The only known script for Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave classic Breathless (À bout de souffle) will be auctioned in June, according to Sotheby’s Paris.
Coming to light for the first time in more than 60 years, the 70-page partial manuscript was discovered in the estate of French film producer Georges de Beauregard, who worked on many of Godard’s 1960s films.
Estimated at between €400,000 and €600,000, the script will be auctioned online by Sotheby’s from 4 to 18 June 2025, alongside photographs from De Beauregard’s archive.
Godard, who died in 2022 aged 91, was known for his innovative methods. He rejected formal scripts in favour of improvised dialogues and natural attitudes, and would often destroy written records after they were used.
The newfound document includes handwritten notes by the director himself, as well as detailed descriptions from the film’s legendary opening scene and other key moments.
“I wanted to cry. It was an incredible shock to actually have this manuscript that is a record of the history of French and world cinema in my hands”, Anne Heilbronn, the head of books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s Paris, told The Guardian about finding the document.
“À Bout de Souffle is an iconic film for the whole world and here we see part of the dialogue, the scenes, the trailer, for the first time since 1960. As far as we know, it is the only script of its kind", she added.
Released in 1960, Breathless follows the affair of American student Patricia (Jean Seberg) and her gangster boyfriend Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo), wanted for killing a police officer.
It was Godard’s first feature film, and it became a defining influence for the French New Wave.
Alongside filmmakers like François Truffaut, Agnès Varda and Jacques Rivette, Godard pioneered a new cinematic approach liberated from the conventions dictated by the big studios. His films used handheld cameras, natural lighting, longer takes and monologues to camera, adopting a formal radicalism.
The new generation was also avant-garde in content. In Breathless, Godard wandered the streets of Paris to film the lives of young people, which was original at the time.
With The New Wave, directors became auteurs, all-encompassing figures who bring their distinctive analysis and style to a film. Godard himself was a domineering and stubborn writer who did not hesitate to impose his vision on set.
The auction takes place from 4 to 18 June 2025.
