Jean-Luc Godard always said that Breathless was his version of Hawks' Scarface, plus a little.... It was the “plus a little” reflected in hand-held shooting, improvised acting, and jagged cutting that so shocked viewers in 1959/1960. Now these innovations have been incorporated into the basic grammar of contemporary filmmaking, so that, seen today, Breathless looks positively classical - not too far removed in narrative conception, even in existential content, from an American B-Budget film noir, like Gun Crazy for that matter. In any case, Breathless remains an essential work of the French New Wave and its most gifted exponent.