bout de souffle

(Breathless)
Treatment
by
Franois Truffaut
1956
This treatment was published in L'Avant-Scne Cinma, no. 79
(March 1968). The translation is by Dory O'Brien.
Converted to PDF by mypdfscripts.com
"We're going to talk about very nasty things..."

~Stendhal
Marseille, a Tuesday morning.
Lucien is pretending to read Paris Flirt at a sidewalk caf
at the bottom of the Cannebire. In reality, he is watching
the traffic in front of the Vieux Port.
Near the boats that take tourists to view Chteau dIf, a
girl signals to Lucien. She indicates a convertible with the
insignia U.S. Army that is at that moment pulling into a
parking spot. The occupants, an American officer, his wife,
and their children, go to buy tickets for the Chteau dIf
tour. They are watched by Lucien and the girl, who are
nonetheless pretending not to know each other.
As soon as the boat has departed, Lucien approaches the car--
a DeSoto convertible. He inspects the car as if he were the
owner, checking the tires and oil.
The girl asks Lucien to take her with him but he refuses.
Getting behind the wheel, he drives off after hotwiring the
car.
Some Hours Later, we see Lucien on the highway. Driving a
stolen car is apparently nothing special to him, for he seems
quite at ease. Alone at the wheel, he bellows snatches of
songs at the top of his lungs.
He catches up with and drives alongside an Alfa Romeo driven
by a pretty young woman. He asks her if she is not, by
chance, Mrs. Lucien Poiccard. She shakes her head no. Lucien
quips that this is a shame since he is Lucien Poiccard.
A little farther on, we see Lucien slow down to pick up two
girls who are hitchhiking. As he passes them, however, he
finds them too ugly and speeds up again.
From time to time he talks aloud to himself. Through these
fragmentary remarks we learn about Luciens current projects.
1. To get hold of some money in Paris from a more or less
shady business deal. (As the film progresses, we will, from
time to time, learn details of Luciens activities from brief
conversations he has with people he runs into. Basically
Lucien engages in some kind of trafficking. But what kind
of traffic? He is secretive about this even with Patricia.)
2. In Paris, Lucien wants to get back in touch with a woman
named Patricia whom he hopes to persuade to go abroad with
him.
But a third problem is about to complicate Luciens plans. As
the sun sets, he is driving north toward Paris, in the
vicinity of Sens. Annoyed by a Deux Chevaux that wont dare
pass a slow truck, Lucien overtakes both vehicles on a curve
and on a hill.
The wheels of his car slide far over the center line. A
whistle blasts. A motorcycle cop lurking at the top of the
hill signals to him to pull over, but Lucien, in his stolen
car, instead rushes wildly away.
There is a pursuit of Lucien by the motorcycle cop ending in
a small village. Lucien has taken a short cut. Its a cul-de-
sac. His motor dies. Lucien pulls from the glove compartment
the revolver which he had found there just minutes before,
stashed underneath some car wax. The motorcycle cop pulls out
his gun. Everything happens at once. Lucien shoots at the cop
almost before realizing it. He is furious with himself. The
last thing he needed was an incident like this on his record.
We Find Lucien Again in Paris, early in the morning. He must
have been hitchhiking, because a small Danish car drops him
off at Saint Michel.
Lucien goes into a telephone booth, then changes his mind and
hangs up without making a call. He leaves and starts to walk
toward the Seine. He is wearing only a shirt, having left his
jacket in the car after shooting the cop.
He buys a morning paper. There is no news yet of the murder.
Lucien goes into a small residential hotel on the Seine. He
asks if Patricia Franchini is there. The doorman, in the
process of washing the steps, says no. Lucien insists. But
Patricia is not there--the key hanging on the board is proof.
Lucien says he is going to leave a message, but when the
doorman is not watching, he grabs the key. He enters
Patricias room. The bed has not been slept in. Lucien
searches all around the room. He tries on a jacket. Too
small. He finds some change in the drawer, but they are
American coins. He leaves the room after washing his face.
We watch him enter Royale Saint-Germain and ask the price of
eggs. He counts his money. He doesnt have enough. He orders
two eggs with ham, saying that hell be back in a minute.
Lucien crosses the boulevard Saint-Germain, passes in front
of the Caf Hune and enters the courtyard of an apartment
building next to Caf Flore. We then see him in the corridor
outside the maids rooms.
Behind a door Lucien hears a womans voice singing one of the
melodies from La Belle Hlne. Lucien enters quietly without
knocking.
A girl in pajama bottoms is in the process of drying her
hair. She turns around, but does not seem surprised. We learn
that she and Lucien lived together seven or eight months ago.
She now makes public relations films, works in TV, and has
abandoned the Latin Quarter. Lucien is less explicit about
himself. He has not been doing so badly.
2.
He should be picking up two and a half million at noon. In
the meantime, could she loan him two or three thousand
francs? She replies that she doesnt have enough. Lucien
invites her to breakfast, hoping that she will pay.
She cant; she is in a hurry. As she pulls her jersey over
her head, Lucien takes the opportunity to extract some bills
from her bag. He then tells her that he will see her soon and
takes off. It is eight oclock in the morning, Wednesday.
Around Ten oClock, Lucien enters a travel agency on the
Champs Elyses. He has bought a second-hand jacket and dark
glasses. Lucien asks one of the employees if Michel is there.
The employee tells him that Michel will not arrive until
eleven. Lucien replies that he will drop in again and asks
the address of an American newspaper, the New York Herald
Tribune.
Fade in on Lucien on his way to the New York Herald. He goes
into the lobby, addresses a girl in a yellow jersey behind
the information desk, and asks if a Miss Patricia Franchini
doesnt work there. The girl tells him that she should be on
the Champs Elyses selling papers. Lucien leaves again and
walks down the Champs Elyses.
He spots a girl in a yellow jersey. She tells him that
Patricia is on the opposite sidewalk, near the Pam-Pam.
Lucien crosses the Champs Elyses. He pushes aside a student
selling pamphlets who asks him, Do you have something
against youth? Lucien snubs her, saying that in fact he does
hate young people and loves old people instead.
Lucien sees Patricia walking ten yards ahead of him. He
follows her for a bit. Sensing that she is being followed,
she turns around. She is wearing a yellow jersey with the
initials of the New York Herald on the front. She also wears
an American sailor hat pulled low on her forehead.
She is in blue jeans. Lucien buys a paper from her. She
stares wide-eyed at him: What brings him to Paris? She had
thought he was in Nice.
Lucien replies that he has come to Paris to do business. He
suggests that Patricia go with him to Italy (when he is
finished). We understand that they lived together some weeks
ago on the Cte dAzur, where Patricia was spending her
holiday. She wont say yes or no to Lucien. Shell have
to see. She must register at the Sorbonne and will perhaps be
writing some articles for the New York Herald.
They arrange to meet that evening, in a caf on the
Boulevards, where she will be.
3.
We stay with Lucien, who returns to the travel agency. On a
small street in front of the Biarritz, he witnesses a fatal
accident: a man on a motor scooter is hit by a car. The
bloody face of the man makes Lucien recall the motorcycle
cop. He buys France-Soir where, on the second page, he finds
an account of his murder. The cop is in the hospital, between
life and death. The police have a number of leads, the
article states: some fingerprints, the jacket, although they
had found only several ten-thousand franc bills in it.
With the newspaper under his arm, Lucien enters the same
travel agency he had visited just before. Michel, the man he
is looking for, has arrived. He hands an envelope to Lucien.
Everything seems to be settled. But Lucien is fuming. He had
been expecting cash but Michel has given him a check; worse
yet, it is for deposit only. Michel insists that he knows
nothing about the deal, that he is only making the transfer.
He tells Lucien to see Berruti, who should be in Paris now,
because hed seen him the day before yesterday. Berruti will
surely get his check cashed, perhaps even without a
commission because a couple years ago Lucien saved his life.
Lucien is annoyed but he will have to go see him. He
certainly doesnt dare present his check at the bank after
the mishap with the cop. He uses Michels telephone to call
Berruti, who is not in. He is in Paris but the cleaning lady
doesnt know where.
Lucien leaves the agency. As he goes out, he passes two men.
The camera stays with them. They are on their way to ask at
the counter if anyone has seen Lucien Poiccard, who has his
mail sent there, having once worked for the agency. Michel is
forced to tell them that Lucien had come in five minutes
before. The detectives run out and look around them. No
Lucien.
It doesnt matter, one of them says, since they will have his
photo and his fingerprints that afternoon from the Interpol.
The other says that perhaps Lucien, having gotten away so
quickly, has disappeared into the Metro.
They drop down into the Metro George V. We follow them. One
goes to the Vincennes [eastbound] platform, the other to the
Neuilly [westbound]. We leave them to focus again on Lucien,
who climbs back out of the Metro exit onto the Champs Elyses
in front of the Normandy. He enters the cinema next door,
which advertises a Humphrey Bogart film. Lucien lingers in
front of a photo of Bogart.
Wednesday Evening. The light falls obliquely on the
Boulevards. Lucien has rejoined Patricia in a milk bar. They
are going to eat in a snack shop. Because the service is
slow, they go elsewhere.
4.
Lucien wants to spend the whole night with Patricia. She
agrees. Suddenly she remembers that she has a call to make.
She returns from it. She kisses Lucien deliberately and very
sweetly. Now we go to bed, says Lucien. But Patricia
replies that it is not possible. She cannot stay with him
tonight. It is absolutely necessary that she see one of the
editors at the New York Herald who has promised to have some
articles assigned to her.
Tomorrow there is a novelist to interview and, as the woman
who usually does such interviews is not there, Patricia might
be able to replace her. This is very important to Patricia,
and it is absolutely necessary that she see this editor.
Lucien asks her if she sleeps with him. Patricia says that it
is none of his business. She asks Lucien to escort her to the
appointment she has made on the telephone. If Lucien doesnt
want to, she will go by taxi. But Lucien says that he will
accompany her.
They get into a 403. Patricia asks Lucien if he has sold his
big Ford. Lucien says that it is in the garage. The garage
has loaned him the 403 until his is ready.
Lucien leaves Patricia off in front of the Pergola caf at
the top of the Champs Elyses. The camera stays with
Patricia. She meets the journalist on the second floor. They
talk while she eats a dessert and he drinks coffee. We learn
that Patricia is quite willing to sleep with him, partly out
of friendship, but more importantly for personal gain. She
hopes to get to write articles for the Spectacles page he
oversees. He tells her that there is a novelist to interview
tomorrow morning. He is giving a press conference at his
hotel. Did Patricia want to go in place of Clara, a girl at
the newspaper? Patricia says yes. The journalist asks if she
will stay with him that night. Patricia agrees to this as
well.
They walk down the Champs Elyses where the journalists car
is parked. Night has fallen. Patricia figures that Lucien has
been watching them from the bar where he was having a drink.
He follows them at a distance.
The camera stays with Lucien who buys the latest edition of
the France-Soir while watching Patricia and the journalist
get into an English car. The article in the France-Soir says
that the police are back on Luciens track, but that they
dont know what name he is currently going under because he
has several passports. He has no record in France but there
have been incidents in New York and Italy.
Still reading, Lucien has returned to his 403 and he follows
the English car.
5.
He pulls up next to them at a red light. He exchanges looks
with Patricia, which allows the camera to focus on her again.
She seems sad. Then she makes a small gesture of
indifference.
