A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.
Direction
Godard's jump cuts — the original 'we're not doing this your way.'
Acting
Belmondo's thumb, Seberg's pixie cut — icons born here.
Cinematography
Paris never looked this casually cruel in black and white.
Director
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Michel Poiccard / László Kovács
Jean Seberg
Patricia Franchini
Daniel Boulanger
Police Inspector Vital
Henri-Jacques Huet
Antonio Berrutti
Roger Hanin
Carl Zubart
Van Doude
American Journalist, Patricia's Friend
Claude Mansard
Claudius Mansard
Liliane Dreyfus
Liliane / Minouche
Jean-Pierre Melville
Parvulesco the Writer
Jean-Luc Godard
The Snitch
Richard Balducci
Tolmatchoff
André S. Labarthe
Journalist at Orly
François Moreuil
Journalist at Orly
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Godard wrote the script daily during filming, feeding actors lines minutes before shooting. The jump cuts weren't planned — he needed to shorten scenes.
Seberg's pixie cut started a global trend; Truffaut called it 'the birth of the modern woman in cinema.' She was 21, didn't speak French, and improvised most scenes.
FR
