Empires Crumble, Republics Founder, But Fools Go On: Godard & Co. on the Big Screen!

Ever present on the constantly changing mental roster of our Top Ten Favorite Films is A Bout de Souffle ("Breathless"), the visually stunning and morally ambiguous first effort by French New Wave director Jean Luc Godard. While its plot verges on the overly simplistic (Man Steals Car; Man Murders Cop; Man Falls In Love With Beautiful Girl While On the Run; Someone Dies!), Breathless is arguably one of the finest manifestations of existentialist thought: in this film there are neither heroes nor villians and no right or wrong, only the cold, lonely absurdity of human existence. Complementing the philosophical exposition is a gorgeous, stark cinematography largely consisting of shots of quiet Parisian boulevards and cramped but bright studio apartments. While we don't understand the French dialogue, we do love the subtitles.

With Breathless, the Austin Film Society kicks off its Summer Essential Cinema Series entitled Shattering the Narrative: European Cinema 1960-1972. Every Tuesday night at 7pm from June 7 through July 26, AFS screens a different film at the Downtown Drafthouse from directors such as Godard (A Bout de Souffle, Une Femme est Une Femme), Federico Fellini (Satyricon), and Andrei Tarkovsky (Solyaris).

When purchased individually, tickets to each screening are $4 and can be ordered online. If you're interested in going to a few (and, if you ask us, you might as well see them all), consider becoming a member of the Austin Film Society. Annual membership is as cheap as $20, which gets you admission to all of the AFS cinema series.

Austin Film Society Presents the Essential Cinema Series
Shattering the Narrative: European Cinema 1960-1972
Tuesdays at 7pm, 6/7 - 7/26
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown