instantly becomes a high-profile fugitive. In LA, Jesse breaks into Monica’s apartment and begins waiting for her to come back to him.

The reunion does not happen as Jesse had imagined it would -- because Monica is in the midst of her finals and has decided to impress a dishonest professor who has promised to help her get a job but only because he could sleep with her -- so he has to work extra hard to rekindle their romantic relationship. When eventually Jesse melts Monica’s heart again, he tells her that he is going to pick up a big payment some guy is holding for him and then take her down to sunny Mejico where they will live happily ever after. But a bored bum recognizes Jesse, tips the LA police and they screw up his perfect plan.

Seen strictly as a collage of perfectly logical events Jim McBride’s film does not make a whole lot of sense, but neither does Godard’s legendary film, and it should be perfectly clear why – they are both rebels. But they are not identical rebels. While Godard’s film does very particular things to redefine the role his camera is supposed to play while he tells the story of Michel and Patricia, McBride’s film acts like an LA punk that has unexpectedly fallen in love. Also, instead of challenging or redefining conventional cinematic roles and rules, McBride’s film begins paying homage to American cinema’s glorious past. Needless to say, the end result, which is impossible to describe as a remake of Godard’s film, is quite strange but remarkably poetic and attractive.

The two genres that give the film its unique identity are neo-noir and romance, with the former having a much stronger presence. However, McBride lets the film flourish like a lush pulp dream that eventually becomes so big and intense that it has to self-destruct to appear legit. This is precisely the reason why the action in it is so fluid and at times even surrealistic, because the more intense the dream gets, the less coherent the narrative becomes. Before the end, Jesse and Monica are simply going with the flow.

The film’s punk poetry and noirish romance won’t be everyone’s cup of tea -- and they haven’t been -- but those that get McBride’s vision would have an amazing time with it. Gere looks legitimately detached from the real world and completely sells the impulsive decisions of his jinxed lover. Kaprisky is sweet, innocent, and incredibly naïve, exactly the type of girl that could fall for him.

Richard H. Kline lenses the film as if it is a big surrealist painting, with LA enthusiastically offering all the colorful resources to make it look legit. It is beautiful to watch. A very chic soundtrack mixes oldies but goldies, electronic tunes, and other goodies.

*In the United Kingdom, Breathless has previously appeared on the home video market with a small cut. This recent release is sourced from the same MGM master that Shout Factory worked with to produce the North American release of the film, which is fully uncut.

Breathless Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Breathless arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Sight.

The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by MGM. If you are wondering if this is the 'exact' same master the folks at Shout Factory worked with to produce the North American release of the film in 2015, the answer is yes. I have both releases in my library and can confirm that this is indeed the case.

As we have come to expect from the overwhelming majority of older masters that emerge from MGM's vaults, there are no traces of problematic digital corrections, which means that the film has a pleasing organic appearance. On the other hand, though not big the master does have shortcomings and they appear in familiar areas. For example, the darker footage reveals mild crush that either flattens or collapses small nuances. At times grain can appear a bit loose as well, which means that density levels are not optimal. The primary colors are stable, but as is the case with many older masters the overall grading job suppresses some native nuances and introduces slightly elevated highlights. Still, even on a very large screen, the visuals remain stable and reveal plenty of pleasing organic qualities. If upscaled to 4K, the master often looks even surprisingly strong. A few dirt spots and tiny scratches remain, but there are no large damage marks, cuts, warped or torn frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Breathless Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English: LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

As far as I am concerned, the lossless track handles the film's original soundtrack very well. It has very nice depth, impressive clarity, and convincing balance. The high-frequencies are free of age-related anomalies as well. Can a fresh remix offer any meaningful improvements? I don't know. Right now I am not convinced that such meaningful improvements can be made.

Breathless Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Still Breathless - in this new video interview, actress Valérie Kaprisky remembers how she was chosen the play the character of Monica and what it was like land in Hollywood and work with her star partner, Richard Gere. There are also some very interesting comments about the shooting of the lovemaking footage and the film's sense of humor. The interview was conducted exclusively for Second Sight. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Mark Kermode on Breathless - in this new program, critic Mark Kermode discusses Breathless and its style. The program was produced exclusively for Second Sight. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

Breathless Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jim McBride's Breathless is an old favorite of mine, and I wanted to put up a review of this European release because it has a very nice exclusive interview with Valérie Kaprisky. It is sourced from the same old but good MGM master the folks at Shout Factory used to produce the North American release of the film, so the technical presentation is the same on both releases. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.