Angela Car
@angelacar7.bsky.social
Pouring opinions on fashion, film, fine wine and foreign policy.
Living and working on the unceded lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.
Living and working on the unceded lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.
This echoes the Wired piece on “No Lives Matter” (www.wired.com/story/no-liv...). In both cases, the violence is performative, self-referential, and detached from real ideology but treats extremist ideologies as a buffet of ideas.
The Violent Rise of ‘No Lives Matter’
“No Lives Matter” has emerged in recent months as a particularly violent splinter group within the extremist crime network known as Com and 764, and experts are at a loss for how to stop its spread.
www.wired.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
This echoes the Wired piece on “No Lives Matter” (www.wired.com/story/no-liv...). In both cases, the violence is performative, self-referential, and detached from real ideology but treats extremist ideologies as a buffet of ideas.
17) That’s why Breathless still matters.
It’s not just about what is filmed - it’s how.
The way it moves. The way it cuts. The way it demands your attention.
It’s rebellious. It’s unpredictable.
And it still feels like a breath of fresh air.
It’s not just about what is filmed - it’s how.
The way it moves. The way it cuts. The way it demands your attention.
It’s rebellious. It’s unpredictable.
And it still feels like a breath of fresh air.
May 2, 2025 at 2:59 AM
17) That’s why Breathless still matters.
It’s not just about what is filmed - it’s how.
The way it moves. The way it cuts. The way it demands your attention.
It’s rebellious. It’s unpredictable.
And it still feels like a breath of fresh air.
It’s not just about what is filmed - it’s how.
The way it moves. The way it cuts. The way it demands your attention.
It’s rebellious. It’s unpredictable.
And it still feels like a breath of fresh air.
16) Does it sometimes get too caught up in its own cleverness? Absolutely.
But that’s part of its charm. It refuses to be neat or easy.
Godard wasn’t trying to please you or me. He was trying to blow up the rulebook.
But that’s part of its charm. It refuses to be neat or easy.
Godard wasn’t trying to please you or me. He was trying to blow up the rulebook.
May 2, 2025 at 2:59 AM
16) Does it sometimes get too caught up in its own cleverness? Absolutely.
But that’s part of its charm. It refuses to be neat or easy.
Godard wasn’t trying to please you or me. He was trying to blow up the rulebook.
But that’s part of its charm. It refuses to be neat or easy.
Godard wasn’t trying to please you or me. He was trying to blow up the rulebook.
15) So… did I enjoy it?
Mostly, yes. The jump cuts, handheld chaos, improvised feel - it gives Breathless a real energy.
It’s not a film you watch. It’s a film you wrestle with.
Mostly, yes. The jump cuts, handheld chaos, improvised feel - it gives Breathless a real energy.
It’s not a film you watch. It’s a film you wrestle with.
May 2, 2025 at 2:58 AM
15) So… did I enjoy it?
Mostly, yes. The jump cuts, handheld chaos, improvised feel - it gives Breathless a real energy.
It’s not a film you watch. It’s a film you wrestle with.
Mostly, yes. The jump cuts, handheld chaos, improvised feel - it gives Breathless a real energy.
It’s not a film you watch. It’s a film you wrestle with.
14) It’s frustrating. It’s embarrassing to watch. It’s brilliant.
And it forces you to sit with it.
That’s Godard.
And it forces you to sit with it.
That’s Godard.
May 2, 2025 at 2:58 AM
14) It’s frustrating. It’s embarrassing to watch. It’s brilliant.
And it forces you to sit with it.
That’s Godard.
And it forces you to sit with it.
That’s Godard.
13) But Godard subverts noir.
There’s no romantic antihero death. No grand finale.
Michel is a petty criminal. He dies in the street. No music. No slow motion. No drama.
Just a silly face, he literally manually closes his own eyes and then… nothing.
There’s no romantic antihero death. No grand finale.
Michel is a petty criminal. He dies in the street. No music. No slow motion. No drama.
Just a silly face, he literally manually closes his own eyes and then… nothing.
May 2, 2025 at 2:57 AM
13) But Godard subverts noir.
There’s no romantic antihero death. No grand finale.
Michel is a petty criminal. He dies in the street. No music. No slow motion. No drama.
Just a silly face, he literally manually closes his own eyes and then… nothing.
There’s no romantic antihero death. No grand finale.
Michel is a petty criminal. He dies in the street. No music. No slow motion. No drama.
Just a silly face, he literally manually closes his own eyes and then… nothing.
12) Then there’s the noir. For all its rebellion, Breathless is steeped in Hollywood noir.
Black and white grit. Antiheroes. Femme fatales. Paris as a maze.
Michel’s whole vibe is borrowed from Bogart.
