Breathless (1983)
Director: Jim McBride Run Time: 100 min. Format: 35mm Rating: R Release Year: 1983
Starring: Richard Gere, Valérie Kaprisky, Art Metrano, William Tepper, John P. Ryan
Preceded by video intro from director Jim McBride, plus a look at the alternate ending
Co-presented by Fun City Editions
Richard Gere is electrifying as Jesse Lujack, a small-time criminal obsessed with the rockabilly tunes of Jerry Lee Lewis, the Silver Surfer and Monica (Valérie Kaprisky), the beautiful French exchange student he spent a passionate couple of nights with in Vegas. High-tailing it to Los Angeles to rendezvous again with Monica, Jesse steals a fast car and accidentally shoots and kills a highway patrolman. Now the most wanted fugitive in L.A., Jesse should get across the border to Mexico as soon as possible, but Monica leaves him breathless…
Co-writer and director Jim McBride (David Holzman’s Diary and Great Balls of Fire) and co-writer L.M. Kit Carson (Paris, Texas and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) boldly set out to create an American version of Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking debut Breathless and the result is a wildly energetic and imaginative neo-noir romance that has become a cult classic.