The Newspaper and the Novel in À bout de souffle

Abstract

À bout de souffle, Jean-Luc Godard's first feature-length film, embodies many important ideas and themes that would continue to fascinate him throughout his filmmaking career. Print culture, for one, forms a prominent theme in the film. Specifically, Godard suggests how the printed word and various print media can help shape people's identities. The film's two main characters, though sometime lovers, have markedly different relationships with the printed word. For Michel, the newspaper forms part of his personal urban armour. It not only serves as a personal emblem, it also offers a code of behaviour. Patricia, alternatively, takes a Faulkner novels for her personal emblem, and she uses the medium of printed fictional discourse both to interpret and to insulate herself from the world.