Black and white grit. Antiheroes. Femme fatales. Paris as a maze.
Michel’s whole vibe is borrowed from Bogart.
May 2, 2025 at 2:56 AM
12) Then there’s the noir. For all its rebellion, Breathless is steeped in Hollywood noir.
Black and white grit. Antiheroes. Femme fatales. Paris as a maze.
Michel’s whole vibe is borrowed from Bogart.
Black and white grit. Antiheroes. Femme fatales. Paris as a maze.
Michel’s whole vibe is borrowed from Bogart.
11) Traditional films don’t linger like that without a purpose.
Godard didn’t care about efficiency, he cared about mood.
It’s frustrating if you're used to momentum. But if you let go? It’s kind of mesmerising.
Godard didn’t care about efficiency, he cared about mood.
It’s frustrating if you're used to momentum. But if you let go? It’s kind of mesmerising.
May 2, 2025 at 2:55 AM
11) Traditional films don’t linger like that without a purpose.
Godard didn’t care about efficiency, he cared about mood.
It’s frustrating if you're used to momentum. But if you let go? It’s kind of mesmerising.
Godard didn’t care about efficiency, he cared about mood.
It’s frustrating if you're used to momentum. But if you let go? It’s kind of mesmerising.
10) The acting style is loose, too.
Casual. Improvised.
Lines are delivered like people talking, not performing.
The 25-minute bedroom scene is all vibes. No plot.
And yet, it’s intimate, hypnotic. If you surrender to it, it works.
Casual. Improvised.
Lines are delivered like people talking, not performing.
The 25-minute bedroom scene is all vibes. No plot.
And yet, it’s intimate, hypnotic. If you surrender to it, it works.
May 2, 2025 at 2:54 AM
10) The acting style is loose, too.
Casual. Improvised.
Lines are delivered like people talking, not performing.
The 25-minute bedroom scene is all vibes. No plot.
And yet, it’s intimate, hypnotic. If you surrender to it, it works.
Casual. Improvised.
Lines are delivered like people talking, not performing.
The 25-minute bedroom scene is all vibes. No plot.
And yet, it’s intimate, hypnotic. If you surrender to it, it works.
9) Michel wants us to see him as a smooth-talking, Bogart-style gangster.
But Breathless exposes the performance.
That’s what the New Wave did: reminded us that cinema is a construct.
Movies lie. And therein lies its truth or le cinéma vérité.
But Breathless exposes the performance.
That’s what the New Wave did: reminded us that cinema is a construct.
Movies lie. And therein lies its truth or le cinéma vérité.
May 2, 2025 at 2:53 AM
9) Michel wants us to see him as a smooth-talking, Bogart-style gangster.
But Breathless exposes the performance.
That’s what the New Wave did: reminded us that cinema is a construct.
Movies lie. And therein lies its truth or le cinéma vérité.
But Breathless exposes the performance.
That’s what the New Wave did: reminded us that cinema is a construct.
Movies lie. And therein lies its truth or le cinéma vérité.
8) Michel breaks the fourth wall. Constantly.
He talks directly to us, especially in the stolen car. It shatters the illusion of diegetic space and pulls us in making us complicit in his crimes.
He’s not just performing for Patricia, he’s performing for us.
He talks directly to us, especially in the stolen car. It shatters the illusion of diegetic space and pulls us in making us complicit in his crimes.
He’s not just performing for Patricia, he’s performing for us.
May 2, 2025 at 2:52 AM
8) Michel breaks the fourth wall. Constantly.
He talks directly to us, especially in the stolen car. It shatters the illusion of diegetic space and pulls us in making us complicit in his crimes.
He’s not just performing for Patricia, he’s performing for us.
He talks directly to us, especially in the stolen car. It shatters the illusion of diegetic space and pulls us in making us complicit in his crimes.
He’s not just performing for Patricia, he’s performing for us.
7) The contrast? The long takes. In scenes like the Champs-Élysées walk, the handheld camera just follows Michel and Patricia (Jean Seberg).
Loose framing, natural light.
It doesn’t just capture their chemistry, it captures Paris. The city is alive. It’s a character.
Loose framing, natural light.
It doesn’t just capture their chemistry, it captures Paris. The city is alive. It’s a character.
May 2, 2025 at 2:51 AM
7) The contrast? The long takes. In scenes like the Champs-Élysées walk, the handheld camera just follows Michel and Patricia (Jean Seberg).
Loose framing, natural light.
It doesn’t just capture their chemistry, it captures Paris. The city is alive. It’s a character.
Loose framing, natural light.
It doesn’t just capture their chemistry, it captures Paris. The city is alive. It’s a character.
