The low-budget film Breathless came to be regarded as one of the major accomplishments of the French New Wave cinema of the early 60s. Jean-Luc Godard captured the spirit of a disillusioned generation and fashioned a style, which drew on the past, to parade that illusion. In his introduction, Dudley Andrews illuminates the intertextual and cultural references of the film and the tensions within it between tradition and innovation. This volume also features the complete and accurate continuity script of the film, together with Truffaut's original screenplay. Also included are an in-depth selection of reviews and criticism in French and English; a brief biographical sketch of the director's life that covers the development of his career, as well as a filmography.