Thursday Morning. The camera follows Patricias crossing the
Pont du Louvre as she returns home on foot. Her key is not
behind the desk. She goes up to her room. The key is in the
door. Patricia enters and finds Lucien listening to the
radio, stretched out on her bed. He explains that all the
hotels are full because of the tourists.
She gets in bed next to him. They set up the days agenda. He
will take her to her press conference and then come to pick
her up. In the meantime he will forge ahead with his own
affairs which, we know, consist of following the progress of
the police investigation and getting in touch with Berruti as
soon as possible in order to get his check cashed. Because
Patricia knows nothing about his identity, with her Lucien
always plays the role of a guy who has plenty of money and a
beautiful car.
They go to eat breakfast at an outdoor spot. While she eats,
he says that he is going to get his car at the garage and
will be back in five minutes. Now he has precisely this
amount of time to find a car to steal. He locates one, a
white Thunderbird convertible. The driver gets out and enters
an apartment building. Lucien follows him, getting in the
elevator with him without saying a word. He watches him go
into an office.
Immediately, Lucien dashes back down, hotwires the car, and
takes off to pick up Patricia at the sidewalk caf.
While Patricia attends the press conference, Lucien goes to
sell the Thunderbird in the suburbs. He has trouble with the
used car dealer. The latter shows him the latest France-Soir,
which Lucien has neglected to buy: there is his photo with
the caption, Traffic cop murderer still at large. The used
car dealer is quite willing to buy the car but wont give him
the money for it for several days.
Lucien tries to filch some money from the drawer. A scuffle
ensues between him and the car dealer. Lucien clearly has the
upper hand.
When he is gone, the car dealer calls the police and tells
them that he has just heard Lucien ask if a Patricia was
there, at the New York Herald.
This explains why the detectives whom we have seen at the
travel agency are waiting for Patricia when she brings her
article to the editorial department.
6.
They show her the photo of Lucien. Patricia says that, in
fact, she has gone with him two or three times but that she
does not know where he is.
The detectives give her their telephone number. If she sees
him again, she is to inform them. Okay, says Patricia.
She leaves. Now shes aware that one of the detectives is
following her. She goes into a movie theater, having seen
Lucien following both her and the cop. She comes out again
from the back door; then she goes with Lucien into a cinema
on the other side of the Champs Elyses while the detective,
completely confused, emerges from the first theater.
Thursday Evening. When they leave the cinema after watching a
western, Patricia and Lucien look for a hotel where they can
spend the night since Patricias room looks like it is being
watched. But all the hotels are full, because of the
tourists.
Lucien searches even more desperately for Berruti, to have
him cash his check. He runs into various people in various
quarters (a girl at Strasbourg-Saint Denis, a bar owner near
the Opera and one at Saint Germain).
They are driving around in an obviously stolen car. Lucien
tells Patricia that now he has nothing to lose, so that even
if it does mean trouble, they might as well travel by car as
on foot.
Just the same, in order to avoid unnecessary risks, he shows
her the garage scam. That is, he drives his car into a
parking garage that only has a single, aged attendant. He
leaves it on the third level and takes another. He has
Patricia, whom he had told to hide when they drove in, take
the wheel of this car. The old man, seeing a pretty woman
driving an impressive car, says nothing when they leave.
Finally, Lucien does get in touch with Berruti who has been
hanging around Montparnasse; Berruti promises to help him.
Perhaps as soon as tomorrow he will be able to cash his
check.
In the meantime, Lucien explains his problems to Berruti who
gives him the address of a model who is never home, saying
Patricia and Lucien can spend the night there.
The Next Morning, when Lucien is preparing to take off with
the money that Berruti brings him, Patricia announces that
she has changed her mind. She has just reported him to the
police who will be there in ten minutes.
7.
Lucien is furious. But he must flee. He starts off in the car
in which Berruti has come looking for him. Out of the car
door he hurls insults at Patricia.
The last shot shows Patricia watching Lucien leave and not
understanding him because her French is still not very good.
8.