6) I enjoyed the jump cuts as authorial narration.
But in an age of disinformation and deepfakes, it made me ask: Are key moments being cut to manipulate what we think?
Intentional or not, it forced me to pay attention.
But in an age of disinformation and deepfakes, it made me ask: Are key moments being cut to manipulate what we think?
Intentional or not, it forced me to pay attention.
May 2, 2025 at 2:51 AM
6) I enjoyed the jump cuts as authorial narration.
But in an age of disinformation and deepfakes, it made me ask: Are key moments being cut to manipulate what we think?
Intentional or not, it forced me to pay attention.
But in an age of disinformation and deepfakes, it made me ask: Are key moments being cut to manipulate what we think?
Intentional or not, it forced me to pay attention.
5) Jump cuts weren’t just Godard showing off.
They were a rejection of polished, immersive cinema and they became his signature.
Messy. Disruptive. Intentional.
You don’t get lost in Breathless. You notice you’re watching.
They were a rejection of polished, immersive cinema and they became his signature.
Messy. Disruptive. Intentional.
You don’t get lost in Breathless. You notice you’re watching.
May 2, 2025 at 2:50 AM
5) Jump cuts weren’t just Godard showing off.
They were a rejection of polished, immersive cinema and they became his signature.
Messy. Disruptive. Intentional.
You don’t get lost in Breathless. You notice you’re watching.
They were a rejection of polished, immersive cinema and they became his signature.
Messy. Disruptive. Intentional.
You don’t get lost in Breathless. You notice you’re watching.
4) Right from the start: Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) steals a car, speeds down the highway, rambles, shoots a cop.
Jump cuts slice up time and space.
We’re dropped into his impulsive mindset. The editing feels impulsive too.
Jump cuts slice up time and space.
We’re dropped into his impulsive mindset. The editing feels impulsive too.
May 2, 2025 at 2:49 AM
4) Right from the start: Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) steals a car, speeds down the highway, rambles, shoots a cop.
Jump cuts slice up time and space.
We’re dropped into his impulsive mindset. The editing feels impulsive too.
Jump cuts slice up time and space.
We’re dropped into his impulsive mindset. The editing feels impulsive too.
3) If traditional Hollywood was about seamless editing and control, Breathless is the opposite.
Raoul Coutard’s documentary-style cinematography: handheld camera and natural lighting gives everything a chaotic realism.
It’s messy on purpose.
Raoul Coutard’s documentary-style cinematography: handheld camera and natural lighting gives everything a chaotic realism.
It’s messy on purpose.
May 2, 2025 at 2:49 AM
3) If traditional Hollywood was about seamless editing and control, Breathless is the opposite.
Raoul Coutard’s documentary-style cinematography: handheld camera and natural lighting gives everything a chaotic realism.
It’s messy on purpose.
Raoul Coutard’s documentary-style cinematography: handheld camera and natural lighting gives everything a chaotic realism.
It’s messy on purpose.
2) But over 60 years later, does its radicalism still resonate with a modern audience (i.e. me)?
I found Godard’s aesthetic choices exciting, but his relentless self-awareness was sometimes exhausting, bordering on self-indulgent.
Maybe that friction is the point.
I found Godard’s aesthetic choices exciting, but his relentless self-awareness was sometimes exhausting, bordering on self-indulgent.
Maybe that friction is the point.
May 2, 2025 at 2:48 AM
2) But over 60 years later, does its radicalism still resonate with a modern audience (i.e. me)?
I found Godard’s aesthetic choices exciting, but his relentless self-awareness was sometimes exhausting, bordering on self-indulgent.
Maybe that friction is the point.
I found Godard’s aesthetic choices exciting, but his relentless self-awareness was sometimes exhausting, bordering on self-indulgent.
Maybe that friction is the point.
1) Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (À bout de souffle, 1960) is widely recognised as a seminal film of the French New Wave which consisted of critics-turned-filmmakers rewriting the rules of cinema.
Radical cinematography, fragmented editing, and vibes over plot.
Radical cinematography, fragmented editing, and vibes over plot.
May 2, 2025 at 2:47 AM
1) Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (À bout de souffle, 1960) is widely recognised as a seminal film of the French New Wave which consisted of critics-turned-filmmakers rewriting the rules of cinema.
Radical cinematography, fragmented editing, and vibes over plot.
Radical cinematography, fragmented editing, and vibes over plot.
8) Breathless isn’t a movie you get lost in.
It’s a movie you wrestle with.
And whether you love it or hate it, you have to respect the audacity.
That’s why it still matters.
It’s a movie you wrestle with.
And whether you love it or hate it, you have to respect the audacity.
That’s why it still matters.
May 2, 2025 at 2:21 AM
8) Breathless isn’t a movie you get lost in.
It’s a movie you wrestle with.
And whether you love it or hate it, you have to respect the audacity.
That’s why it still matters.
It’s a movie you wrestle with.
And whether you love it or hate it, you have to respect the audacity.
That’s why it still matters.
7) Watching Breathless today, it’s thrilling and frustrating.
Sometimes it feels like pure aesthetic self-indulgence.
But maybe that’s the point: it refuses to be easy, polished, or comforting.
It demands you meet it on its terms and forces you to sit there in its discomfort.
Sometimes it feels like pure aesthetic self-indulgence.
But maybe that’s the point: it refuses to be easy, polished, or comforting.
It demands you meet it on its terms and forces you to sit there in its discomfort.
May 2, 2025 at 2:20 AM
7) Watching Breathless today, it’s thrilling and frustrating.
Sometimes it feels like pure aesthetic self-indulgence.
But maybe that’s the point: it refuses to be easy, polished, or comforting.
It demands you meet it on its terms and forces you to sit there in its discomfort.
Sometimes it feels like pure aesthetic self-indulgence.
But maybe that’s the point: it refuses to be easy, polished, or comforting.
It demands you meet it on its terms and forces you to sit there in its discomfort.
6) Despite its radical style, Breathless is drenched in American noir influence: the doomed antihero, the femme fatale, the city as a maze.
But Godard drains the glamour, leaving only grit, boredom, impulsiveness, and death without ceremony.
But Godard drains the glamour, leaving only grit, boredom, impulsiveness, and death without ceremony.
May 2, 2025 at 2:19 AM
6) Despite its radical style, Breathless is drenched in American noir influence: the doomed antihero, the femme fatale, the city as a maze.
But Godard drains the glamour, leaving only grit, boredom, impulsiveness, and death without ceremony.
But Godard drains the glamour, leaving only grit, boredom, impulsiveness, and death without ceremony.
5) Godard also loves breaking the fourth wall.
Michel looks straight at us, making us complicit in his actions.
It’s playful, but it also strips away the illusion of cinema, reminding you this is a construct. Movies lie. And that’s the truth or le cinéma vérité.
Michel looks straight at us, making us complicit in his actions.
It’s playful, but it also strips away the illusion of cinema, reminding you this is a construct. Movies lie. And that’s the truth or le cinéma vérité.
May 2, 2025 at 2:17 AM
5) Godard also loves breaking the fourth wall.
Michel looks straight at us, making us complicit in his actions.
It’s playful, but it also strips away the illusion of cinema, reminding you this is a construct. Movies lie. And that’s the truth or le cinéma vérité.
Michel looks straight at us, making us complicit in his actions.
It’s playful, but it also strips away the illusion of cinema, reminding you this is a construct. Movies lie. And that’s the truth or le cinéma vérité.
4) Then there are the long takes: handheld, casual, unhurried.
Watching Michel and Patricia flirt down the Champs-Élysées feels less like a movie and more like eavesdropping on real people.
Paris isn’t a backdrop, it’s a character.
Watching Michel and Patricia flirt down the Champs-Élysées feels less like a movie and more like eavesdropping on real people.
Paris isn’t a backdrop, it’s a character.
May 2, 2025 at 2:15 AM
4) Then there are the long takes: handheld, casual, unhurried.
Watching Michel and Patricia flirt down the Champs-Élysées feels less like a movie and more like eavesdropping on real people.
Paris isn’t a backdrop, it’s a character.
Watching Michel and Patricia flirt down the Champs-Élysées feels less like a movie and more like eavesdropping on real people.
Paris isn’t a backdrop, it’s a character.
3) The jump cuts aren't just stylish - they are the story.
They fragment reality, mirror Michel’s impulsivity and force you to stay alert.
In 2025, when trust is fragile and disinfo and deepfakes are everywhere, jump cuts also feel weirdly unsettling: what aren’t we seeing?
They fragment reality, mirror Michel’s impulsivity and force you to stay alert.
In 2025, when trust is fragile and disinfo and deepfakes are everywhere, jump cuts also feel weirdly unsettling: what aren’t we seeing?
May 2, 2025 at 2:15 AM
3) The jump cuts aren't just stylish - they are the story.
They fragment reality, mirror Michel’s impulsivity and force you to stay alert.
In 2025, when trust is fragile and disinfo and deepfakes are everywhere, jump cuts also feel weirdly unsettling: what aren’t we seeing?
They fragment reality, mirror Michel’s impulsivity and force you to stay alert.
In 2025, when trust is fragile and disinfo and deepfakes are everywhere, jump cuts also feel weirdly unsettling: what aren’t we seeing?