"Breathless" (1960): The Manic Pixie Dream Boy

Main characters Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Patricia (Jean Seberg) share a smoke.

A Bout De Souffle or better known in English as Breathless, follows a criminal named Michel who is on the run from France to Italy after stealing a car and shooting and killing a police officer in the chase. The pinnacle of French New Wave, this film was written and directed by the notorious Jean-Luc Godard and released in 1960. Famous for its use of jump cuts and sound editing, Breathless has secured its place in film curriculum across the world. However, what I want to talk about is Michel. Michel's character is an early prototype of the "manic pixie dream" stereotype, a term that wasn't coined until the 2000's by film critic Nathan Rabin.

Referring to eccentric, quirky, and artistic female characters, "manic pixie dream girls" became popular in 90-2010's indie films. They are usually used as the male protagonists love interests who gets them out of their shell, changes their perspective on life, then leaves in the end, popular amongst Millennials as they grew up with the "manic pixie dream" golden age of film. These characters are the product of a male fantasy, validating s****y men in their mediocre lives: a sexist trope that demeans women to a man's accessory in his journey of self-discovery that Rabin has now apologized for creating. The most famous "manic pixie dream girls" are Claire in Elizabethtown, Summer in 500 Days of Summer, Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Ramona in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. An honorable mention of a certified manic pixie dream boy is Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars, as he takes on the role of the whimsical bad boy who changes the main characters perspective on life and leaves them with a hole in their heart.

Michel flaunts a gun in the opening scene.

This trope isn't new and certainly did not emerge in the 2000s. "Manic pixie dream" characters can be traced back through cinematic history but they become harder and harder to find. I think Michel from Breathless may be one of the firsts. The earliest could be argued that it's Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause, but his character remains consistent and based in reality. There is not a dream-like effect to him. Due to the ambiguity between romance, reality, and daydream in French New Wave cinema, it creates the perfect spawn for "manic pixie dream" characters. Michel is a bad boy, a thug who steals cars and shoots cops. He has an arrogance towards rules and a big ego yet wears his emotions on his sleeve and is not afraid to be sassy, making him irresistibly charming. He has two identities, wears sunglasses inside, and chain smokes, giving him a cool and mysterious vibe. The audience does not know much about his past except he seems to know a lot of women and he has connections around Paris. He idolizes Humphrey Bogart and his trademark move is caressing his upper lip with his thumb, trying to reference the actor who had a scar on his upper lip.

Michel compliments Patricia's beauty.

To really seal the deal, Michel is hopelessly in love with Patricia-- obsessed even-- a victim of puppy love as he follows her around the city, begging her to come with him to Rome. From Patricia's perspective, he appears out of the blue one day and asks her to run away with him. As they spend time together, she starts to put together that Michel is on the run from the police. Patricia is cool, driven, and collected but Michel is able to distract her and prevent her from thinking clearly. There seems to be a point when Patricia really will accept Michel's proposal and go with him, however she remains grounded in reality as she is on a work visa and has recently found out she is pregnant. It is easy to see why Michel is so attracted to her, she is just as witty as him and although she seems to be very naive, it is clear that she is much more mature than Michel, who is caught up in his play-pretend fantasy where the bad boy escapes the law with the love of his life. However, Michel doesn't really seem to love Patricia, he seems to be more motivated by lust and excitement as Patricia is American and very good looking. He continuously talks about how pretty she is and seems to think that he is better than her but the audience sees the one sidedness to the relationship, as Patricia keeps him around for attention and fun, knowing full well that she isn't going to go with him in the end.

The final shot as Patricia stares at Michel's lifeless body.

In the end, Michel dies, leaving Patricia with a derogatory message that she doesn't understand, feelings of regret of what she did to him, and relief that she is no longer burdened by his love. Although the film opens with and follows Michel, the story is also about Patricia. Michel is simply an accessory to her story, creating a source of doubt in her journey and clouding her future so she could prove herself and grow. The story becomes just as invested in Patricia as it is in Michel's situation, ending with a shot looking down on Michel lying on the ground, and once he dies, it moves to close up of Patricia's face, as she breaks the fourth wall and the audience sees her perspective on life change as she mimics Michele's habit of caressing his upper lip. Patricia has been changed; she accepts his death and moves on and Michel has fulfilled his role as a "manic pixie dream boy", or at least an early prototype.

All photos from Pinterest.